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.)