The Berean Pursuit
By the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.
Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests, along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates, began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. They set up the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD-both the morning and evening burnt offerings-even though they feared the people of the land.
They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with what is written, and they offered burnt offerings daily based on the number prescribed for each day.
After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings and those for New Moons and for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as all the freewill offerings brought to the LORD.
On the first day of the seventh month, the Israelites began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, although the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid. They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
In the second month of the second year after they had arrived at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their associates including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years of age or older to supervise the construction of the house of the LORD. So Jeshua and his sons and brothers, Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Yehudah), and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers-all Levites-joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.
When the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their positions to praise the LORD, as David king of Israel had prescribed. And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD:
"For He is good;
for His loving devotion to Israel endures forever."
Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD had been laid.
But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple. Still, many others shouted joyfully. The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people were making so much noise. And the sound was heard from afar.
When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, "Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here."
But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, "You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us."
Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build. They hired counselors against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, an accusation was lodged against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
And 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.
Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote the letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:
From 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, and 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.
(This is the text of the letter they sent to him.)
To King Artaxerxes,
From your servants, the men west of the Euphrates:
Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem. And they are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city, restoring its walls, and repairing its foundations.
Let 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.
Now 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 that 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.
We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, you will have no dominion west of the Euphrates.
Then the king sent this reply:
To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of your associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates:
Greetings.
The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence. I issued a decree, and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has revolted against kings from ancient times, engaging in rebellion and sedition. And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.
Now, therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. See that you do not neglect this matter. Why allow this threat to increase and the royal interests to suffer?
When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.
Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.
It is good to praise the LORD,
and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,
to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning
and Your faithfulness at night
with the ten-stringed harp
and the melody of the lyre.
For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds;
I sing for joy at the works of Your hands.
How great are Your works, O LORD,
how deep are Your thoughts!
A senseless man does not know,
and a fool does not understand,
that though the wicked sprout like grass,
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be forever destroyed.
But You, O LORD, are exalted forever!
For surely Your enemies, O LORD,
surely Your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.
But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;
with fine oil I have been anointed.
My eyes see the downfall of my enemies;
my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes.
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Planted in the house of the LORD,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
In old age they will still bear fruit;
healthy and green they will remain,
to proclaim, "The LORD is upright; He is my Rock,
and in Him there is no unrighteousness."