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the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God, as you do, and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel said to them, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”
4 Then the people who were already living in the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to continue building. 5 They hired counsellors to act against them and frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6 At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus, the people who were already living in the land wrote an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and translated.
8 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:
9 From Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues—the judges and magistrates from Tripolis, Persia, Erech, Babylon, the Elamites of Susa, 10 and the rest of the peoples whom the great and honourable AshurBanipal deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and the region west of the Euphrates River.
11 This is the text of the letter they sent to him:
To King Artaxerxes,
From your servants, the men in the region west of the Euphrates River:
12 Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have returned to us at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and evil city, restoring the walls, and repairing the foundations.
13 Let it also be known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls are restored, they will not pay taxes, tribute, or duties, and the royal revenue will be damaged. 14 Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not fitting for us to see the king’s dishonour, we are sending this information to the king, 15 so that a search may be made in the archives of your predecessors. In these records you will discover and verify that this is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, and rebellious from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed. 16 We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, you will end up losing all your dominion west of the Euphrates River.
17 The king sent this answer:
To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues living in Samaria and elsewhere west of the Euphrates River:
Greetings.
18 The letter that you sent to us has been translated and read in my presence. 19 I have issued a decree, and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a history of revolts against kings since ancient times, and there have been rebellions and revolts in it. 20 There have also been powerful kings in Jerusalem who have ruled over the whole region west of the Euphrates River, and taxes, tribute, and duties were paid to them. 21 Therefore, issue an order for these men to stop work, so this city can not be rebuilt until another decree has been issued by me. 22 Be careful that you do not fail to do this, for why should this threat increase to the detriment of the royal interests?
23 As soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they immediately went to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.
24 So the work on the house of God in Jerusalem was stopped and discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.