Ezra 4:2–10

²they approached Zerubbabel and the family heads and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we also worship your God and have been sacrificing to him^F since the time King Esar-haddon of Assyria brought us here.”^x

³But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of Israel’s families answered them, “You may have no part with us in building a house for our God,^y since we alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”^{z 4}Then the people who were already in the land discouraged^B the people of Judah and made them afraid^aa to build. ⁵They also bribed officials to act against them to frustrate their plans^ab throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia.^ac

OPPOSITION TO REBUILDING THE CITY

⁶At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus,^ad the people who were already in the land^ae wrote an accusation against the residents of Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷During the time of King Artaxerxes of Persia,^af Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to King Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic^a and translated.

⁸Rehum the chief deputy and Shimshai the scribe^b wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes concerning Jerusalem as follows:

⁹From Rehum^D the chief deputy, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues—the judges and magistrates^E from Tripolis, Persia, Erech, Babylon, Susa^c (that is, the people of Elam),^{F 10}and the rest of the peoples whom the great and illustrious Ashurbanipal^G deported and settled in the cities of Samaria^d and the region west of the Euphrates River.^e