26. “After reading the letter which you sent me, I gave orders for an investigation to be made, and it has indeed been found that from ancient times Jerusalem has revolted against royal authority,
27. and its people have been involved in insurrections and wars. Powerful and cruel kings have reigned there and have ruled over Greater Syria and Phoenicia, from which they collected taxes.
28. Therefore I am now issuing orders that those men be prevented from rebuilding the city and that necessary steps be taken to ensure that these orders will not be disobeyed,
29. so that this trouble spot will no longer be a threat to the royal interests.”
30. As soon as this letter from Artaxerxes was read, Rehum, Shimshai the secretary, and their associates hurried to Jerusalem with a force of cavalry and a large number of armed troops and began interfering with the rebuilding of the Temple. The work had to stop, and no more was done until the second year of the reign of Darius, emperor of Persia.