CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://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=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Ezra 4 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><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="/bmcc/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="http://biblehub.com/catholic">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NRSVCE</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"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</td><td width="1%" valign="top"></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><div class="text-html"> <h3><span id="en" class="text">Resistance to Rebuilding the Temple</span></h3><p class="chapter-1"><span class="text"><span class="versenum">1</span>When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, the God of Israel, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">2</span>they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of families 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 since the days of King Esar-haddon of Assyria who brought us here.” </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">3</span>But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of families in Israel said to them, “You shall have no part with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus of Persia has commanded us.”</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">4</span>Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">5</span>and they bribed officials to frustrate their plan throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia.</span></p> <h3><span id="en" class="text">Rebuilding of Jerusalem Opposed</span></h3><p><span class="text"><span class="versenum">6</span>In the reign of Ahasuerus, in his accession year, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">7</span>And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to King Artaxerxes of Persia; the letter was written in Aramaic and translated.<span data-fn='#fen' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-12118a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]'>[<a href="#fen" xtitle="See footnote a">a</a>]</span> </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">8</span>Rehum the royal deputy and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">9</span>(then Rehum the royal deputy, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the envoys, the officials, the Persians, the people of Erech, the Babylonians, the people of Susa, that is, the Elamites, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">10</span>and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River wrote—and now </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">11</span>this is a copy of the letter that they sent):</span></p><p><span class="text">“To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the people of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">12</span>may it be 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 finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">13</span>Now may it be known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be reduced. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">14</span>Now because we share 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, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">15</span>so that a search may be made in the annals of your ancestors. You will discover in the annals that this is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from long ago. On that account this city was laid waste. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">16</span>We 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.”</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">17</span>The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the royal deputy 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 </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">18</span>the letter that you sent to us has been read in translation before me. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">19</span>So I made a decree, and someone searched and discovered that this city has risen against kings from long ago, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">20</span>Jerusalem has had mighty kings who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">21</span>Therefore issue an order that these people be made to cease, and that this city not be rebuilt, until I make a decree. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">22</span>Moreover, take care not to be slack in this matter; why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">23</span>Then when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and the scribe Shimshai and their associates, they hurried to the Jews in Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">24</span>At that time the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped and was discontinued until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.</span></p> <A name="fen"></a><div class="footnotes"><h4>Footnotes</h4><ol><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to Ezra 4:7">Ezra 4:7</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Heb adds <i>in Aramaic,</i> indicating that 4.8–6.18 is in Aramaic. Another interpretation is <i>The letter was written in the Aramaic script and set forth in the Aramaic language</i></span></li></ol></div> </div></div></div></div></div> </div> </div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../ezra/3.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Ezra 3"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Ezra 3" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../ezra/5.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Ezra 5"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Ezra 5" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchap.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>