Ezra 4:3-5

EasyEnglish Bible

³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the other leaders of Israel's people said, ‘No. You cannot help us to build the temple for our God. We must build it by ourselves for the Lord, Israel's God. That is what Cyrus, king of Persia, has commanded us to do.’

⁴ Then the people who lived near them tried to make Judah's people afraid. They tried to stop them building. ⁵ They paid bribes to government officers to work against the Israelite builders. Then they could not do the work. They continued to do this all the time that King Cyrus ruled Persia, until Darius became king.