Ezra 4:3

And Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of the fathers of Israel said to them: “It is not for you to build the house of our God with us. Instead, we alone shall build to the Lord our God, just as Cyrus, the king of the Persians, has commanded us.”

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

In Context

2And so, drawing near to Zerubbabel and to the leaders of the fathers, they said to them: “Let us build with you, for we seek your God just as you do. Behold, we have immolated victims to him from the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

4Therefore, it happened that the people of the land impeded the hands of the people of Judah, and they troubled them in building.

Read all of Ezra 4

Cross References

2 Chronicles 36:22Then, in the first year of Cyrus, the king of the Persians, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the heart of Cyrus, the king of the Persians, who commanded this to be proclaimed throughout his entire kingdom, and also in writing, saying:

Ezra 1:3Who among you is from his entire people? May his God be with him. Let him ascend to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and let him build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 2:20And I replied to them a word, and I said to them: “The God of heaven himself is helping us, and we are his servants. Let us rise up and build. But there is no portion, or justice, or remembrance in Jerusalem for you.”

Isaiah 45:4For the sake of Jacob, my servant, and Israel, my elect, I have even called you by your name. I have taken you up, and you have not known me.

John 4:22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know. For salvation is from the Jews.

Romans 9:4These are the Israelites, to whom belongs adoption as sons, and the glory and the testament, and the giving and following of the law, and the promises.

Matthew Henry on Ezra 4:2-6

Opposition Made to the Jews. ( b. c. 535.) 1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel; 2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. 3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them,… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Ezra 4:3