Ezra 4 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
When the of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel,
they approached Zerubbabel and the family leaders and said, "Let us build with you, because we worship your God just like you do. We've been sacrificing to him since the days of king of Assyria, who brought us here."
But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the family leaders of Israel told them, "You have no part with us in building a house for our God. We alone will build it for Yahweh, the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us."
Then the people already in the land started the people of Judah and making them afraid to keep building.
They even hired to work against them and sabotage their plans. This went on the entire time Cyrus was king of Persia, all the way until became king.
When first became king, they wrote up a formal accusation against the people living in Judah and Jerusalem.
And during the reign of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in script and translated into
Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes. It went like this:
"From Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary, and the rest of their associates — the judges, officials, administrators, and people from Erech, Babylon, Susa (that is, the Elamites),"
"and the rest of the peoples that the great and honorable deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and the rest of the region of the
"(This is a copy of the letter they sent to him.) To King Artaxerxes, from your servants, the men of the region west of the Euphrates River:"
"The king should know that the Jews who came up from you to us have arrived in Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that and dangerous city, finishing the walls and repairing the foundations."
"Now the king should know that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, they will not pay or and the royal treasury will suffer."
"Now, since we the of the and it's not right for us to watch the king be dishonored, we're sending this to let the king know."
"Search through the records of your ancestors. You'll find in those records that this city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, and that they've been stirring up trouble in it since ancient times. That's why this city was destroyed."
"We're informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will lose your foothold in the region west of the Euphrates."
The king sent this reply: "To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary, and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and the rest of the region west of the Euphrates River: Peace."
"The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence."
"I gave the order, and a search was done. It was found that this city has a long history of rising up against kings and that rebellion and revolt have been stirred up in it."
"There have been powerful kings over Jerusalem who ruled the entire region west of the Euphrates, and tribute, taxes, and tolls were paid to them."
"Now issue an order for these men to stop. This city must not be rebuilt until I give the order."
"Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why should the damage grow and hurt the king's interests?"
As soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read to Rehum, Shimshai the secretary, and their associates, they rushed to the Jews in Jerusalem and forced them to stop by of
That's when the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a stop. It stayed stopped until the second year of King Darius of Persia.