⁶At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, an accusation was lodged against the people of Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in Aramaic and then translated. ⁸Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote the letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows: ⁹From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates— the judges and officials over Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa, ¹⁰and the rest of the peoples whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and elsewhere west of the Euphrates. ¹¹(This is the text of the letter they sent to him.) ¹²Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring its walls and repairing its foundations. ¹³Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer. ¹⁴Now because we are in the service of the palace and it is not fitting for us to allow the king to be dishonored, we have sent to inform the king ¹⁵that a search should be made of the record books of your fathers. In these books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, inciting sedition from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed. ¹⁶We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, you will have no dominion west of the Euphrates.