Ezra 3–4

Sacrifice Restored

3By the seventh month, ^qthe Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people gathered together in Jerusalem. ^r2Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel ^sand his brothers began to build the altar of Israel’s God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. ^t3They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples. ^u4They celebrated the Festival of Booths as prescribed, and offered burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day. ^v5After that, they offered the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the beginning of each month ^wxand for all the Lord’s appointed holy occasions, as well as the freewill offerings brought to ^ythe Lord.

⁶On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, ^zeven though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid. ⁷They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans, and gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so they could bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, ^aaccording to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia. ^b

Rebuilding the Temple

⁸In the second month of the second year after they arrived at God’s house in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, ^cand the rest of their brothers, including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began to build. They appointed the Levites who were 20 years old or more to supervise the work on the Lord’s house. ^d9Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah ^eand of Henadad, with their sons and brothers, the Levites, ^fjoined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

Temple Foundation Completed

¹⁰When the builders had laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple, the priests, dressed in their robes and holding trumpets, and the Levites descended from Asaph, ^gholding cymbals, took their positions to praise the Lord, as King David of Israel had instructed. ^h11They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord: “For He is good; His faithful love to Israel endures forever.” ⁱThen all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s house had been laid. ^j

¹²But many of the older priests, Levites, and family leaders, who had seen the first temple, wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this house, ^kbut many others shouted joyfully. ¹³The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the ^lweeping, ^mbecause the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.

Opposition to Rebuilding the Temple

4When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin ⁿheard that the returned exiles ^opwere building a temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel, ²they approached Zerubbabel and the leaders of the families and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we also worship your God and have been sacrificing to Him ^qsince the time King Esar-haddon of Assyria ^rbrought us here.” ^s

³But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other leaders of Israel’s families answered them, “You may have no part with us in building a house for our God, ^tsince we alone must build it for Yahweh, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.” ^u4Then the people who were already in the land ^vdiscouraged ^wthe people of Judah and made them afraid ^xto build. ⁵They also bribed officials to act against them to frustrate their plans ^ythroughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia. ^za

Opposition to Rebuilding the City

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

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

⁹From Rehum ^lthe chief deputy, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues—the judges and magistrates ^mfrom Tripolis, Persia, Erech, Babylon, Susa ⁿ(that is, the people of Elam), ^o10and the rest of the peoples whom the great and illustrious Ashurbanipal ^pdeported and settled in the cities of Samaria ^qand the region west of the Euphrates River. ^r

¹¹This is the text of the letter they sent to him:

To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men from the region west of the Euphrates River:

¹²Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you have returned to us at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and evil city, finishing its walls, and repairing its foundations. ¹³Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, ^sthey will not pay tribute, duty, or land tax, ^tand the royal revenue ^uwill suffer. ¹⁴Since we have taken an oath of loyalty to the king, ^vand it is not right for us to witness his dishonor, we have sent to inform the king ¹⁵that a search should be made in your fathers’ record books. ^wIn these record books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces. There have been revolts in it since ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed. ¹⁶We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, you will not have any possession west of the Euphrates.

Artaxerxes’ Reply

¹⁷The king sent a reply to his chief deputy Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates River:

Greetings.

¹⁸The letter you sent us has been translated and read ^xyin my presence. ¹⁹I issued a decree and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has had uprisings against kings since ancient times, and there have been rebellions and revolts in it. ²⁰Powerful kings have also ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region, and tribute, duty, and land tax were paid to them. ²¹Therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a further decree has been pronounced by me. ^z22See that you not neglect this matter. Otherwise, the damage will increase and the royal interests ^awill suffer.

²³As soon as the text of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, ^bthey immediately went to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

Rebuilding of the Temple Resumed

²⁴Now the construction of God’s house in Jerusalem had stopped and remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia. ^c