Opposition to the Rebuilding

4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building^(A) a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel,

⁴ Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.^[a](A)

⁷ And in the days of Artaxerxes^(A) king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic^(B) language.^[a][b]