Ezra 4:1-5 - Resistance To Rebuilding The House Of God
1 Now the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the {returned exiles} [were] building a temple for Yahweh the God of Israel. 2 And they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the {families}, and they said to them, "Let us build with you. Like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing [to him] from the days of Esarhaddon the king of Assyria who brought us up here.
3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the {families} of Israel said to them, "[It is] not for you but for us to build a house for our God. For we ourselves alone will build [it] for Yahweh the God of Israel, just as Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us." 4 Then the people of the land discouraged {the people of Judah} and made them afraid to build 5 and bribed officials against them to frustrate their plan for all the days of Cyrus king of Persia until the reign of Darius king of Persia.