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.

In the reign of Ahasuerus, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped, and was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon's reign he issued forth a decree to build this house of God.

This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

After these things [during] the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,

These were the heads of their {families} and the register of those returnees from Babylonia who [came up] with me in the reign of King Artaxerxes:

But the people are many, and it is the time of rain; we are unable to stand outside. The task is not for one day or two, for we greatly rebelled in this matter.