Ezra 3:1–4:24
1 Now when the seventh month came, and athe sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.
2 Then aJeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and bZerubbabel the son cof Shealtiel and his brothers arose and dbuilt the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, eas it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.
3 So they set up the altar on its foundation, for 1athey were terrified because of the peoples of the lands; and they boffered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening.
4 They celebrated the aFeast of 1Booths, bas it is written, and offered 2the fixed number of burnt offerings daily, caccording to the ordinance, as each day required;
5 and afterward there was a acontinual burnt offering, also bfor the new moons and cfor all the fixed festivals of the Lord that were consecrated, and from everyone who offered a freewill offering to the Lord.
6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid.
7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and afood, drink and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, bto bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at cJoppa, according to the permission they had 1from dCyrus king of Persia.
8 Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem in the second month, aZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all who came from the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and bappointed the Levites from twenty years and older to oversee the work of the house of the Lord.
9 Then aJeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of 1Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to oversee the workmen in the temple of God.
10 Now when the builders had alaid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, 1the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord baccording to the 2directions of King David of Israel.
11 aThey sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “bFor He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
12 Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, athe old men who had seen the first 1temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy,
13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.
1 Now when athe enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that bthe people of the exile were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel,
2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; aand we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of bEsarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”
3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “aYou have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the Lord God of Israel, bas King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”
4 Then athe people of the land 1discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building,
5 and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6 Now in the reign of 1aAhasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of 1Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the 2text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated afrom Aramaic.
8 1Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows—
9 then wrote Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and athe rest of their colleagues, the judges and bthe lesser governors, the officials, the secretaries, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,
10 and the rest of the nations which the great and honorable 1Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region beyond the 2River. aNow
11 this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him:
“To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men in the region beyond the River, and now
12 let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they are rebuilding athe rebellious and evil city and bare finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.
13 “Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, athey will not pay tribute, custom or toll, and it will damage the revenue of the kings.
14 “Now because we 1are in the service of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king’s dishonor, therefore we have sent and informed the king,
15 so that a search may be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city is a rebellious city and damaging to kings and provinces, and that they have incited revolt within it in past days; therefore that city was laid waste.
16 “We inform the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls finished, as a result you will have no possession in the province beyond the River.”
The King Replies and Work Stops
17 Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the River: “Peace. And now
18 the document which you sent to us has been 1atranslated and read before me.
19 “A decree has been 1issued by me, and a search has been made and it has been discovered that that city has risen up against the kings in past days, that rebellion and revolt have been perpetrated in it,
20 athat mighty kings have 1ruled over Jerusalem, governing all the provinces bbeyond the River, and that ctribute, custom and toll were paid to them.
21 “So, now issue a decree to make these men stop work, that this city may not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me.
22 “Beware of being negligent in carrying out this matter; why should damage increase to the detriment of the kings?”
23 Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms.
24 Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.