1 Esdras 2:21-23

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

²¹ Then the king, in reply to the recorder Rehum, Beltethmus, the scribe Shimshai, and the others associated with them and living in Samaria and Syria and Phoenicia, wrote as follows:^(A)

²² “I have read the letter that you sent me. So I ordered search to be made, and it has been found that this city from of old has fought against kings, ²³ that the people in it were given to rebellion and war, and that mighty and cruel kings ruled in Jerusalem and exacted tribute from Coelesyria and Phoenicia.^(B)