Ezra 4:1-2

Evangelical Heritage Version

Opposition to the Construction of the Second Temple

4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, ² they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families. They said to them, “Let us build with you, because, like you, we seek your God, and we have been sacrificing to him^[a] since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”