Ezra 4:1-3

International Children’s Bible

Enemies of the Rebuilding

4 The people of Judah and Benjamin had enemies. They heard that the returned captives were building a Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. ² So the enemies came to Zerubbabel and the leaders of the families. The enemies said, “Let us help you build. We are like you. We want to worship your God. We have been offering sacrifices to him since the time of Esarhaddon. He was king of Assyria, and he brought us here.”

³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the leaders of Israel answered, “No. You people will not help us build a Temple to our God. We will build it ourselves. It is for the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us to do.”