Ezra 4:4-6

Easy-to-Read Version

⁴ So the enemies began to discourage them and tried to frighten them in order to stop them from building the Temple. ⁵ These enemies hired government officials to work against the people of Judah. The officials constantly did things to stop the Jews’ plans to build the Temple. This continued the whole time that Cyrus was the king until Darius became the king of Persia.

⁶ These enemies even wrote letters to the king of Persia trying to stop the Jews. They wrote a letter the year that Xerxes^[a] became the king of Persia.