Ezra 4

vayyishme'u tsare yehudah uvinyamin ki-vene haggolah bonim hekhal la-Adonai elohe yisra'el

When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the ETERNAL God of Israel,

vayyiggeshu el-zerubbavel ve'el-rashe ha'avot vayyomeru lahem nivneh immakhem ki khakhem nidrosh lelohekhem (vl) [velo ] anakhnu zovekhim mime esar khaddon melekh ashur hamma'aleh otanu poh

they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the clans and said to them, “Let us build with you, since we too worship your God; we have been offering sacrifices since the time of King Esarhaddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”

vayyomer lahem zerubbavel veyeshua ushe'ar rashe ha'avot leyisra'el lo-lakhem valanu livnot bayit lelohenu ki anakhnu yakhad nivneh la-Adonai elohe yisra'el ka'asher tsivvanu hammelekh koresh melekh-paras

Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the clans of Israel answered them, “It is not for you and us to build a House to our God, but we alone will build it to the ETERNAL God of Israel, in accord with the charge that the king, King Cyrus of Persia, laid upon us.”

vayehi am-ha'arets merappim yede am-yehudah (vmvlhym) [umevahalim] otam livnot

Thereupon the people of the land undermined the resolve of the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build.

vesokherim alehem yo'atsim lehafer atsatam kol-yeme koresh melekh paras ve'ad-malkhut dareyavesh melekh-paras

They bribed ministers in order to thwart their plans all the years of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia.

uvemalkhut akhashverosh bitkhillat malkhuto katevu sitnah al-yosheve yehudah virushalai͏m

And in the reign of Ahasuerus, at the start of his reign, they drew up an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

uvime artakhshasta katav bishlam mitredat tave'el ushe'ar kenavotav al-artakhshast melekh paras ukhetav hannishtevan katuv aramit umeturgam aramit

And in the time of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues wrote to King Artaxerxes of Persia, a letter written in Aramaic and translated. Aramaic:

rekhum be'el-te'em veshimshay safera ketavu iggerah khadah al-yerushelem le'artakhshast malka kenema

Rehum the commissioner and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter concerning Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

edayin rekhum be'el-te'em veshimshay safera ushe'ar kenavatehon dinaye va'afarsatkhaye tarpelaye afaresaye (rkhvy) [arkovaye] vavelaye shushankhaye (dhv) [dehaye] elemaye

(Then Rehum the commissioner and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues, the judges, officials, officers, and overseers, of [the peoples from] Erech, and Babylon, and Susa—that is the Elamites—

ushe'ar ummayya di hagli osnappar rabba veyaqqira vehotev himmo beqiryah di shamerayin ushe'ar avar-naharah ukhe'enet

and other peoples whom the great and glorious Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria and the rest of the province Beyond the River [wrote]—and now

denah parshegen iggarta di shelakhu alohi al-artakhshast malka (vdykh) [avdakh] enash avar-naharah ukhe'enet

this is the text of the letter that they sent to him:)—“To King Artaxerxes [from] your servants, the populace of the province Beyond the River. And now

yedia leheve lemalka di yehudaye di seliqu min-levatakh alena ato lirushelem qiryeta maradeta uviyshta banayin (vshvry) [veshurayya] (shkhllv) [shakhlilu] ve'ushayya yakhitu

be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have reached Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city; they are completing the walls and repairing the foundation.

ke'an yedia leheve lemalka di hen qiryeta dakh titbene veshurayya yishtakhlelun mindah-velo vahalakh la yintenun ve'appetom malkhim tehanziq

Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls completed, they will not pay tribute, poll-tax, or land-tax, and in the end it will harm the kingdom.

ke'an kol-qovel di-melakh hekhela melakhna ve'arvat malka la arikh-lana lemekheze al-denah shelakhna vehodana lemalka

Now since we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not right that we should see the king dishonored, we have written to advise the king [of this]

di yevaqqar bisfar-dokhranayya di avahatakh utehashkakh bisfar dokhranayya vetinda di qiryeta dakh qirya marada umehanzeqat malkhin umedinan ve'eshtaddur avedin begavvah min-yomat alema al-denah qiryeta dakh hokharevat

so that you may search the records of your ancestors and find in the records and know that this city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and states. Sedition has been rife in it from early times; on that account this city was destroyed.

mehode'in anakhnah lemalka di hen qiryeta dakh titbene veshurayyah yishtakhlelun loqovel denah khalaq ba'avar nahara la itay lakh

We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will no longer have any portion in the province Beyond the River.”

pitgama shelakh malka al-rekhum be'el-te'em veshimshay safera ushe'ar kenavatehon di yatevin beshamerayin ushe'ar avar-naharah shelam ukhe'et

The king sent back the following message: “To Rehum the commissioner and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues, who dwell in Samaria and in the rest of the province of Beyond the River, greetings. Now

nishtevana di shelakhtun alena mefarash qeri qodamay

the letter that you wrote me has been read to me in translation.

uminni sim te'em uvaqqaru vehashkakhu di qiryeta dakh min-yomat alema al-malkhin mitnasse'ah umerad ve'eshtaddur mitaved-bah

At my order a search has been made, and it has been found that this city has from earliest times risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been rife in it.

umalkhin taqqifin havo al-yerushelem veshallitin bekhol avar naharah umiddah velo vahalakh mityehev lehon

Powerful kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole province of Beyond the River, and tribute, poll-tax, and land-tax were paid to them.

ke'an simu te'em levattala guvrayya illekh veqiryeta dakh la titbene ad-minni tama yittesam

Now issue an order to stop these men; this city is not to be rebuilt until I so order.

uzehirin hevo shalu lemebad al-denah lemah yisge khavala lehanzaqat malkhin

Take care not to be lax in this matter or there will be much damage and harm to the kingdom.”

edayin min-di parshegen nishtevana di artakhshast malka qeri qodam-rekhum veshimshay safera ukhenavatehon azalu vivhilu lirushelem al-yehudaye uvattilu himmo be'edra vekhayil

When the text of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they hurried to Jerusalem, to the Jews, and stopped them by main force.

bedayin betelat avidat bet-elaha di birushelem vahavat batela ad shenat tarten lemalkhut dareyavesh melekh-paras

At that time, work on the House of God in Jerusalem stopped and remained in abeyance until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.