10 And when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set priests in their vestments with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord according to the statute of David king of Israel.

11 And they began to sing alternately, "Praise," and "Praise the Lord," "for he is good, for his mercy endures forever to Israel." And all the people cried out with a loud voice, praising the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord had been laid.

12 And many of the priests, and of the Levites, and of the heads of the generations, the old men, who saw the former temple, at the foundation of this temple before their eyes, wept aloud, but many also shouted with a loud voice for joy.

13 And the people could not hear the shouts of joy at the cries of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a loud voice, and the voice was heard far off.

Chapter 4

1 And the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that those who had returned from captivity were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel;

2 And they came to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of the generations, and said unto them, Let us also build with you, for we, like you, have run to your God, and to him have offered sacrifices from the days of Esarhadan king of Syria, who brought us hither.

3 And Zerubbabel, and Joshua, and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel, said unto them, Ye shall not build with us a house unto our God; we alone will build a house to the Lord, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus king of Persia commanded us.

4 And the people of the land began to weaken the hands of the people of Judah, and hinder them in the building;

5 and they bribed counsellors against them, to destroy their enterprise, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, and until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

7 And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mifredat, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Syriac letters and in Syriac.

8 Rehum the counsellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

9 Then. Rechum the counsellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the Dinaeans, and the Athassathei, and the Tarpelaeans, and the Aparsa, and the Arekhians, and the Babylonians, and the Shushans, and the Dags, and the Elamites,