Ezra 4–5

¹And adversaries of Judah and Benjamin hear that the sons of the captivity are building a temple to Jehovah, God of Israel, ²and they draw nigh unto Zerubbabel, and unto heads of the fathers, and say to them, ‘Let us build with you; for, like you, we seek to your God, and we are not sacrificing since the days of Esar-Haddon king of Asshur, who brought us up hither.’ ³And Zerubbabel saith to them, also Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers of Israel, ‘Not for you, and for us, to build a house to our God; but we ourselves together do build to Jehovah God of Israel, as the king Cyrus, king of Persia, commanded us.’ ⁴And it cometh to pass, the people of the land are making the hands of the people of Judah feeble, and troubling them in building, ⁵and are hiring against them counsellors to make void their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even till the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁶And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the commencement of his reign, they have written an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem; ⁷and in the days of Artaxerxes have Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions written unto Artaxerxes king of Persia, and the writing of the letter is written in Aramaean, and interpreted in Aramaean. ⁸Rehum counsellor, and Shimshai scribe have written a letter concerning Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king, thus: ⁹Then Rehum counsellor, and Shimshai scribe, and the rest of their companions, Dinaites, and Apharsathchites, Tarpelites, Apharsites, Archevites, Babylonians, Susanchites, (who are Elamites), ¹⁰and the rest of the nations that the great and honourable Asnapper removed and set in the city of Samaria, and the rest beyond the river, and at such a time: ¹¹This is a copy of a letter that they have sent unto him, unto Artaxerxes the king: ‘Thy servants, men beyond the river, and at such a time; ¹²Be it known to the king, that the Jews who have come up from thee unto us, have come in to Jerusalem, the rebellious and base city they are building, and the walls they have finished, and the foundations they join.

¹³‘Now, be it known to the king, that if this city be builded, and the walls finished, toll, tribute, and custom they do not give; and at length to the kings it doth cause loss. ¹⁴Now, because that the salt of the palace is our salt, and the nakedness of the king we have no patience to see, therefore we have sent and made known to the king; ¹⁵so that he doth seek in the book of the records of thy fathers, and thou dost find in the book of the records, and dost know, that this city is a rebellious city, and causing loss to kings and provinces, and makers of sedition are in its midst from the days of old, therefore hath this city been wasted. ¹⁶We are making known to the king that, if this city be builded and the walls finished, by this means a portion beyond the river thou hast none.’

¹⁷An answer hath the king sent unto Rehum counsellor, and Shimshai scribe, and the rest of their companions who are dwelling in Samaria, and the rest beyond the river, ‘Peace, and at such a time: ¹⁸The letter that ye sent unto us, explained, hath been read before me, ¹⁹and by me a decree hath been made, and they sought, and have found that this city from the days of old against kings is lifting up itself, and rebellion and sedition is made in it, ²⁰and mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, even rulers over all beyond the river, and toll, tribute, and custom is given to them.

²¹‘Now, make ye a decree to cause these men to cease, and this city is not builded, till by me a decree is made. ²²And beware ye of negligence in doing this; why doth the hurt become great to the loss of the kings?’ ²³Then from the time that a copy of the letter of king Artaxerxes is read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they have gone in haste to Jerusalem, unto the Jews, and caused them to cease by force and strength; ²⁴then ceased the service of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and it ceased till the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Chapter 5

¹And prophesied have the prophets, (Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah son of Iddo) unto the Jews who are in Judah and in Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel—unto them. ²Then have Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jozadak, risen, and begun to build the house of God, that is in Jerusalem, and with them are the prophets of God supporting them.

³At that time come to them hath Tatnai, governor beyond the river, and Shethar-Boznai, and their companions, and thus they are saying to them, ‘Who hath made for you a decree this house to build, and this wall to finish?’ ⁴Then thus we have said to them, ‘What are the names of the men who are building this building?’ ⁵And the eye of their God hath been upon the elders of the Jews, and they have not caused them to cease till the matter goeth to Darius, and then they send back a letter concerning this thing. ⁶The copy of a letter that Tatnai, governor beyond the river, hath sent, and Shethar-Boznai and his companions, the Apharsachites who are beyond the river, unto Darius the king. ⁷A letter they have sent unto him, and thus is it written in it: ⁸‘To Darius the king, all peace! be it known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the great house of God, and it is built with rolled stones, and wood is placed in the walls, and this work is done speedily, and prospering in their hand. ⁹Then we have asked of these elders, thus we have said to them, Who hath made for you a decree this house to build, and this wall to finish? ¹⁰And also their names we have asked of them, to let thee know, that we might write the names of the men who are at their head.

¹¹‘And thus they have returned us word, saying, We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was built many years before this, that a great king of Israel built and finished: ¹²but after that our fathers made the God of heaven angry, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon the Chaldean, and this house he destroyed, and the people he removed to Babylon; ¹³but in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God, ¹⁴and also, the vessels of the house of God, of gold and silver, that Nebuchadnezzar had taken forth out of the temple that is in Jerusalem, and brought them to the temple of Babylon, them hath Cyrus the king brought forth out of the temple of Babylon, and they have been given to one, Sheshbazzar is his name, whom he made governor, ¹⁵and said to him, These vessels lift up, go, put them down in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and the house of God is builded on its place. ¹⁶Then hath this Sheshbazzar come—he hath laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from thence even till now it hath been building, and is not finished.

¹⁷‘And now, if to the king it be good, let search be made in the treasure-house of the king, that is there in Babylon, whether it be that of Cyrus the king there was made a decree to build this house of God in Jerusalem, and the will of the king concerning this thing he doth send unto us.’

Chapter 6