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1The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were rebuilding a Temple to the Lord , the God of Israel.
2So they approached Zerubbabel and the other leaders and said, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God just as you do. We have sacrificed to him ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here.”
3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other leaders of Israel replied, “You may have no part in this work. We alone will build the Temple for the Lord , the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us.”
4Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work.
5They bribed agents to work against them and to frustrate their plans. This went on during the entire reign of King Cyrus of Persia and lasted until King Darius of Persia took the throne.[#4:5 Darius reigned 521–486 b.c.]
6Years later when Xerxes began his reign, the enemies of Judah wrote a letter of accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.[#4:6 Hebrew Ahasuerus, another name for Xerxes. He reigned 486–465 b.c.]
7Even later, during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, the enemies of Judah, led by Bishlam, Mithredath, and Tabeel, sent a letter to Artaxerxes in the Aramaic language, and it was translated for the king.[#4:7 Artaxerxes reigned 465–424 b.c.]
8Rehum the governor and Shimshai the court secretary wrote the letter, telling King Artaxerxes about the situation in Jerusalem.[#4:8 The original text of 4:8–6:18 is in Aramaic.]
9They greeted the king for all their colleagues—the judges and local leaders, the people of Tarpel, the Persians, the Babylonians, and the people of Erech and Susa (that is, Elam).
10They also sent greetings from the rest of the people whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal had deported and relocated in Samaria and throughout the neighboring lands of the province west of the Euphrates River.[#4:10a Aramaic Osnappar, another name for Ashurbanipal.; #4:10b Aramaic the province beyond the river; also in 4:11, 16, 17, 20.]
11This is a copy of their letter:
17Then King Artaxerxes sent this reply:
23When this letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai, and their colleagues, they hurried to Jerusalem. Then, with a show of strength, they forced the Jews to stop building.
24So the work on the Temple of God in Jerusalem had stopped, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.[#4:24 The second year of Darius’s reign was 520 b.c. The narrative started in 4:1-5 is resumed at verse 24.]