1The people who had returned from Babylon were building a temple to honour the LORD. He is the God of Israel. The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard about it.2Then those enemies came to Zerubbabel. The family leaders of Israel were with him. The enemies said, ‘We want to help you build. We’re just like you. We worship your God. We offer sacrifices to him. We’ve been doing that ever since the time of Esarhaddon. He was king of Assyria. He brought our people here.’3Zerubbabel and Joshua answered them. So did the rest of the family leaders of Israel. They said, ‘You can’t help us build a temple to honour our God. You aren’t part of us. We’ll build it ourselves. We’ll do it to honour the LORD, the God of Israel. Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us to build it.’4Then the nations around Judah tried to make its people lose hope. They wanted to make them afraid to go on building.5So those nations paid some of the Jewish officials to work against the people of Judah. They wanted their plans to fail. They did it during the whole time Cyrus was king of Persia. They kept doing it until Darius became king.
Later enemies also oppose the Jews
6The enemies of the Jews brought charges against the people of Judah and Jerusalem. It happened when Xerxes began to rule over Persia.7Then Artaxerxes became king of Persia. During his rule, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and their friends wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in the Aramaic language. And it used the Aramaic alphabet.8Rehum and Shimshai also wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes. Rehum was the commanding officer. Shimshai was the secretary. Their letter was against the people of Jerusalem. It said,9We, Rehum and Shimshai, are writing this letter. Rehum is the commanding officer. Shimshai is the secretary. Our friends join us in writing. They include the judges, officials and managers in charge of the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon. They are also over the Elamites from Susa.10And they are over those who were forced to leave their countries. The great King Ashurbanipal, who is worthy of honour, forced them to leave. He moved them to the city of Samaria. He also moved them to other places west of the River Euphrates.11Here is a copy of the letter sent to Artaxerxes. We are sending this letter to you, King Artaxerxes. It is from your servants who live west of the River Euphrates.12We want you to know about the people who left you and have come up to us. They have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that evil city. It has caused trouble for a long time. Those people are making its walls like new again. They are repairing the foundations.13Here is something else we want you to know. Suppose this city is rebuilt. And suppose its walls are made like new again. Then no more taxes, gifts or fees will be collected. And sooner or later there will be less money for you.14We owe a lot to you. We don’t want to see dishonour brought on you. So we’re sending this letter to tell you what is going on.15Then you can have a search made in the official records. Have someone check the records of the kings who ruled before you. If you do, you will find out that Jerusalem is an evil city. It causes trouble for kings and countries. For a long time the city has refused to let anyone rule over it. That’s why it was destroyed.16We want you to know that this city shouldn’t be rebuilt. Its walls shouldn’t be made like new again. If that happens, you won’t have anything left west of the River Euphrates.17The king replied, I am writing this letter to Rehum, the commanding officer. I am also writing it to Shimshai the secretary. And I am writing it to your friends living in Samaria and in other places west of the River Euphrates. I give you my greetings.18The letter you sent us has been read to me. It has been explained to me in my language.19I gave an order. I had a search made. Here is what we found out. Jerusalem has a long history of turning against the kings of the countries that have ruled over it. It has refused to remain under their control. It is always stirring up trouble.20Jerusalem has had powerful kings. Some of them ruled over everything west of the Euphrates. Taxes, gifts and fees were paid to them.21So give an order to those men. Make them stop their work. Then the city won’t be rebuilt until I give the order.22Pay careful attention to this matter. Why should we let this danger grow? That would not be in our best interests.23The copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary. It was also read to their friends. Right away they went to the Jews in Jerusalem. They forced them to stop their work.24And so the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a stop. No more work was done on it until the second year that Darius was king of Persia.
English Standard Version
Adversaries Oppose the Rebuilding
1Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel,2they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.”3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”4Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build5and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.6And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
The Letter to King Artaxerxes
7In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated.*8Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:9Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,10and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River.11(This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now12be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.13Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired.14Now because we eat the salt of the palace* and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king,15in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste.16We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”
The King Orders the Work to Cease
17The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now18the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me.19And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it.20And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid.21Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me.22And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”23Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease.24Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Diese Website verwendet Cookies, um Ihnen die bestmögliche Nutzererfahrung bieten zu können.