The people who had returned from Babylon were building a temple to honor the Lord. He is the God of Israel. The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard about it.

犹大和便雅悯的敌人听说被掳归回的人为耶和华以色列的神建造殿宇，

犹大和便雅悯的敌人听说被掳归回的人为耶和华—以色列的上帝建造殿宇，

犹大和便雅悯的敌人听说被掳归回的人为耶和华—以色列的神建造殿宇，

犹大和便雅悯的敌人听说流亡者回来要为以色列的上帝耶和华建殿，

犹大和便雅悯的敌人听见被掳回来的人为耶和华以色列的神重建圣殿，

猶大和便雅憫的敵人聽說被擄歸回的人為耶和華－以色列的神建造殿宇，

猶大和便雅憫的敵人聽說被擄歸回的人為耶和華－以色列的上帝建造殿宇，

猶大和便雅憫的敵人聽說被擄歸回的人為耶和華－以色列的神建造殿宇，

猶大和便雅憫的敵人聽說流亡者回來要為以色列的上帝耶和華建殿，

猶大和便雅憫的敵人聽見被擄回來的人為耶和華以色列的神重建聖殿，

猶大和便雅憫的敵人聽說流亡回來的人為永恆主以色列的上帝建造殿堂，

猶大便雅憫之敵、聞俘囚之眾、為以色列之上帝耶和華建殿、

猶大便雅憫二族之敵、聞被虜者歸而建殿、奉事以色列族之上帝耶和華、

猶大及便雅憫之敵、即撒瑪利亞人聞被擄而歸之民、為主以色列之天主建殿、

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel,

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel,

The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were rebuilding a Temple to the Lord, the God of Israel.

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,

Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel,

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel,

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple unto Jehovah, the God of Israel;

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel,

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles were building a temple for the LORD God of Israel,

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel;

The total number of gold and silver objects was 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all of these back with him to Jerusalem. So Sheshbazzar and the Jews who had been forced to leave Judah came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

The people who had returned from the land of Babylon celebrated the Passover Feast. It was on the 14th day of the first month.The priests and Levites had made themselves pure and“ clean.” The Levites killed Passover lambs for the people who had returned from Babylon. They also did it for themselves and their relatives, the priests.

When the house of God was set apart, the people of Israel celebrated with joy. The priests and Levites joined them. So did the rest of those who had returned from the land of Babylon.

Then Artaxerxes became king of Persia. During his rule, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and their friends wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in the Aramaic language. And it used the Aramaic alphabet.Rehum and Shimshai also wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes. Rehum was the commanding officer. Shimshai was the secretary. Their letter was against the people of Jerusalem. It said,We, Rehum and Shimshai, are writing this letter. Rehum is the commanding officer. Shimshai is the secretary. Our friends join us in writing. They include the judges, officials and managers in charge of the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon. They are also over the Elamites from Susa.And they are over those who were forced to leave their countries. The great King Ashurbanipal, who is worthy of honor, forced them to leave. He moved them to the city of Samaria. He also moved them to other places west of the Euphrates River.

But you are going to have a son. He will be a man of peace. And I will give him peace and rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon. I will give Israel peace and quiet while he is king.He will build a house for my Name. He will be my son. And I will be his father. I will make his kingdom secure over Israel. It will last forever.’

“ Here is what I want you to know and understand. There will be seven‘ weeks.’ Then there will be 62‘ weeks.’ The seven‘ weeks’ will begin when an order is given to rebuild Jerusalem and make it like new again. At the end of the 62‘ weeks,’ the Anointed King will come. Jerusalem will have streets and a water system when it is rebuilt. But that will be done in times of trouble.

So Daniel was brought to the king. The king said to him,“ Are you Daniel? Are you one of the prisoners my father the king brought here from Judah?

But now the Lord my God has given me peace and rest on every side. We don’t have any enemies. And we don’t have any other major problems either.So I’m planning to build a temple. I want to build it for the Name of the Lord my God. That’s what he told my father David he wanted me to do. He said,‘ I will put your son on the throne in your place. He will build a temple. I will put my Name there.’

A door has opened wide for me to do some good work here. There are many people who oppose me.

Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall. So he became very angry and upset. He made fun of the Jews.He spoke to his friends and the army of Samaria. He said,“ What are those Jews trying to do? Can they make their city wall like new again? Will they offer sacrifices? Can they finish everything in a single day? The stones from their city wall and buildings are piled up like trash. And everything has been badly burned. Can they use those stones to rebuild everything again?”Tobiah from Ammon was at Sanballat’s side. He said,“ What are they building? They’re putting up a stone wall. But suppose a fox climbs on top of it. Even that will break it down!”I prayed to God. I said,“ Our God, please listen to our prayer. Some people hate us. They’re saying bad things about us. So let others say bad things about them. Let them be carried off like stolen goods. Let them be taken to another country as prisoners.Don’t hide your eyes from their guilt. Don’t forgive their sins. They have said bad things about the builders.”So we rebuilt the wall. We repaired it until all of it was half as high as we wanted it to be. The people worked with all their heart.But Sanballat and Tobiah heard that Jerusalem’s walls continued to be repaired. The Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard about it too. They heard that the gaps in the wall were being filled in. So they were very angry.All of them made evil plans to come and fight against Jerusalem. They wanted to stir up trouble against it.But we prayed to our God. We put guards on duty day and night to watch out for danger.During that time, the people in Judah spoke up. They said,“ The workers are getting weaker and weaker all the time. Broken stones are piled up everywhere. They are in our way. So we can’t rebuild the wall.”And our enemies said,“ We will be right there among them. We’ll kill them. We’ll put an end to their work. We’ll do it before they even know it or see us.”

So those who had returned did what had been suggested. Ezra the priest chose some family leaders. There was one from each family group. All of them were chosen by name. They sat down to check out each case. They started on the first day of the tenth month.

Then an announcement was sent all through Judah and Jerusalem. All the people who had returned were told to gather together in Jerusalem.

Ezra had begun his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month. He arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month. That’s because God was gracious to him and helped him.