2 then they came to Zerub´babel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar–had´don king of Assyria, which brought us up hither.
3 But Zerub´babel, and Jesh´u-a, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.
4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
5 and hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Dari´us king of Persia.
6 And in the reign of Ahasue´rus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of Artaxerx´es wrote Bishlam, Mith´redath, Tab´eel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerx´es king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.
8 Rehum the chancellor and Shim´shai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerx´es the king in this sort: