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Ezra 4
Evangelical Heritage Version
Ezra 4
Evangelical Heritage Version
Opposition to the Construction of the Second Temple
4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families. They said to them, “Let us build with you, because, like you, we seek your God, and we have been sacrificing to him[a] since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
3 Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel said to them, “We will not permit you to join us in building a house for our God, because we ourselves will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us.”
4 Then the people of the land kept discouraging[b] the people of Judah and kept trying to make them too frightened to build. 5 They kept bribing officials[c] against them to try to frustrate their plans. They did this throughout all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6 During the reign of Xerxes,[d] at the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 7 Then in Artaxerxes’ days, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabe’el, and the rest of his associates wrote to King Artaxerxes of Persia. A document was written in Aramaic and translated.[e] What follows is the Aramaic version.[f]
8 Rehum the head of the council and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter concerning Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:
9 Heading: Rehum the head of the council with Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates: the judges, the rulers, the officials, the administrators, people from Uruk and Babylon, people from Susa (that is, the Elamites),[g] 10 and the rest of the peoples whom the great and glorious Ashurbanipal exiled and settled in the city of Samaria and the rest of the province called Trans-Euphrates.[h]
11 (This is a copy of the letter that they sent to him.)
To King Artaxerxes.
From your servants, men of the Trans-Euphrates.
Message:
12 The King should know that the Judeans who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. Soon they will have completed the walls, and they are now repairing the foundations.
13 Now let it be known to the King that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are completed, then taxes, tribute, and revenue will not be paid, and kings certainly will be harmed.
14 Now because we are duty-bound by an oath to the King[i] and do not wish to see the King dishonored, for that reason we are sending this letter to inform the King, 15 so that a search may be made in the book containing the memoranda of your predecessors. In this book of memoranda you will discover and come to know that this city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, producing rebellions within it from days of old. For this reason that city was destroyed. 16 We are informing the King that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, then, because of that, you will retain possession of no portion of the Trans-Euphrates.
17 The king sent a reply:
To Rehum the head of the council, Shimshai the secretary, and the rest of their associates, who live in Samaria and the rest of the province called Trans-Euphrates.
Peace.
Message:
18 The document that you sent to us was translated and read in my presence. 19 So a decree was issued by me. They searched and found that from ancient days that city has risen up against kings, and rebellion and insurrection have been made in it. 20 Powerful kings were over Jerusalem, and they ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute, and revenue were paid to them. 21 Therefore, issue a decree to stop these men, and this city shall not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me. 22 Moreover, continue to be diligent. Do not neglect to do this. Why should damage increase to harm kings?
23 Then, when a copy of Artaxerxes’ document was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the secretary, and their associates, they immediately went to the Judeans in Jerusalem, and they stopped them with armed force. 24 In this way, the work on the house of God in Jerusalem was stopped. Also, it had previously been stopped until the second year[j] of the reign of King Darius of Persia.[k]
Footnotes
- Ezra 4:2 The translation follows the marginal Hebrew reading, which is supported by a Dead Sea Scroll and the ancient versions. The main Hebrew reading is have not been sacrificing.
- Ezra 4:4 Literally causing the hands to droop for
- Ezra 4:5 Or hiring lobbyists
- Ezra 4:6 The EHV uses the names of the Persian kings that have become the standard English names. These names derive from the Greek versions of the names rather than directly from the Hebrew or Persian forms of the names.
- Ezra 4:7 Presumably translated into Persian for the king. See verse 18.
- Ezra 4:7 E zra 4:7–6:18 is in Aramaic, as is Ezra 7:12–26. The letters are written in a kind of formal, stylized, bureaucratic Aramaic.
- Ezra 4:9 It is unclear which of these terms refer to offices and which refer to ethnic groups. Some translations understand all of them to be names of ethnic groups: Dinaites and Apharsathkites, Tarpelites, Persians, Urukites, Babylonians, Susanites, Dahavites, Elamites. If some of the words are names of office-holders, it is not clear in all cases which specific offices are referred to.
- Ezra 4:10 That is, the territory west of the Euphrates River, Syria-Palestine
- Ezra 4:14 Literally we eat the salt of the palace
- Ezra 4:24 That is, 520 bc
- Ezra 4:24 The hostile letter to the later King Artaxerxes illustrates the method that had been used to stop the work earlier, during the reign of Darius.
Ezra 4
New International Version
Ezra 4
New International Version
Opposition to the Rebuilding
4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building(A) a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon(B) king of Assyria, who brought us here.”(C)
3 But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”(D)
4 Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.[a](E) 5 They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Later Opposition Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes
6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes,[b](F) they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.(G)
7 And in the days of Artaxerxes(H) king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic(I) language.[c][d]
8 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:
9 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates(J)—the judges, officials and administrators over the people from Persia, Uruk(K) and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,(L) 10 and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal(M) deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.(N)
11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent him.)
To King Artaxerxes,
From your servants in Trans-Euphrates:
12 The king should know that the people who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.(O)
13 Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty(P) will be paid, and eventually the royal revenues will suffer.[e] 14 Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king, 15 so that a search may be made in the archives(Q) of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place with a long history of sedition. That is why this city was destroyed.(R) 16 We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.
17 The king sent this reply:
To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:(S)
Greetings.
18 The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. 19 I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt(T) against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. 20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates,(U) and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. 21 Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. 22 Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?(V)
23 As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates,(W) they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.
24 Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius(X) king of Persia.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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