1   When 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 Jeshua ^note and the heads of families and said to them, ‘Let us join you in building, for like you we seek your God, and we have been sacrificing to him ever ^note since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.’ 3   But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of families in Israel said to them, ‘The house which we are building for our God is no concern of yours. We alone will build it for the Lord the God of Israel, as his majesty Cyrus king of Persia commanded us.’

4   Then the people of the land caused the Jews to lose heart and made them afraid to continue building; 5   and in order to defeat their purpose they bribed officials at court to act against them. This continued throughout the reign of Cyrus and into the reign of Darius king of Persia.

6   At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus, the people of the land brought a charge in writing against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

7   And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, with the agreement of Mithredath, Tabeel and all his colleagues wrote to him; the letter was written in Aramaic and read aloud in Aramaic.

8    ^noteRehum the high commissioner and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes concerning Jerusalem in the following terms:

   9   From Rehum the high commissioner, Shimshai the secretary, and all their colleagues, the judges, the commissioners, the overseers, and chief officers, the men of Erech and Babylon, and the Elamites in Susa, 10   and the other peoples whom the great and renowned Asnappar ^note deported and settled in the city of Samaria and in the rest of the province of Beyond-Euphrates.

Worship restored and the temple rebuilt

11   Here follows the text of their letter:

  To King Artaxerxes from his servants, the men of the province of Beyond-Euphrates:

   12   Be it known to Your Majesty that the Jews who left you and came to these parts have reached Jerusalem and are rebuilding that wicked and rebellious city; they have surveyed ^note the foundations and are completing ^note the walls. 13   Be it known to Your Majesty that, if their city is rebuilt and the walls are completed, they will pay neither general levy, nor poll-tax, nor land-tax, and in the end ^note they will harm the monarchy. 14   Now, because we eat the king's salt and it is not right that we should witness the king's dishonour, therefore we have sent to inform Your Majesty, 15   in order that search may be made in the annals of your predecessors. You will discover by searching through the annals that this has been a rebellious city, harmful to the monarchy and its provinces, and that sedition has long been rife within its walls. 16   That is why the city was laid waste. We submit to Your Majesty that, if it is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the result will be that you will have no more footing in the province of Beyond-Euphrates.

17   The king sent this answer:

  To Rehum the high commissioner, Shimshai the secretary, and all your colleagues resident in Samaria and in the rest of the province of Beyond-Euphrates, greeting. 18   The letter which you sent to me has now been read clearly in my presence. 19   I have given orders and search has been made, and it has been found that the city in question has a long history of revolt against the monarchy, and that rebellion and sedition have been rife in it. 20   Powerful kings have ruled in Jerusalem, exercising authority over the whole province of Beyond-Euphrates, and general levy, poll-tax, and land-tax have been paid to them. 21   Therefore, issue orders that these men must desist. This city is not to be rebuilt until a decree to that effect is issued by me. 22   See that you do not neglect your duty in this matter, lest more damage and harm be done to the monarchy.

23   When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read before Rehum the high commissioner, ^note Shimshai the secretary, and their colleagues, they hurried to Jerusalem and forcibly compelled the Jews to stop work. 24   From then onwards the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped; and it remained at a standstill till the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Worship restored and the temple rebuilt

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