Ezra 4:18

Green's Literal Translation

the letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence.

Hebrew Names Version
The letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me.

King James Version
The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.

English Standard Version
the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me.

New Century Version
The letter you sent to us has been translated and read to me.

New English Translation
The letter you sent to us has been translated and read in my presence.

Amplified Bible
The document which you sent to us has been translated and read before me.

New American Standard Bible
the document which you sent to us has been translated and read before me.

World English Bible
The letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me.

Geneva Bible (1587)
The letter which yee sent vnto vs, hath bene openly read before me,

Legacy Standard Bible
the document which you sent to us has been plainly read before me.

Berean Standard Bible
The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence.

Contemporary English Version
After your letter was translated and read to me,

Complete Jewish Bible
"The letter you sent us has now been translated for me.

Darby Translation
The letter that ye sent to us has been read before me distinctly.

Easy-to-Read Version
The letter you sent us has been translated and read to me.

George Lamsa Translation
When the letter which you sent to us arrived it was plainly read before me,

Good News Translation
"The letter which you sent has been translated and read to me.

Lexham English Bible
the letter that you sent to us has been translated and read before me.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The letter which ye sent vnto vs, hath bene opely red before me,

American Standard Version
The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.

Bible in Basic English
And now the sense of the letter which you sent to us has been made clear to me,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The letter which ye sent vnto vs, hath ben openly read before me.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
the letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.

King James Version (1611)
The letter, which ye sent vnto vs, hath bene plainly read before me.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The tribute-gatherer whom ye sent to us, has been called before me.

English Revised Version
The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The accusyng, which ye senten to vs, was red opynli bifor me;

Update Bible Version
The letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me.

Webster's Bible Translation
The letter which ye sent to us hath been plainly read before me.

New King James Version
The letter which you sent to us has been clearly read before me.

New Living Translation
"The letter you sent has been translated and read to me.

New Life Bible
The letter you sent to us has been put into our language and read to me.

New Revised Standard
the letter that you sent to us has been read in translation before me.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The letter which ye sent unto us, was distinctly read before me;

Douay-Rheims Bible
The accusation, which you have sent to us, hath been plainly read before me,

Revised Standard Version
the letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me.

Young's Literal Translation
The letter that ye sent unto us, explained, hath been read before me,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
the document which you sent to us has been translated and read before me.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷ The message the king sent to Rehum the master of counsel, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their associates who dwell in Samaria, and to the rest Beyond the River: Peace! And now, ¹⁸ the letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me. ¹⁹ And I gave a decree, and search has been made, and it is found that this city has lifted up itself against kings in the past, and rebellion and revolt have been made in it. ²⁰ There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all Beyond the River. And tax, tribute, and forced labor were paid to them. ²¹ Now make a decree to cause these men to cease, and that this city not be rebuilt until the decree shall be given from me. ²² And beware of being at fault, to act on this. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings? ²³ Then as soon as the copy of the letter of Artaxerxes the king was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they hurried to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them stop working by force and power. ²⁴ Then the work of the house of God in Jerusalem stopped. So it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cross-References

Genesis 5:21
And Enoch lived sixty five years and fathered Methuselah.

Genesis 36:2
Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The letter which ye sent unto us,.... The plural number is used, being now become courtly for kings thus to speak of themselves:

hath been plainly before me; by such that understood both the Syrian and Persian languages; the letter was written in the Syrian language, and the king being a Persian, it was necessary it should be interpreted and explained to him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Hath been ... read - It is doubtful if the Persian monarchs could ordinarily read. At any rate, it was their habit to have documents read to them (compare Esther 6:1). This is still the ordinary practice in Eastern courts.