You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. 14 Now because we eat the salt of the palace 2 and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, 15 in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. 13 Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay w tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. They are v finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. And now 12 be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. ) “ To Artaxerxes the king : Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. 11 ( This is a copy of the letter that they sent. 1 8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows : 9 Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the q judges, the r governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the s Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble t Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. The letter was written p in Aramaic and translated. ħ In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and o Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. Ħ And in the reign of n Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. ”Ĥ Then m the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5 and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ” 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, k “ You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God but we alone will build to the L ord, the God of Israel, l as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us. 1 Now when g the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the L ord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “ Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever h since the days of i Esarhaddon king of Assyria j who brought us here.
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