4 1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel, 4 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, "Let us build with you; for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria who brought us here." 4 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."
4 4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build, 4 5 and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.