1. The enemies of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people had come back to rebuild the temple of the Lord God of Israel.
2. So they went to Zerubbabel and to the family leaders and said, “Let us help! Ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here, we have worshipped your God and offered sacrifices to him.”
3. But Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the family leaders answered, “You cannot take part in building a temple for the Lord our God! We will build it ourselves, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us.”
4. Then the neighbouring people began to do everything possible to frighten the Jews and to make them stop building.
5. During the time when Cyrus was king and even until Darius became king, they kept bribing government officials to slow down the work.
6. In the first year that Xerxes was king, the neighbouring people brought written charges against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
7. Later, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and their advisers got together and wrote a letter to Artaxerxes when he was king of Persia. It was written in Aramaic and had to be translated.
8-10. A letter was also written to Artaxerxes about Jerusalem by Governor Rehum, Secretary Shimshai, and their advisers, including the judges, the governors, the officials, and the local leaders. They were joined in writing this letter by people from Erech and Babylonia, the Elamites from Susa, and people from other foreign nations that the great and famous Ashurbanipal had forced to settle in Samaria and other parts of Western Province.
11. This letter said:Your Majesty King Artaxerxes, we are your servants from everywhere in Western Province, and we send you our greetings.