Ezra 4:3-5

English Standard Version

³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, ^(A)“You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(B)as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

⁴ Then ^(C)the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build ⁵ and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.