Parallel Bible results for "ezra 4"

Ezra 4

Wycliffe WYC

1 And the enemies of Judah and of Benjamin heard, that the sons of (the) captivity builded a temple to the Lord God of Israel;

2 and they came to Zerubbabel, and to the princes of (the) fathers, and said to them, Build we with you, for so as ye do, we seek your God (and they came to Zerubbabel, and to the leaders of the families, and said to them, Let us build with you, for we seek your God, as ye do); lo! we have offered sacrifices (to him) from the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assur, that brought us hither into this land.

3 And Zerubbabel, and Joshua, and the other princes of the fathers of Israel, said to them, It is not to us and to you, that we build an house to our God; but we us-selves alone shall build an house to the Lord our God, as Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us. (And Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the other leaders of the families of the tribes of Israel, said to them, It is of no concern to thee, that we build a House for our God; yea, we shall build by ourselves the House for the Lord our God, as Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.)

4 And it was done, that the people of the land hindered the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building. (And then it was done, that the people of the land hindered the hands of the people of Judah, and made them afraid to continue building.)

5 And they hired counsellors against the Jews, that they should destroy the counsel, or purpose, of the Jews, in all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, and unto the realm of Darius, king of Persia. (And they bribed court officials to work against the Jews, in all the days of Cyrus, the king of Persia, and into the reign of Darius, the king of Persia.)

6 And in the realm of Ahasuerus, he is (also) called Artaxerxes, in the beginning of his realm, they writed accusing against the dwellers of Judah and of Jerusalem; (And then in the kingdom of Ahasuerus, who is also called Artaxerxes, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote accusations against the inhabitants of Judah and of Jerusalem;)

7 and in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam wrote, and Mithredath, and Tabeel, and others, that were in the counsel of them, to Artaxerxes, king of Persia. And the epistle of accusing was written in the language of Syria, and it was read in the word of Syria. (yea, in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, and Mithredath, and Tabeel, and their counsellors, or their officials, wrote to Artaxerxes, the king of Persia. And their letter of accusation was written in the Aramaic language, and it was read aloud in Aramaic.)

8 Rehum, B?el T?em, and Shimshai, the scribe, wrote such an epistle from Jerusalem to king Artaxerxes, [on this manner]; (And Rehum, the chancellor, and Shimshai, the provincial secretary, also wrote a letter from Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, in this manner;)

9 Rehum, B?el T?em, and Shimshai, the scribe, and [the] other counsellors of them (From Rehum, the chancellor, and Shimshai, the provincial secretary, and their counsellors, or their officials), (the) Dinaites, Apharsathchites, and Tarpelites, Apharistes, Archevites, men of Babylon, Susanchites, Dehavites, (and) men of Elam,

10 and others of heathen men, which the great and glorious Asnapper translated, and made them to dwell in the cities of Samaria, and in other countries beyond the flood, in peace. (and others of the heathen, whom the great and glorious Asnapper carried off captive, and made them live in the cities of Samaria, and in other places in the province west of the Euphrates River, peace to you.)

11 This is the exemplar of the epistle, that they sent to the king. To Artaxerxes, king, thy servants, men beyond the flood, say health to thee. (This is the text of the letter that they sent to the king. To King Artaxeres, from thy servants, we men here in the province west of the Euphrates River, who desire good health and prosperity for thee.)

12 Be it known to the king, that the Jews, which went up from thee, be come to us in Jerusalem, a rebel and full evil city, which they build (again), and they make the ground walls thereof, and they array the walls above. (Be it known to the king, that the Jews, who left thee, have come to us here in Jerusalem, yea, a rebellious and very evil city, which they now rebuild, and they have laid the foundations, and now raise up the walls on top of them.)

13 Now therefore be it known to the king, that if that city be builded (again), and the walls thereof be restored, they shall not give tribute, and toll, and annual rents, and this trespass, or harm, shall come to the king. (And so now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt, and its walls be restored, then they will not pay tribute, or taxes, or tolls, or annual rents, and that this harm shall come to the king.)

14 Therefore we be mindful of the salt, that is, of meats made savory with salt, that we ate in thy palace, and for we held it unleaveful to see the harms of the king (and for we found it unacceptable to see the king harmed in any way), therefore we have sent and told (this) to the king;

15 that thou account (for) and seek in the books of [the] stories of thy fathers, and thou shalt find (it) written in (the) chronicles, and (then) thou shalt know, that that city Jerusalem is a rebel city, and that it harmeth kings and provinces, and that battles be raised therein of eld days; wherefore also that city was destroyed. (and that if thou search in the books of the stories of thy fathers, thou shalt find it written in The Chronicles, and then thou shalt know, that this city Jerusalem hath long been a rebellious city, and that it harmeth kings and provinces, and that battles be raised up there from days of old, or the olden days; and for that reason the city was destroyed.)

16 We tell to the king, that if that city be builded (again), and the walls thereof be restored, thou shalt not have possession beyond the flood. (We say to the king, that if that city is rebuilt, and its walls be restored, then thou shalt not have power, or authority, in the province west of the Euphrates River.)

17 The king sent word to Rehum, B?el T?em, and to Shimshai, the scribe, and to others that were in the counsel of them, to the dwellers of Samaria, and to others beyond the flood, and said, Health and peace. (And the king sent word by a letter, saying, To Rehum, the chancellor, and to Shimshai, the provincial secretary, and to their counsellors, or to their officials, who be inhabitants of Samaria, and to the others who live throughout the province west of the Euphrates River, health and peace to all of you.)

18 The accusing (The accusation), which ye sent to us, was read openly before me;

19 and it was commanded of me, and they reckoned, and they found, that that city rebelleth of eld days against kings, and dissensions and battles be raised therein; (and I commanded that they search in The Chronicles, and indeed they found, that that city in days of old rebelled against kings, and dissensions and battles were raised up there;)

20 for why there were in Jerusalem full strong kings, which also were lords of all the country that is beyond the flood; also those kings took tribute, and toll, and rents. (for there were very strong kings in Jerusalem, who were also lords of all the province that is west of the Euphrates River; and those kings took tribute, or taxes, and tolls, and rents.)

21 Now therefore hear ye the sentence, that ye forbid those men to build, and that that city be not builded (again), till if peradventure it be commanded of me. (And so now listen ye to my decree, which is, that ye forbid those men to continue to build, and that that city not be rebuilt, unless, and until, I command it to be done.)

22 See ye, that this behest be not fulfilled negligently, and evil increase little and little against (the) kings. (See ye, that this command be not carelessly fulfilled, for then evil would increase little by little against the king.)

23 Therefore the exemplar of the commandment of king Artaxerxes was read before Rehum, B?el T?em, and Shimshai, the scribe, and their counsellors; and they went in haste into Jerusalem to the Jews, and they forbade them to build, with arm and might. (And so when the text of King Artaxerxes? letter was read before Rehum, the chancellor, and Shimshai, the provincial secretary, and their counsellors, or their officials, they went in haste to the Jews in Jerusalem, and with might and arms, or weapons, they forbade them to continue building.)

24 Then the work of God's house in Jerusalem was left [off], and it was not made till to the second year of the realm of Darius, king of Persia. (And so the work on the House of God in Jerusalem was stopped, and it was not started again until the second year of the reign of Darius, the king of Persia.)

New International Version NIV

1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,

2 they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

3 But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”

4 Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.

5 They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

7 And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language.

8 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:

9 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates—the judges, officials and administrators over the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,

10 and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.

11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent him.) To King Artaxerxes, From your servants in Trans-Euphrates:

12 The king should know that the people who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.

13 Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid, and eventually the royal revenues will suffer.

14 Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king,

15 so that a search may be made in the archives of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place with a long history of sedition. That is why this city was destroyed.

16 We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.

17 The king sent this reply: To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates: Greetings.

18 The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence.

19 I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition.

20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them.

21 Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order.

22 Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?

23 As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.

24 Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.