4Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
5And hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
6And in the reign of Ahasuerus, at the start of his reign, they wrote to him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
7And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian language, and interpreted in the Syrian language.
8Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this way: