1
Now when the adversaries of Yehudah and Binyamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Yisra'el;
2
then they drew near to Zerubbavel, and to the heads of fathers' [houses], and said to them, Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as you do; and we sacrifice to him since the days of Esar-Haddon king of Ashshur, who brought us up here.
3
But Zerubbavel, and Yeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' [houses] of Yisra'el, said to them, You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, as king Koresh the king of Paras has commanded us.
4
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Yehudah, and troubled them in building,
5
and hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Koresh king of Paras, even until the reign of Daryavesh king of Paras.
6
In the reign of Achashverosh, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they an accusation against the inhabitants of Yehudah and Yerushalayim.
7
In the days of Artachshasta wrote Bishlam, Mitredat, Tav'el, and the rest of his companions, to Artachshasta king of Paras; and the writing of the letter was written in the Arammian [character], and set forth in the Arammian [language].
8
Rechum the chancellor and Shimshai the Sofer wrote a letter against Yerushalayim to Artachshasta the king in this sort:
9
then [wrote] Rechum the chancellor, and Shimshai the Sofer, and the rest of their companions, the Dinites, and the Afarsatkhi, the Tarpelites, the Afarsi, the Arkevi, the Bavlites, the Shushankhites, the Dehites, the Elamites,
10
and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over, and set in the city of Shomron, and in the rest [of the country] beyond the River, and so forth.
11
This is the copy of the letter that they sent to Artachshasta the king: Your servants the men beyond the River, and so forth.