4:1  Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile had started to build a temple to the LORD God of Israel,

4:2  they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here."

4:3  But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers' households 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 the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us."

4:4  Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building,

4:5  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

4:6  Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

4:7  And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the text of the letter he had written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic.

4:8  Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows

4:9  then wrote 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, namely, the Elamites,

4:10  and the rest of the nations which the great and honorable Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region beyond the River. Now

4:11  this represents the copy of the letter which they sent to him: "To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men in the region beyond the River, and now

4:12  let the king know that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they rebuild the rebellious and evil city and have started to finish the walls and repairing the foundations.

4:13  "Now the king know, that if they rebuild that city and finish these walls, they will not pay tribute, custom or toll, and it will damage the revenue of the kings.

4:14  "Now because we serve the palace, and it does not seem fitting for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore we have sent and informed the king,

4:15  so that you search the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city has rebelled and damaged kings and provinces, and that they have incited revolt within it in past days; therefore that city had become ruined.

4:16  "We inform the king that if they rebuild that city and finish the walls finished, as a result you will have no possession in the province beyond the River."

4:17  Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the River: "Peace. And now

4:18  the document which you sent to us people have translated and read before me.

4:19  "I issued a decree, and I have made a search, discovering that that city has risen up against the kings in past days, that people have perpetrated rebellion and revolt,

4:20  that mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem, governing all the provinces beyond the River, and people have paid tribute, custom and toll to them.

4:21  "So, now issue a decree to make these men stop work, that this city may not become rebuilt until I issue a decree.

4:22  "Beware of having negligence in carrying out this matter; why should damage increase to the detriment of the kings?"

4:23  Then as soon as they read the copy of King Artaxerxes' document before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms.

4:24  Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and they stopped it until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.