Ezra 4:1-3

International Standard Version

A Plot to Hinder the Work

4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the descendants of the Babylonian^[a] captivity had built their Temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, ² they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families^[b] with this message: “Let’s build along with you, because, like you, we seek your God, as do you, and we’ve been making sacrifices to him since the reign of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the families^[c] of Israel replied, “You have no part in our plans for^[d] building a temple to our God, because we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, in accordance with the decree issued by King Cyrus, king of Persia.”