12 be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that ^arebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.

13 Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay ^btribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired.

16 We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

9 Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’

11 And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the ^mGod of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was ⁿbuilt many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

14 And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of ^eHaggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia;