Ezra 4–6

Resistance to Rebuilding the Temple

4Now when ^athe ¹adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel, ²they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him ^bsince the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.” ³But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, ^c“You may do nothing with us to build a ²house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as ^dKing Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” ⁴Then ^ethe people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, ⁵and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of ^fDarius king of Persia.

Rebuilding of Jerusalem Opposed

⁶In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷In the days of ^gArtaxerxes also, ³Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabel, and the rest of their companions wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the letter was written in ^hAramaic script, and translated into the Aramaic language. ⁸⁴Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes in this fashion:

⁹⁵From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions—representatives of ⁱthe Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the people of Persia and Erech and Babylon and ⁶Shushan, the Dehavites, the Elamites, ^10jand the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnapper took captive and settled in the cities of Samaria and the remainder beyond ⁷the River—^kand ⁸so forth.

¹¹(This is a copy of the letter that they sent him)

To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men of the region beyond the River, ⁹and so forth:

¹²Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem, and are building the ^lrebellious and evil city, and are finishing its ^mwalls and repairing the foundations. ¹³Let it now be known to the king that, if this city is built and the walls completed, they will not pay ⁿtax, tribute, or custom, and the king’s treasury will be diminished. ¹⁴Now because we receive support from the palace, it was not proper for us to see the king’s dishonor; therefore we have sent and informed the king, ¹⁵that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. And you will find in the book of the records and know that this city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, and that they have incited sedition within the city in former times, for which cause this city was destroyed.

¹⁶We inform the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the result will be that you will have no dominion beyond the River.

¹⁷The king sent an answer:

To Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and to the remainder beyond the River:

Peace, ¹and so forth.

¹⁸The letter which you sent to us has been clearly read before me. ¹⁹And ²I gave the command, and a search has been made, and it was found that this city in former times has revolted against kings, and rebellion and sedition have been fostered in it. ²⁰There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ^oruled over all the region ^pbeyond the River; and tax, tribute, and custom were paid to them. ²¹Now ³give the command to make these men cease, that this city may not be built until the command is given by me.

²²Take heed now that you do not fail to do this. Why should damage increase to the hurt of the kings?

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

Restoration of the Temple Resumed

5Then the prophet ^aHaggai and ^bZechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. ²So ^cZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of ¹Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and ^dthe prophets of God were with them, helping them.

³At the same time ^eTattenai the governor of the region beyond ²the River and Shethar-Boznai and their companions came to them and spoke thus to them: ^f“Who has commanded you to build this ³temple and finish this wall?” ^4gThen, accordingly, we told them the names of the men who were constructing this building. ⁵But ^hthe eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they could not make them cease till a report could go to Darius. Then a ⁱwritten answer was returned concerning this matter. ⁶This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai sent:

The governor of the region beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai, ^jand his companions, the Persians who were in the region beyond the River, to Darius the king.

⁷(They sent a letter to him, in which was written thus)

To Darius the king:

All peace.

⁸Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judea, to the ⁴temple of the great God, which is being built with ⁵heavy stones, and timber is being laid in the walls; and this work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands.

⁹Then we asked those elders, and spoke thus to them: ^k“Who commanded you to build this temple and to finish these walls?” ¹⁰We also asked them their names to inform you, that we might write the names of the men who were chief among them.

¹¹And thus they returned us an answer, saying: “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the ⁶temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built ^land completed. ¹²But ^mbecause our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of ⁿNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and ^ocarried the people away to Babylon. ¹³However, in the first year of ^pCyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to build this ⁷house of God. ¹⁴Also, ^qthe gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple that was in Jerusalem and carried into the temple of Babylon—those King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon, and they were given to ^rone named Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. ¹⁵And he said to him, ‘Take these articles; go, carry them to the temple site that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its former site.’ ¹⁶Then the same Sheshbazzar came and ^slaid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem; but from that time even until now it has been under construction, and ^tit is not finished.”

¹⁷Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, ^ulet a search be made in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, whether it is so that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send us his pleasure concerning this matter.

The Decree of Darius

6Then King Darius issued a decree, ^aand a search was made in the ¹archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. ²And at ²Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of ^bMedia, a scroll was found, and in it a record was written thus:

³In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a ^cdecree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: “Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, ^4dwith three rows of heavy stones and one row of new timber. Let the ^eexpenses be paid from the king’s treasury. ⁵Also let ^fthe gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple which is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and taken back to the temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place; and deposit them in the house of God”—

^6gNow therefore, Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai, and your companions the Persians who are beyond the River, keep yourselves far from there. ⁷Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site.

⁸Moreover I issue a decree as to what you shall do for the elders of these Jews, for the building of this ³house of God: Let the cost be paid at the king’s expense from taxes on the region beyond the River; this is to be given immediately to these men, so that they are not hindered. ⁹And whatever they need—young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the request of the priests who are in Jerusalem—let it be given them day by day without fail, ^10hthat they may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons.

¹¹Also I issue a decree that whoever alters this edict, let a timber be pulled from his house and erected, and let him be hanged on it; ⁱand let his house be made a refuse heap because of this. ¹²And may the God who causes His ^jname to dwell there destroy any king or people who put their hand to alter it, or to destroy this ⁴house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Darius issue a decree; let it be done diligently.

The Temple Completed and Dedicated

¹³Then Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, Shethar-Boznai, and their companions diligently did according to what King Darius had sent. ^14kSo the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the ⁵command…