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<!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 ESV</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="../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="../">ESV</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">English Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/esv/nas/ezra/4.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div></a><div class="chap"><p class="heading">Adversaries Oppose the Rebuilding</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>, the God of Israel, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses 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 Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.</p> <p class="heading">The Letter to King Artaxerxes</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated.<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew written in Aramaic and translated in Aramaic, indicating that 4:8-6:18 is in Aramaic; another interpretation is The letter was written in the Aramaic script and set forth in the Aramaic language">a</a></sup></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>(This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>be it 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 class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Now be it 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 impaired. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Now because we eat the salt of the palace<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Aramaic because the salt of the palace is our salt">b</a></sup></span> and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></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.”</p> <p class="heading">The King Orders the Work to Cease</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander 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 class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezra/4-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="footnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">7</span> Hebrew <i><span class="catch-word">written in Aramaic and translated</span> in Aramaic</i>, indicating that 4:8 - 6:18 is in Aramaic; another interpretation is <i><span class="catch-word">The letter was written in</span> the Aramaic script and set forth in the Aramaic language</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">14</span> Aramaic <i>because the salt of the palace is our salt</i><br /></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">ESV Text Edition® (2016).<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by <a href="http://www.crossway.org/home/esv/">Crossway Bibles</a>, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 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