Ezra 4:7-23

⁷ And in the days of Artaxerxes , Bishlam , Mithredath , Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia ; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic . ⁸ Rehum the commander e and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes , as follows - ⁹ then wrote Rehum the commander e and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their colleagues , the judges and the lesser governors , the officials , the secretaries , the men of Erech , the Babylonians , the men of Susa , that is, the Elamites , ¹⁰ and the rest of the nations which the great and honorable Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria , and in the rest of the region beyond the River . Now ¹¹ this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him: "T o King Artaxerxes : Your servants , the men in the region beyond the River , and now ¹² let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem ; they are rebuilding the rebellious and evil city and are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations . ¹³ "Now let it be known to the king , that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished , they will not pay tribute , custom or toll , and it will damage the revenue of the kings . ¹⁴ "Now because e e we are in the service of the palace , and it is not fitting for us to see the king's dishonor , therefore e we have sent and informed the king , ¹⁵ so that a search may be made in the record books of your fathers . And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city is a rebellious city and damaging to kings and provinces , and that they have incited revolt within it in past days ; therefore e that city was laid waste . ¹⁶ "We inform the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls finished , as a result you will have no possession in the province beyond the River ."

¹⁷ Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the commander e , to Shimshai the scribe , and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the River : "Peace . And now ¹⁸ the document which you sent to us has been translated and read before me. ¹⁹ "A decree has been issued by me, and a search has been made and it has been discovered that that city has risen up against the kings in past days , that rebellion and revolt have been perpetrated in it, ²⁰ that mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem , governing all the provinces beyond the River , and that tribute , custom and toll were paid to them. ²¹ "So, now issue a decree to make these men stop work, that this city may not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me. ²² "Beware of being negligent in carrying out this matter; why should damage increase to the detriment of the kings ?" ²³ Then as soon e as the copy of King Artaxerxes' document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues , they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms .