18
So we now advise you, Master and King, that if this city is rebuilt and if its walls are erected, you will no longer have secure lines of access to Coele-Syria and Phoenicia.
19
The king wrote back to the recorder Rehum, Beltethmus, the scribe Shimshai, and their associates living in Samaria, Syria, and Phoenicia, as follows:
21
Consequently, I ordered a search to be made. It was discovered that this city has indeed rallied against kings in the past, that the people in it revolted frequently and started wars,
22
and that powerful and cruel kings have ruled in Jerusalem and exacted taxes from Coele-Syria and Phoenicia.