Ezra

4 Then the people of the land around them tried to discourage the people of Judah and intimidate them from building. 5 During the whole reign of Cyrus king of Persia until the reign of Darius king of Persia,a they bribed officialsb to oppose the Jews and frustrate their plans. 6 At the beginning of the reign of King Xerxes,c they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 7 And during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes. They wrote the letter, translated it into Aramaic, and put it in Aramaic script. 8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as below. 11a This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:

To King Artaxerxes,

From your servants the men of Trans-Euphrates: 9 Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of our colleagues— the judges, officials, functionaries, and secretaries— the people of Erech, Babylon, and Susa (that is, the Elamites), 10 the rest of the nations whom Ashurbanipal the Great and Noble deported and settled in the city of Samaria and the rest of Trans-Euphrates. 11b Now 12 Let it be known to the king that the Jews who have come up from you have come to us at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious, wicked city, finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Therefore

Let it be known to the king

that if that city is rebuilt and its walls finished, then taxes, duties, and revenue will not be paid, and the royal treasury will be harmed. 14 Now since we are loyal to the palace,d and it is not fitting for us to see the king dishonored, for this reason we have sent this letter to inform the king. 15 Let there be a search in the records of your predecessors,e and you will find their history in the records and know that this city is a rebellious city, causing loss to kings and provinces. They incited insurrection in it in former times, which is why this city was destroyed. 16 We are warning the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, the result will be this: You will have nothing leftf in Trans-Euphrates.

a Cyrus, the founder of the first Persian Empire, reigned from 559 to 530 BC, and Darius, the third king, reigned from 522 to 486 BC. b Literally, “hired counselors.” c Literally, “Ahasuerus.” d Literally, “eat the salt of the palace.” e Literally, “fathers.” f Literally, “have no portion.”