Dual Panel1When those who were hostile to Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD the God of Israel,
2they approached Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the heads of families. “Let us build with you,” they said, “for like you we seek your God, and have sacrificed to him ever since the days of King Esarhaddon of Assyria who brought us here.”
3But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the Israelite families replied, “It is not for you to share in building the house for our God; we alone are to build it for the LORD the God of Israel, as his majesty King Cyrus of Persia commanded us.”
4Then the people of the land caused the Jews to lose heart and made them afraid to continue building;
5and, in order to thwart the purpose of the Jews, those people bribed officials at court to act against them. This continued throughout the lifetime of King Cyrus of Persia and into the reign of King Darius.
6At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus, the people of the land brought a charge in writing against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
7In the days of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Tabeel and all his colleagues, with the agreement of Mithredath, wrote to the king; the letter was written in Aramaic and translated. (The following text is in Aramaic.)
8Rehum the high commissioner and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes concerning Jerusalem as follows:
9From 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,
10and the other peoples whom the great and renowned Asnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria and in the rest of the province of Beyond-Euphrates.
11Here follows a copy of their letter: To King Artaxerxes from his servants, the men of the province of Beyond-Euphrates.
12Be it known to your majesty that the Jews who left you to come here have arrived in Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city; they are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations of the temple.
13Be 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 your royal house will suffer harm.
14Now, 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 bring it to your majesty's notice,
15in order that search may be made in the records left by your predecessors. You will discover by searching the records that this has been a rebellious city, harmful to the royal house and to the provinces, and that from earliest times sedition has been rife within its walls. For that reason it was laid in ruins.
16We submit to your majesty that, if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the result will be that you will be denied a footing in the province of Beyond-Euphrates.
17The king sent this reply: 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.
18The letter which you sent to me has now been translated and read in my presence.
19I ordered search to be made and that city, it was discovered, has a long history of opposition to the royal house, and rebellion and sedition have been rife in it.
20There have been powerful kings ruling in Jerusalem and exercising authority over the whole province of Beyond-Euphrates; and general levy, poll tax, and land tax have been paid to them.
21Therefore, issue orders that these men must desist; this city is not to be rebuilt until a decree to that effect is issued by me.
22See that you do not neglect your duty in this matter, lest more damage and harm result to the royal house.
23When the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read before Rehum the high commissioner, Shimshai the secretary, and their colleagues, they went at once to Jerusalem and forcibly compelled the Jews to stop work.
24From then onwards the work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased; it remained at a standstill till the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.