And they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief fathers, and said unto them, We will build with you: for we seek the Lord your God as ye do, and we have sacrificed unto him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, which brought us up hither.

Then Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief fathers of Israel said unto them, It is not for you, but for us to build the house unto our God: [a]for we ourselves together will build it unto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

Wherefore the people of the land [b]discouraged the people of Judah, and troubled them in building.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezra 4:3 For they perceived what their pretence was, to wit, to erect idolatry instead of true religion.
  2. Ezra 4:4 Hebrew, made their hands weak.

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