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4 The enemies of the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin learned that the Israelites who had returned from Babylon were rebuilding the temple for Yahweh, the God whom the people of Israel worship. 2 So they approached Zerubbabel the governor and the other clan leaders and deceptively said to them, “We want to help you to build the temple. After all, we also worship your God. We have been offering sacrifices to him since the time that Esarhaddon, the king of Assyria, brought us here.”
3 But Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the other Jewish clan leaders replied, “We will not allow you to help us build a temple for our God. No, we alone will build it for Yahweh, the God whom Israel worships, because that is what King Cyrus of Persia told us to do.”
4 Then the people who had been living in that land before the Israelites returned there started doing things to make the Jews discouraged and afraid to continue building the temple. 5 They bribed government officials to prevent the Jews from fulfilling their plans to rebuild the temple and the city. They did that all during the time that Cyrus was king of Persia, and continued to do it during the time of the kings after him, including the time when Darius was king of Persia.
6 These enemies of the Jews continued to accuse them during the time that Darius’ son Ahasuerus was king. When Ahasuerus became king, they wrote a letter to him in which they accused the people living in the province of Judah and the city of Jerusalem of planning to rebel against the government.
7 Then again during the time of Artaxerxes, who was the next king of Persia, the enemies of the Jews wrote a letter to him. Some men named Bishlam, Mithredath, and Tabeel were the leaders of this group. They had someone write the letter for them in the Aramaic language, using the Aramaic alphabet.
8 Rehum, the high commissioner, and Shimshai, the provincial secretary, agreed that they could write the letter to King Artaxerxes with their authority to protest about what was happening in Jerusalem. This is what they wrote:
9 From Rehum the high commissioner, Shimshai the provincial secretary, and others with us who are judges and other government officials. We represent the people from the areas of Persia, Erech, Babylon, and Susa in the district of Elam, 10 as well as the other people groups whom the great and glorious Ashurbanipal had deported and sent to live in cities in Samaria and in the rest of the province west of the Euphrates River. Therefore: 11 (This is what they wrote in the letter that they sent to him:)
This letter is for King Artaxerxes. It comes from the officials serving you who live in the province west of the Euphrates River. Therefore:
12 “Your Majesty, we want you to know that the Jews who left from your territories are now living near us. They are rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. These people are wicked and want to rebel against you. Therefore, they are now rebuilding the walls of that city and repairing the foundations of its buildings. 13 It is important for you to know that if they rebuild this city and finish building its walls, they will stop paying any taxes. As a result, there will be less money in your treasury.
14 So, because we are loyal to you, and because we do not want anyone to humiliate you, for these reasons we are sending this information to you. 15 We suggest that you order your officials to search among the records that your predecessors kept. If you do that, you will find out that the people in this city have always rebelled against their rulers. You will find out that these people have withheld taxes from kings and from rulers of provinces. You will find out that from long ago the leaders of this city have started rebellions. That is the reason why the Babylonian army destroyed this city. 16 We want you to know that if they rebuild this city and finish building its walls, then you will no longer be able to control any of the people in this province west of the Euphrates River.”
17 After the king read this letter, he sent this reply to them:
“To you, Rehum, the high commissioner, and Shimshai, the provincial secretary, and your colleagues in Samaria and in other parts of the province that is west of the Euphrates River, I send my greetings. Therefore:
18 My officials carefully read out loud to me the letter that you sent to us. 19 Then I ordered my officials to search the records. I have found out that what you said is true. The people of Jerusalem have repeatedly revolted against their rulers, beginning a long time ago. 20 In the past, powerful kings ruled in Jerusalem. They also ruled over the whole province west of the Euphrates River. They forced the people there to pay them all kinds of taxes.
21 Therefore, you must command those Jews to stop rebuilding the city. They will only be allowed to resume if I tell them that they may rebuild it. 22 Do this immediately, because I do not want those people to do anything more that will cause me to lose any territory or income.”
23 Then King Artaxerxes sent messengers with a copy of the letter to Rehum and Shimshai the provincial secretary and their colleagues. As soon as the messengers finished reading it out loud to them, Rehum and Shimshai and their colleagues went quickly to the Jews in Jerusalem, and they forced the Jews to stop rebuilding the city. 24 Because the enemies of the Jews kept opposing them so strongly in these ways, the Jews had stopped rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. They did not do any more work to rebuild the temple until the second year after Darius had become the king of Persia.