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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Ezra 4 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ezra/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/ezra/4-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">GNT</a> > Ezra 4</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ezra/3.htm" title="Ezra 3">◄</a> Ezra 4 <a href="../ezra/5.htm" title="Ezra 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s">Opposition to the Rebuilding of the Temple</h3><p class="par"><span class="v15_4_1"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.1" class="v15_4_1">1</span>The enemies of the people of Judah and Benjamin heard that those who had returned from exile were rebuilding the Temple of the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, the God of Israel. </span><span class="v15_4_2"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.2" class="v15_4_2">2</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.4.2!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> So they went to see Zerubbabel and the heads of the clans and said, “Let us join you in building the Temple. We worship the same God you worship, and we have been offering sacrifices to him ever since Emperor Esarhaddon of Assyria sent us here to live.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v15_4_3"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.3" class="v15_4_3">3</span>Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the heads of the clans told them, “We don't need your help to build a temple for the <span class="nd">Lord</span> our God. We will build it ourselves, just as Emperor Cyrus of Persia commanded us.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v15_4_4"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.4" class="v15_4_4">4</span>Then the people who had been living in the land tried to discourage and frighten the Jews and keep them from building. </span><span class="v15_4_5"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.5" class="v15_4_5">5</span>They also bribed Persian government officials to work against them. They kept on doing this throughout the reign of Emperor Cyrus and into the reign of Emperor Darius.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.4.5!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><h3 class="s">Opposition to the Rebuilding of Jerusalem</h3><p class="par"><span class="v15_4_6"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.6" class="v15_4_6">6</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.4.6!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> At the beginning of the reign of Emperor Xerxes, the enemies of the people living in Judah and Jerusalem brought written charges against them.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v15_4_7"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.7" class="v15_4_7">7</span>Again in the reign of Emperor Artaxerxes of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and their associates wrote a letter to the emperor. The letter was written in Aramaic<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.4.7!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and was to be translated when read.<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.4.7!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v15_4_8"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.8" class="v15_4_8">8</span>Also Rehum, the governor, and Shimshai, the secretary of the province, wrote the following letter to Emperor Artaxerxes about Jerusalem:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v15_4_9"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.9" class="v15_4_9">9</span>“From Rehum, the governor, from Shimshai, secretary of the province, from their associates, the judges, and from all the other officials, who are originally from Erech, Babylon, and Susa in the land of Elam, </span><span class="v15_4_10"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.10" class="v15_4_10">10</span>together with the other peoples whom the great and powerful Ashurbanipal moved from their homes and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in West-of-Euphrates Province.”<a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.4.10!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v15_4_11"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.11" class="v15_4_11">11</span>This is the text of the letter:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v15_4_11">“To Emperor Artaxerxes from his servants who live in West-of-Euphrates.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v15_4_12"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.12" class="v15_4_12">12</span>“We want Your Majesty to know that the Jews who came here from your other territories have settled in Jerusalem and are rebuilding that evil and rebellious city. They have begun to rebuild the walls and will soon finish them. </span><span class="v15_4_13"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.13" class="v15_4_13">13</span>Your Majesty, if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the people will stop paying taxes, and your royal revenues will decrease. </span><span class="v15_4_14"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.14" class="v15_4_14">14</span>Now, because we are under obligation to Your Majesty, we do not want to see this happen, and so we suggest </span><span class="v15_4_15"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.15" class="v15_4_15">15</span>that you order a search to be made in the records your ancestors kept. If you do, you will discover that this city has always been rebellious and that from ancient times it has given trouble to kings and to rulers of provinces. Its people have always been hard to govern. This is why the city was destroyed. </span><span class="v15_4_16"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.16" class="v15_4_16">16</span>We therefore are convinced that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, Your Majesty will no longer be able to control West-of-Euphrates Province.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v15_4_17"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.17" class="v15_4_17">17</span>The emperor sent this answer:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v15_4_17">“To Rehum, the governor, to Shimshai, secretary of the province, and to their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of West-of-Euphrates, greetings.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v15_4_18"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.18" class="v15_4_18">18</span>“The letter which you sent has been translated and read to me. </span><span class="v15_4_19"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.19" class="v15_4_19">19</span>I gave orders for an investigation to be made, and it has indeed been found that from ancient times Jerusalem has revolted against royal authority and that it has been full of rebels and troublemakers. </span><span class="v15_4_20"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.20" class="v15_4_20">20</span>Powerful kings have reigned there and have ruled over the entire province of West-of-Euphrates, collecting taxes and revenue. </span><span class="v15_4_21"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.21" class="v15_4_21">21</span>Therefore you are to issue orders that those men are to stop rebuilding the city until I give further commands. </span><span class="v15_4_22"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.22" class="v15_4_22">22</span>Do this at once, so that no more harm may be done to my interests.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v15_4_23"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.23" class="v15_4_23">23</span>As soon as this letter from Emperor Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai, and their associates, they hurried to Jerusalem and forced the Jews to stop rebuilding the city.</span></p><h3 class="s">Work on the Temple Begins Again</h3><p class="par"><span class="v15_4_24"><span class="reftext" id="Ezra.4.24" class="v15_4_24">24</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Ezra.4.24!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Work on the Temple had been stopped and had remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Emperor Darius of Persia.</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">4.5: </char><char style="fk" closed="false">emperor Darius: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The account of these events is continued at verse 24. The material in verses 6-23 describes events which took place almost a century later.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">4.7: </char><char style="fk" closed="false">Aramaic: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">From 4.8 to 6.18 this book is not in Hebrew, but Aramaic, the official language of the Persian Empire.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">4.7: </char><char style="fq" closed="false">The letter … read; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">or </char><char style="fq" closed="false">It was in Aramaic and was written in the Aramaic script.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">4.10: </char><char style="fk" closed="false">west-of-Euphrates province: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Under Persian rule the land of Judah was part of this large Persian province west of the Euphrates River.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. 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