Now when ^athe enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that ^bthe people of the exile were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; ^aand we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of ^bEsarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” 3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “^aYou 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, ^bas King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”

4 Then ^athe people of the land ¹discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, 5 and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

6 Now in the reign of ^1aAhasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

7 And in the days of ¹Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the ²text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated ^afrom Aramaic.

8 ¹Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows— 9 then wrote Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and ^athe rest of their colleagues, the judges and ^bthe 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 which the great and honorable ¹Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region beyond the ²River. ^aNow 11 this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him:“To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men in the region beyond the River, and now 12 let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they are rebuilding ^athe rebellious and evil city and ^bare finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, ^athey will not pay tribute, custom or toll, and it will damage the revenue of the kings. 14 Now because we ¹are in the service of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king’s dishonor, therefore we have sent and informed the king, 15 so that a search may be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city is a rebellious city and damaging to kings and provinces, and that they have incited revolt within it in past days; therefore that city was laid waste. 16 We inform the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls finished, as a result you will have no possession in the province beyond the River.”

17 Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the River: “Peace. And now 18 the document which you sent to us has been ^1atranslated and read before me. 19 A decree has been ¹issued by me, and a search has been made and it has been discovered that that city has risen up against the kings in past days, that rebellion and revolt have been perpetrated in it, 20 ^athat mighty kings have ¹ruled over Jerusalem, governing all the provinces ^bbeyond the River, and that ^ctribute, custom and toll were paid to them. 21 So, now issue a decree to make these men stop work, that this city may not be rebuilt until a decree 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 in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms.

24 Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Then ^athe adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that ^bthe people of the exile were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel, 2 so they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; ^aand we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of ^bEsarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” 3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “^aYou have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^bas King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”

4 So ^athe people of the land ¹discouraged the people of Judah and dismayed them from building, 5 and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

6 Now in the reign of ^1aAhasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

7 And in the days of ¹Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the ²text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated ^afrom Aramaic.

8 ¹Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows—

11 this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him:

17 Then the king sent an edict to Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the River: “Peace. And now— 18 the document which you sent to us has been ^aplainly read before me.

23 Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force and military.

24 Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Now when the Samaritans ^athe adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that ^bthe 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; ^aand we have sacrificed to Him since the days of ^bEsarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” 2+@Kin 17:24-29 3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “^aYou 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, ^bjust as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”

4 Then the Samaritans and others of ^athe people of the land ¹discouraged 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 ^1aAhasuerus (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 ^aAramaic and translated from Aramaic.

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 ^athe rest of their associates, ^bthe 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 ¹Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region ²west of the Euphrates River. ^aNow 11 this is a copy of the letter which they sent to him:“To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men in the region west of the Euphrates River; and now: 12 Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding ^athis rebellious and evil city and are ^bfinishing its walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, then ^athey will not pay tax, custom, or toll, and the revenue of the kings will be diminished. 14 Now because we are in the service of the palace, and it is not proper for us to witness the king’s dishonor, for that reason we have sent word and informed the king, 15 in order that a search may be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that this is a rebellious city, damaging to kings and provinces, and that in the past they have incited rebellion within it. That is why that city was laid waste (destroyed) . 16 We are informing the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls finished, it will mean that you will have no possession in the province west of the Euphrates River.”

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 ^atranslated 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 ^amighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over all the provinces ^bwest of the Euphrates River, and ^ctax, 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 ¹work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped. It was suspended until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.