¹But when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the deportees were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel, ²they went up to Zerubbabel and the paternal fathers, and they said to them, “Let us build with you, because, like you, we will seek your God, and we have been sacrificing to him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” ³But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the paternal heads of Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building the house for our God, for we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus king of Persia commanded us.” ⁴And the people of the land impeded the people of Judah, and they harassed them in building. ⁵And they contracted advisers to work against them, to frustrate their plan for all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, and up to the reign of Darius king of Persia. ⁶And in the reign of Ahasuerus, at the start of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. And the content of the communiqué was written in Aramaic, and on reception it was translated from Aramaic. ⁸Rehum the chief minister and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter to Artaxerxes the king against Jerusalem accordingly. ⁹At that time Rehum the chief minister and Shimshai the scribe wrote, along with the rest of their associates, judges and magistrates, Tripolitans, Persians, Urukites, Babylonians, Shushanites (that is, Elamites), ¹⁰and the rest of the various peoples whom the great and honourable Osnappar deported and settled in the towns of Samaria, and the rest of the region on the far side of the river etcetera. ¹¹This is a transcript of the letter which they sent to him – to Artaxerxes the king. “From your servants, men from the far side of the river etcetera, ¹²let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from where you are to us have come to Jerusalem, and they are rebuilding the rebellious and wicked city, and they have completed the walls, and they have laid the foundations. ¹³Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt, and the walls are completed, they will not pay the levy of tax and excise, and in the end it will harm the interests of the monarchy. ¹⁴Now since our salaries are paid by the palace, and it would not be proper for us to see any ingloriousness of the king, we have sent word and informed the king about this, ¹⁵so that it may be investigated in the chronicles of your fathers, and so that you may find it in the chronicles and know that this city is a rebellious city which damages kings and provinces, and that they have been perpetrating an insurrection inside it since days of old, on account of which this city was destroyed. ¹⁶We hereby inform the king that if this city is rebuilt, and its walls are completed, as a result of it you will not have revenue from the far side of the river.” ¹⁷The king sent the following message to Rehum the chief minister and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who were living in Samaria, and the rest who were on the far side of the river: “Peace etcetera. ¹⁸The communiqué which you sent us has been translated and read before me, ¹⁹and a decree has been issued by me, and a search has been carried out, and it was found that this city since days of old has been rising up against kings, and that rebellion and insurrection have been perpetrated in it, ²⁰and that powerful kings have ruled over Jerusalem, as have rulers in all regions on the far side of the river, and the levy of tax and excise was paid to them. ²¹Issue a decree now to stop those men, and that that city is not to be rebuilt, until the decree is issued by me. ²²And be warned against being negligent in this, so that the damage does not increase in harming the monarchy.” ²³Then as soon as a transcript of King Artaxerxes' communiqué was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they hastily went to Jerusalem, to the Jews, and they stopped them with might and force. ²⁴Then the work on the house of God which is in Jerusalem stopped. And it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.