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Ezra 4
Adversaries Hinder the Work
1 Now when the Samaritans (C1)the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that (C2)the exiles from the captivity were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel,2 they came to Zerubbabel who was now governor and to the heads of the fathers' households and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we seek your God and worship just as you do; (C1)and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of (C2)Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here." (VR1)3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers' households of Israel said to them, "(C1)You 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, (C2)just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us."
4 Then the Samaritans and others of (C1)the people of the land (F1)discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them to deter them from building,5 and hired advisers to work against them to frustrate their plans during the entire time that Cyrus king of Persia reigned, and this lasted even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6 Now in the reign of (F1)(C1)Ahasuerus (Xerxes), in the beginning of his reign, the Samaritans wrote to him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem who had returned from exile.
7 Later, in the days of King Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the text of the letter was written in (C1)Aramaic and translated from Aramaic.
The Letter to King Artaxerxes
8 Rehum the Persian commander of the Samaritans and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows—9 then wrote Rehum the Persian commander, Shimshai the scribe, and (C1)the rest of their associates, (C2)the judges, the 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 whom the great and noble (F1)Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region (F2)west of the Euphrates River. (C1)Now11 this is a copy of the letter which they sent to him:
The King Replies and Work Stops
17 Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the Persian commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces west of the River: "Peace (Greetings). And now,18 The document which you sent to us has been (C1)translated and read before me.19 "I have issued a command and a search has been made, and it has been discovered that this city Jerusalem in earlier times has revolted against the kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been perpetrated in it.20 "There have also been (C1)mighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over all the provinces (C2)west of the Euphrates River, and (C3)tax, custom, and toll were paid to them.21 "So, now issue a decree to make these men stop work, so that this city is not rebuilt until a new command 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 up hurriedly to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them stop work by force of arms.
24 Then the (F1)work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped. It was suspended until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
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