Ezra 4:3-6

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3} But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “^(A)You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the Lord God of Israel, ^(B)as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”

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4} Then ^(C)the people of the land ^(a)discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, ^{Tools
5} and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

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6} Now in the reign of ^(b)^(D)Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Footnotes:

a. Ezra 4:4: ['Lit ', weakened the hands of]

b. Ezra 4:6: ['Or ', Xerxes, '; Heb ', Ahash-verosh]

Cross references:

A. Ezra 4:3: Nehemiah 2:20

B. Ezra 4:3: Ezra 1:1; Ezra 1:2

C. Ezra 4:4: Ezra 3:3

D. Ezra 4:6: Esther 1:1; Daniel 9:1