41 Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel , 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God ; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria , who brought us up here ." 3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers' households of Israel said to them, " You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God ; but we ourselves will together build to the Lord God of Israel , as King Cyrus , the king of Persia has commanded us." 4 Then the people of the land discouraged e the people of Judah , and frightened them from building , 5 and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia , even until the reign of Darius king of Persia .
6 Now in the reign of Ahasuerus , in the beginning of his reign , they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem . 7 And in the days of Artaxerxes , Bishlam , Mithredath , Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia ; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic . 8 Rehum the commander e and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes , as follows - 9 then wrote Rehum the commander e and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their colleagues , the judges and the lesser governors , the officials , the secretaries , the men of Erech , the Babylonians , the men of Susa , that is, the Elamites , 10 and the rest of the nations which the great and honorable Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria , and in the rest of the region beyond the River . Now 11 this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him: "T o King Artaxerxes : Your servants , the men in the region beyond the River , and now 12 let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem ; they are rebuilding the rebellious and evil city and are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations . 13 "Now let it be known to the king , that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished , they will not pay tribute , custom or toll , and it will damage the revenue of the kings . 14 "Now because e e we are in the service of the palace , and it is not fitting for us to see the king's dishonor , therefore e we have sent and informed the king , 15 so that a search may be made in the record books of your fathers . And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city is a rebellious city and damaging to kings and provinces , and that they have incited revolt within it in past days ; therefore e that city was laid waste . 16 "We inform the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls finished , as a result you will have no possession in the province beyond the River ."
17 Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the commander e , to Shimshai the scribe , and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the River : "Peace . And now 18 the document which you sent to us has been translated and read before me. 19 "A decree has been issued by me, and a search has been made and it has been discovered that that city has risen up against the kings in past days , that rebellion and revolt have been perpetrated in it, 20 that mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem , governing all the provinces beyond the River , and that tribute , custom and toll were paid to them. 21 "So, now issue a decree to make these men stop work, that this city may not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me. 22 "Beware of being negligent in carrying out this matter; why should damage increase to the detriment of the kings ?" 23 Then as soon e as the copy of King Artaxerxes' document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues , they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms . 24 Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased , and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia .
