Ezra 4–5

Now when ^athe adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel; ²then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him ^bsince the days of Esar-haddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. ³But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, ^cYou have nothing to do with us ^dto build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as ^eking Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us. ⁴Then ^fthe people of the land ^gweakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, ⁵and hired counsellers against them, to ^hfrustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ⁶And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an ⁱaccusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, ^jMithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of ^kthe letter was written ^lin the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.

⁸Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort: ⁹then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; ^mthe Dinaites, the ⁿApharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the ⁿApharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the ^oSusanchites, the Dehavites, and the ^pElamites, ¹⁰and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble ^qAsnappar brought over, and set in the cities of ^rSamaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, ^sand at such a time. ¹¹This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king:

Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time. ¹²Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations. ¹³Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay ^ttoll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings. ¹⁴Now because we have maintenance from the king’s palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king’s dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king; ¹⁵that search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed. ¹⁶We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river.

¹⁷Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river:

^uPeace, and at such a time. ¹⁸The letter which ye sent unto us hath been ^xplainly read before me. ¹⁹And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein. ²⁰There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ^yruled over all countries beyond the river; and ^ttoll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them. ²¹Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me. ²²Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?

²³Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. ²⁴Then ceased the work of the house of the God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

V.Then the prophets, ^aHaggai the prophet, and ^bZechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. ²Then rose up ^cZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and ^cJeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.

³At the same time came to them ^dTatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, ^eWho hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall? ⁴Then said we unto them ^fafter this manner, What are the names of the men that make this building? ⁵But ^gthe eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and then they ^hreturned answer by letter concerning this matter. ⁶The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and his companions the ⁱApharsachites, which were on this side the river, sent unto Darius the king: ⁷they sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus:

Unto Darius the king, all peace. ⁸Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands. ⁹Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, ^kWho commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls? ¹⁰We asked their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them. ¹¹And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded ^land set up. ¹²But ^mafter that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of ⁿNebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. ¹³But in the first year of ^oCyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God. ¹⁴And ^pthe vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one, whose name was ^qSheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; ¹⁵and said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place. ¹⁶Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and ^rlaid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and ^syet it is not finished. ¹⁷Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, ^tlet there be search made in the king’s treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.

VI.