Ezra 4

4 ¹ When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to our Father, ² they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the families and said, "Let us build with you, for like you we seek your God, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here."

³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel said to them, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house for our Father. We alone will build for our Father, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us."

⁴ Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and made them afraid to build. ⁵ They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and on until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ⁶ At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus, they wrote an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

A Letter Against the Father's People

⁷ And during the reign of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic script and translated into the Aramaic language. ⁸ Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: ⁹ Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates — the judges, the officials, and the administrators over the people of Erech, the Babylonians, and the people of Susa (that is, the Elamites), ¹⁰ together with the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in the province Beyond the River. ^a a v10 The province Beyond the River was the Persian district west of the Euphrates River, covering Syria and the lands around Judah.

¹¹ This is a copy of the letter they sent him: "To Artaxerxes the king, from your servants, the people of the province Beyond the River. And now, ¹² the king should know that the Jews who came up from you to us have arrived in Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city; they are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations. ¹³ Now the king should know that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, they will pay no tribute, tax, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer loss. ¹⁴ Now because we receive our livelihood from the palace, and it is not right for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending word to inform the king, ^b b v14 To "eat the salt of the palace" meant to be in the king's service and bound to him in loyalty. ¹⁵ so that a search may be made in the records of your predecessors. In those records you will find that this is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, a place where revolt has been stirred up from ancient times. That is why this city was laid waste. ¹⁶ We inform the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will be left with no possession in the province Beyond the River."

¹⁷ The king sent this reply: "To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in the province Beyond the River: Greetings. And now, ¹⁸ the letter you sent us has been read aloud and translated to me. ¹⁹ I gave an order, and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of rising up against kings, a place of rebellion and revolt. ²⁰ Powerful kings have ruled over Jerusalem, governing the whole province Beyond the River, and tribute, tax, and toll were paid to them. ²¹ Now issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city is not rebuilt until I give the command. ²² Don't neglect this matter. Why should this threat grow and harm the interests of the kings?

²³ As soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they hurried to the Jews in Jerusalem and forced them to stop by armed force. ²⁴ So the work on the house of our Father in Jerusalem came to a halt and remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.