Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Key: khaki:verbs, blue:Elohim.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrTrAnd they drew near to Zorobabel, and to the heads of families, and said to them, We will build with you; for as ye do, we seek to serve our God, and we do sacrifice to him from the days of Asaradan king of Assur, who brought us hither.
ULTSo they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the fathers and they said to them, “Let us build with you, for, like you, we seek your God and to him we have been sacrificing since the days of Esarhaddon, the king of Assyria, the one who caused us to come up here.”
USTSo 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.”
BSBthey approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”
WEBBEthey came near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have been sacrificing to him since the days of Esar Haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”
NETthey came to Zerubbabel and the leaders and said to them, “Let us help you build, for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him from the time of King Esarhaddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”
LSVand they draw near to Zerubbabel, and to heads of the fathers, and say to them, “Let us build with you; for, like you, we seek to your God, and we are not sacrificing since the days of Esar-Haddon king of Asshur, who brought us up here.”
FBVThey came to Zerubbabel and the family leaders and said, “Please let us help you with the building work, for we worship your God like you do. In fact we have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
T4TSo they went to Zerubbabel the governor and the other leaders, and said deceptively, “We want to help you build the temple, because we worship that same God whom you worship, and we have been offering sacrifices to him since Esarhaddon, the King of Assyria, brought us here.”
LEBAnd they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families,[fn] and they said to them, “Let us build with you. Like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him from the days of Esarhaddon the king of Assyria who brought us up here.
BBEThen they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of families, and said to them, Let us take part in the building with you; for we are servants of your God, even as you are; and we have been making offerings to him from the days of Esar-haddon, king of Assyria, who put us here.
JPSthen they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers' houses, and said unto them: 'Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither.'
ASVthen they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’ houses, and said unto them, Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as ye do; and we sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither.
DRAAnd they came to Zorobabel, and the chief of the fathers, and said to them: Let us build with you, for we seek your God as ye do: behold we have sacrificed to him, since the days of Asor Haddan king of Assyria, who brought us hither.
YLTand they draw nigh unto Zerubbabel, and unto heads of the fathers, and say to them, 'Let us build with you; for, like you, we seek to your God, and we are not sacrificing since the days of Esar-Haddon king of Asshur, who brought us up hither.'
Drbyand they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief fathers, and said to them, We would build with you; for we seek your [fn]God, as ye; and we have sacrificed to him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither.
RVthen they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’ houses, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, which brought us up hither.
WbstrThen they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said to them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do ; and we do sacrifice to him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assur, who brought us up hither.
KJB-1769Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. (Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye/you_all do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither/here. )
KJB-1611Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chiefe of the fathers, and said vnto them, Let vs build with you, for wee seeke your God, as yee doe, and we doe sacrifice vnto him, since the dayes of Esar-Haddon king of Assur, which brought vs vp hither. (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))
BshpsAnd they came to Zorobabel and to the principall fathers, and saide vnto them: We wyll builde with you, for we seeke the Lorde your God, as ye do, and we haue done sacrifice vnto him since the time of Asor Hadon the king of Assur which brought vs vp hither. (And they came to Zorobabel and to the principall fathers, and said unto them: We will build with you, for we seek the Lord your God, as ye/you_all do, and we have done sacrifice unto him since the time of Asor Hadon the king of Assur which brought us up hither/here.)
GnvaAnd they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chiefe fathers, and sayd vnto them, We wil builde with you: for we seeke the Lord your God as ye do, and we haue sacrificed vnto him since the time of Esar Haddon king of Asshur, which brought vs vp hither. (And they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief fathers, and said unto them, We will build with you: for we seek the Lord your God as ye/you_all do, and we have sacrificed unto him since the time of Esar Haddon king of Asshur, which brought us up hither/here. )
Cvdlthey came to Zorobabel & to the pryncipall fathers, and sayde vnto them: We wyl buylde with you: for we seke the LORDE youre God like as ye do. And we haue done sacrifice vnto him, sence the tyme that Assar Hadon the kynge of Assur broughte vs vp hither. (they came to Zorobabel and to the pryncipall fathers, and said unto them: We will build with you: for we seek the LORD your(pl) God like as ye/you_all do. And we have done sacrifice unto him, since the time that Assar Hadon the king of Assur brought us up hither/here.)
Wycland thei neiyeden to Zorobabel, and to the princes of fadris, and seiden to hem, Bilde we with you, for so as ye, we seken youre God; lo! we han offrid sacrificis fro the daies of Assoraddon, kyng of Assur, that brouyte vs hidur. (and they neiyeden to Zorobabel, and to the princes of fathers, and said to them, Bilde we with you, for so as ye/you_all, we seek your(pl) God; lo! we have offrid sacrificis from the days of Assoraddon, king of Assur, that brought us hither/here.)
Luthkamen sie zu Serubabel und zu den obersten Vätern und sprachen zu ihnen: Wir wollen mit euch bauen, denn wir suchen euren GOtt, gleichwie ihr; und wir haben nicht geopfert, seit der Zeit Assar-Haddon, der König zu Assur, uns hat heraufgebracht. (kamen they/she/them to Serubabel and to the obersten Vätern and said to to_them: We wollen with you bauen, because we/us suchen yours God, gleichwie ihr; and we/us have not geopfert, since the/of_the time Assar-Haddon, the/of_the king to Assur, us/to_us/ourselves has heraufgebracht.)
ClVget accedentes ad Zorobabel, et ad principes patrum, dixerunt eis: Ædificemus vobiscum, quia ita ut vos, quærimus Deum vestrum: ecce nos immolavimus victimas a diebus Asor Haddan regis Assur, qui adduxit nos huc.[fn] (and accedentes to Zorobabel, and to principes patrum, dixerunt eis: Ædificemus with_you, because ita as vos, quærimus God of_you: behold we immolavimus victimas from days Asor Haddan king Assur, who adduxit we huc. )
4.2Ædificemus vobis. ID., ibid. Cum affectant hæretici auctoritatem sibi prædicandi inter catholicos tribui, etc., usque ad in aperti persona hostis accerrime impugnavit. Non est nobis. Non est hæreticorum ædificare Ecclesiam a qua sunt alieni, sed tantum eorum qui Christo vero regi et sacerdoti adhærentes, principes patrum vocari meruerunt, et pro pia cura quam habent erga eos qui Christum videre desiderant.
4.2Ædificemus vobis. ID., ibid. Since affectant hæretici auctoritatem sibi prædicandi between catholicos tribui, etc., until to in aperti persona hostis accerrime impugnavit. Non it_is nobis. Non it_is hæreticorum to_build Ecclesiam from which are alieni, but only their who Christo vero regi and sacerdoti adhærentes, principes patrum vocari meruerunt, and for pia cura how habent erga them who Christum videre desiderant.
4:2King Esarhaddon of Assyria (680–669 BC) had deported the people of Israel to foreign lands and had relocated other conquered peoples to the land of Israel during the reign of King Manasseh in Judah. These foreigners had learned about the Lord when they entered the land of Israel but had also continued to worship their old gods (2 Kgs 17:27-34, 40-41).
God is holy, and he made a covenant with Israel to establish a holy nation (Exod 19:4-6; Lev 19:2). Israel’s identity as God’s people required purity in worship and in social relationships. God knew that if his people mingled with their pagan neighbors, they would be drawn into their detestable worship practices (see Num 25:1-9). Their failure to maintain purity and their assimilation to the surrounding cultures ultimately led to their destruction and exile (2 Kgs 17:5-23).
When Ezra wrote to the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem, one of his main purposes was to remind them of their need to remain pure in their beliefs and commitments. After arriving in Jerusalem, Ezra found that the people had intermarried with pagan foreigners, even though doing so was not permitted in God’s law (see Deut 7:3-4; Josh 23:12-13). As a result, their identity as God’s holy nation was in danger of disintegrating once again (Ezra 9:1-2).
To impress on his readers the need for separation from these foreigners, Ezra recounts how those who first returned to Jerusalem refused to cooperate with the pagan people living around them (4:1-5). These people claimed to worship the same God, but they actually worshiped several gods in addition to Israel’s God. If the Jews had joined with these people, they soon would have compromised their beliefs and become ungodly, just as Israel had done before the Exile (see Exod 34:15-16; 1 Kgs 11:1-5; 2 Kgs 16:3). Those early leaders of the Jews in Judea understood the danger of accommodating these foreigners. They learned from their ancestors’ experience and refused to compromise the purity of their faith for the sake of peace. They carefully followed God’s instructions in everything they did (Ezra 3:2, 9; 6:18). If they were going to identify themselves as “the servants of the God of heaven and earth” (5:11), they would need to please and serve him and no other gods.
Believers today are identified as God’s holy people (1 Pet 2:9), a title that speaks of purity. Paul admonished the Corinthians to refrain from marrying unbelievers—for Christ and Satan have no fellowship (2 Cor 6:14-15). Righteousness and unrighteousness do not mix. The people of God must dissociate themselves from all behavior that defiles, instead clothing themselves with attitudes and actions that befit their holy status (Col 3:5-15).
The word So indicates that the sentence it introduces explains the results of what the previous sentence described. Alternate translation: “As a result, they went”
Since the book says in the previous verse that these people were enemies of the Jews, the implication is that they were not sincere when they claimed that they wanted to help build the temple. Instead, they were probably looking for a way to hinder the building project from within. The Jewish leaders refused their offer, and that suggests that they themselves suspected that these people were insincere. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could say something like that explicitly. Alternate translation: “and attempting to deceive the Jews, they said to them, ‘We would like to help you build the temple’”
These men say that Esarhaddon brought them up to this land because it is mountainous and, as 4:9 indicates, their ancestors formerly lived in lowland areas. Alternate translation: “the one who brought us here”
The Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, where all Israelite males were commanded to offer sacrifices to the Lord (Exodus 23:14-19; Deuteronomy 16:16-17), underwent several stages of reconstruction and development over hundreds of years. The first Temple was built by King Solomon to replace the aging Tabernacle, and it was constructed on a threshing floor on high ground on the north side of the city (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21). Hundreds of years later King Hezekiah expanded the platform surrounding the Temple. When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C., the Temple was completely destroyed (2 Kings 25:1-21; 2 Chronicles 36:17-21; Jeremiah 39:1-10; 52:1-30). It was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after a group of Jews returned to Judea from exile in Babylon (Ezra 1:5-6:15; Nehemiah 7:5-65). Herod the Great completely rebuilt and expanded the Temple once again around 20 B.C., making it one of the largest temples in the Roman world. Jesus’ first believers often met together in Solomon’s Colonnade, a columned porch that encircled the Temple Mount, perhaps carrying on a tradition started by Jesus himself (John 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12). But Herod’s Temple did not last long: After many Jews revolted against Rome, the Romans eventually recaptured Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple in A.D. 70.
