Ezra 4-6

Complete Jewish Bible

4 When the enemies of Y’hudah and Binyamin heard that the people from the exile were building a temple to Adonai the God of Isra’el, ²they approached Z’rubavel and the heads of fathers’ clans and said to them, “Let us build along with you; for we seek your God, just as you do; and we have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esar-Hadon king of Ashur, who brought us here.” ³But Z’rubavel, Yeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ clans in Isra’el answered them, “You and we have nothing in common that you should join us in building a house for our God. We will build by ourselves for Adonai the God of Isra’el, as Koresh king of Persia ordered us to do.”

⁴Then the people of the land began discouraging the people of Y’hudah, in order to make them afraid to build. ⁵They also bribed officials to frustrate their plan throughout the lifetime of Koresh king of Persia and on into the reign of Daryavesh king of Persia. ⁶During the reign of Achashverosh, at the beginning of his reign, they brought a charge in writing against the people living in Y’hudah and Yerushalayim. ⁷Then, during the time of Artach’shashta, Bishlam, Mitr’dat, Tav’el and their other colleagues wrote Artach’shashta; the letter was written in Aramaic, using Aramaic script. ⁸Rechum the district governor and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Yerushalayim to Artach’shashta the king as follows:

⁹“From Rechum the district governor, Shimshai the secretary, their other colleagues, the judges, the officials, the Dina’im, the Afarsat’khim, the Tarp’lim, the Afarsim, the Ark’vim, the Bavlim, the Shushan’kayim, the Dehayim, the ‘Elma’im, ¹⁰the other nations whom the great and noble Asnapar deported and settled in Shomron, and the others who remain in the country beyond the [Euphrates] River.”

¹¹(This is the text of the letter they sent him.)

“To Artach’shashta the king from his servants the people beyond the River:

¹²“Let the king know that the Judeans who left you to come to us in Yerushalayim are building this rebellious and wicked city. They have finished the walls and are now digging the foundations. ¹³So let the king know that if this city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, they will refuse to pay tribute, tax or toll; and this will reduce the royal revenue. ¹⁴Now, because we eat the king’s salt, and it is not right for us to see the king dishonored, we therefore are sending to inform the king, ¹⁵so that a search can be made in the archives of your ancestors; in these archives you will find and ascertain that this city is indeed a rebellious city, the bane of kings and provinces, and that sedition has been fostered there since ancient times — which is why this city was destroyed. ¹⁶We submit to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, you will soon lose possession of all territories beyond the River.”

¹⁷The king sent this answer:

“To Rechum the district governor, Shimshai the secretary, their other colleagues living in Shomron, and the rest beyond the River:

“Shalom!

¹⁸“The letter you sent us has now been translated for me. ¹⁹I ordered a search made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings, that rebellion and sedition have been fostered there; ²⁰also that there have been powerful kings over Yerushalayim who ruled all the territory beyond the River; and tribute, taxes and tolls were paid to them.

²¹“So now, order that these men stop work and that this city not be rebuilt until I order it. ²²Take care not to neglect your duty; otherwise the harm may increase, to the damage of the king.”
²³When the text of King Artach’shashta’s letter was read before Rechum, Shimshai the secretary and their colleagues, they hurried to Yerushalayim to the Judeans and stopped their work by force of arms. ²⁴So the work on the house of God in Yerushalayim ceased; it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Daryavesh king of Persia.

5 The prophets Hagai and Z’kharyah the son of ‘Iddo prophesied to the Judeans in Yerushalayim and Y’hudah; they prophesied to them in the name of the God of Isra’el. ²Then Z’rubavel the son of Sh’alti’el and Yeshua the son of Yotzadak began rebuilding the house of God in Yerushalayim; with them were the prophets of God, helping them.

³No sooner had they begun, when Tatnai the governor of the territory beyond the [Euphrates] River, Sh’tar-Boznai and their colleagues came and asked them, “Who gave you permission to rebuild this house and finish this wall? ⁴What are the names of the men putting up this building?” ⁵But the eye of their God was on the leaders of the Judeans, so they didn’t stop them until the matter could come before Daryavesh and a reply in writing be received.

⁶Here is the text of the letter which Tatnai the governor of the territory beyond the River, Sh’tar-Boznai and their fellow officials beyond the River sent to Daryavesh the king; ⁷they sent him a letter in which it was written:

“To Daryavesh the king,

“Complete shalom!”

⁸“Let the king know that we went to the province of Y’hudah, to the house of the great God. It is being rebuilt with large stones, and timber is being set in the walls. This work is being done energetically, and it is making good progress under the direction ⁹of their leaders. We asked them, ‘Who gave you permission to rebuild this house and finish this wall?’ ¹⁰We also asked them their names, so that we could write you the names of the men in charge of them.

¹¹“They gave us this answer: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, built and finished by a great king of Isra’el. ¹²But because our ancestors provoked the God of heaven, he handed them over to N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel, the Kasdi; he destroyed this house and carried the people off to Bavel. ¹³But in the first year of Koresh king of Bavel, Koresh the king gave authorization to rebuild this house of God. ¹⁴Moreover, the gold and silver articles belonging to the house of God, which N’vukhadnetzar had removed from the temple in Yerushalayim and brought to the temple of Bavel, Koresh the king took out of the temple in Bavel; they were turned over to a man named Sheshbatzar, whom he had appointed governor. ¹⁵He said to him, “Take these articles, go, put them in the temple in Yerushalayim, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.” ¹⁶So this same Sheshbatzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Yerushalayim; it has been under construction ever since, and it isn’t finished yet.
¹⁷“‘Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, let a search be made in the royal treasury there in Bavel to determine whether a decree was issued by Koresh the king to rebuild this house of God in Yerushalayim; and let the king send us his decision concerning this matter.’”

6 Daryavesh the king issued an order; and search was made in the archives building, where treasures were stored in Bavel; ²and there was found at Achm’ta, in the palace which is in the province of Media, a scroll on which was written the following:

“Memorandum:

³“In the first year of Koresh the king, Koresh the king issued this decree: ‘Concerning the house of God in Yerushalayim, let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offer sacrifices; and let its foundations be firmly laid. Its height is to be ninety feet and its breadth ninety feet, ⁴with three rows of large stones and one row of new timber. The expenses are to be charged to the king’s treasury. ⁵Also let the gold and silver articles belonging to the house of God, which N’vukhadnetzar removed from the temple at Yerushalayim and brought to Bavel, be restored and returned to the temple in Yerushalayim, each item to its place; and you are to put them in the house of God.’

⁶“Therefore, Tatnai governor of the territory beyond the River, Sh’tar-Boznai and your colleagues the officials beyond the River, stay away from there! ⁷Let the work of this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Judeans and the leaders of the Judeans rebuild this house of God on its site.

⁸“Moreover, I herewith issue this order concerning how you are to assist these leaders of the Judeans in rebuilding this house of God: the expenses of these men are to be defrayed promptly from the royal funds, from the taxes collected beyond the River, so that the work can continue. ⁹Whatever they need — young bulls, rams and lambs — for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, according to what the cohanim in Yerushalayim say, is to be given them daily without fail; ¹⁰so that they can offer sacrifices with a fragrant aroma to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.

¹¹“I also order that if anyone defies this order, a beam is to be pulled from his house; and he is to be lifted up and impaled on it. His house is to be reduced to rubble. ¹²May the God who has caused his name to be there overthrow any king or people that tries to defy it and destroy this house of God in Yerushalayim.

“I, Daryavesh, have issued this order. Let it be carried out to the letter.”

¹³Then Tatnai the governor of the territory beyond the [Euphrates] River, Sh’tar-Boznai and their colleagues obeyed strictly; because Daryavesh the king had given the order to do so.

¹⁴The leaders of the Judeans made good progress with the rebuilding, thanks to the prophesying of Hagai the prophet and Z’kharyah the son of ‘Iddo. They kept building until they were finished, in keeping with the command of the God of Isra’el and in accordance with the order of Koresh, Daryavesh and Artach’shashta king of Persia. ¹⁵This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Daryavesh the king. ¹⁶The people of Isra’el, the cohanim, the L’vi’im and the other people from the exile joyfully dedicated this house of God. ¹⁷At the dedication of this house of God they offered 100 young bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and, as a sin offering for all Isra’el, twelve male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Isra’el.

¹⁸Then they installed the cohanim in their divisions and the L’vi’im in their orders for the service of God in Yerushalayim, as written in the book of Moshe.

¹⁹The people from the exile kept Pesach on the fourteenth day of the first month. ²⁰For the cohanim and L’vi’im had purified themselves together; all of them were pure. So they slaughtered the Pesach lambs for all the people from the exile and for their kinsmen the cohanim and for themselves. ²¹The people of Isra’el who had returned from the exile and all those who had renounced the filthy practices of the nations living in the land in order to seek Adonai the God of Isra’el, ate [the Pesach lamb] ²²and joyfully kept the feast of matzah for seven days; for Adonai had filled them with joy by turning the heart of the king of Ashur toward them, so that he assisted them in the work of the house of God, the God of Isra’el.