Ezra 4:7-24

The Letter to King Artaxerxes

7In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and aMithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written bin Aramaic and translated.
Hebrew  written in Aramaic and translated in Aramaic, indicating that 4:8–6:18 is in Aramaic; another interpretation is  The letter was written in the Aramaic script and set forth in the Aramaic language
8Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: 9Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the djudges, the egovernors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the fElamites, 10and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble gOsnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. 11(This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now 12be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are hfinishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay itribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. 14Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, 15in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. 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. That was why this city was laid waste. 16We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

The King Orders the Work to Cease

17The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now 18the letter that you sent to us has been jplainly read before me. 19And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. 20And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, kwho ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom ltribute, custom, and toll were paid. 21Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. 22And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”

23Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxesletter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. 24Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

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