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Ezra 4 Legacy Standard Bible
<!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"><title>Ezra 4 Legacy Standard Bible</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><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) --> <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="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">LSB</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 width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="../menu.htm" width="100%" height="48" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table><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">Legacy Standard Bible</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/nasb_/ezra/4.htm" style="color:#0092f2" title="NASB">►► </a></td></tr></table></div><p class="hdg">Adversaries Discourage the Work</p><p><span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Then the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel, <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>so they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ <i>households</i> and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ <i>households</i> of Israel said to them, “You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.” <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>So the people of the land <span class="fn"><a href="#fn">[†]</a></span>discouraged the people of Judah and dismayed them from building, <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Now in the reign of <span class="fn"><a href="#fn">[†]</a></span>Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>And in the days of <span class="fn"><a href="#fn">[†]</a></span>Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the <span class="fn"><a href="#fn">[†]</a></span>text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated <i>from</i> Aramaic. <p class="hdg">The Letter to King Artaxerxes</p><p><span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span><span class="fn"><a href="#fn">[†]</a></span>Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows— <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span><HL>then <i>wrote</i> Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their colleagues, the judges and the lesser governors, the officials, the secretaries, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span><HL>and the rest of the nations, which the great and honorable <span class="fn"><a href="#fn">[†]</a></span>Osnappar took away into exile and settled in the city of Samaria and in the rest of the region beyond the <span class="fn"><a href="#fn">[†]</a></span>River. And now— <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him: <HLL>“To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men in the region beyond the River, and now— <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span><HL>let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they are rebuilding the rebellious and evil city and are completing the walls and repairing the foundations. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span><HL>Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are completed, they will not give tribute, custom, or toll, and it will damage the revenue of the kings. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span><HL>Now because we <span class="fn"><a href="#fn">[†]</a></span>are in the service of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king’s <span class="fn"><a href="#fn">[†]</a></span>dishonor, therefore we have sent and made known to the king, <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span><HL>that a search be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will find in the record books and come to know that that city is a rebellious city and damaging to kings and provinces, and that they have incited revolt within it in past days; therefore that city was laid waste. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span><HL>We make known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls completed, as a result you will have no portion in <i>the province</i> beyond the River.” <p class="hdg">A Decree Makes the Men Stop Rebuilding</p><p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span><i>Then</i> the king sent an edict to Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of <i>the provinces</i> beyond the River: “Peace. And now— <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>the document which you sent to us has been plainly read before me. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span><HL>So a decree has been <span class="fn"><a href="#fn">[†]</a></span>issued by me, and a search has been made and it has been found that that city has lifted itself up against the kings in past days, that rebellion and revolt have been perpetrated in it, <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span><HL>that strong kings have been over Jerusalem, even rulers in all <i>the provinces</i> beyond the River, and that tribute, custom, and toll were given to them. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span><HL>Now issue a decree to make those men stop, that this city may not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me. <span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span><HL>And beware of being negligent in doing this <i>matter</i>; why should harm increase to damage the kings?” <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force and military. <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/ezra/4-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.<A name="fn"></a></p><br /><br /><span class="fnverse">4</span> Lit <i>made the hands limp</i><br><span class="fnverse">6</span> Or <i>Xerxes</i>; Heb <i>Ahash-verosh</i><br><span class="fnverse">7</span> Heb <i>Artah-shashta</i><br><span class="fnverse">7</span> Lit <i>writing</i><br><span class="fnverse">8</span> Ch 4:8-6:18 is in Aram<br><span class="fnverse">10</span> Probably Ashurbanipal<br><span class="fnverse">10</span> The Euphrates River, so in ch<br><span class="fnverse">14</span> Lit <i>eat the salt</i><br><span class="fnverse">14</span> Lit <i>nakedness</i><br><span class="fnverse">19</span> Lit <i>put</i> forth<br></div><br /><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation<br>All rights reserved. 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