19. I ordered the records to be searched, and it was done. We found that Jerusalem has a long history of disobedience to kings. It has been a place of problems and trouble.
20. Jerusalem has had powerful kings. They have ruled over the whole area west of the Euphrates. Taxes of all kinds have been paid to them.
21. Now, give an order for those men to stop work. The city of Jerusalem will not be rebuilt until I say so.
22. Make sure you do this. If it continues, it will hurt the government.
23. A copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes sent was read. It was read to Rehum and Shimshai the assistant and the others. Then they quickly went to the Jews in Jerusalem. They forced them to stop building.
24. So the work on the Temple of God in Jerusalem stopped. It stopped until the second year Darius was king of Persia.