Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Ezra 4:4

Then the neighboring people began to do everything possible to frighten the Jews and to make them stop building.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Joshua;   Lobbying;   Thompson Chain Reference - Helps-Hindrances;   Hindrances;   Opposers;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Temple, the Second;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Darius;   Samaritans;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Haggai;   Joshua the son of jehozadak;   Samaria, samaritans;   Temple;   Zechariah, book of;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Ahasuerus;   Samaria;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Exile;   Ezra, Book of;   People of the Land;   Temple of Jerusalem;   Zerubbabel;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Darius;   Haggai;   Nehemiah, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Samaria, Samaritans;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Samaritans;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Babylonish Captivity, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ezra-Nehemiah;   Haggai;   Samaria, Country of;   Samaritans;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Captivity;   Ephraim;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then the people who were already in the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build.
Hebrew Names Version
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Yehudah, and troubled them in building,
King James Version
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
English Standard Version
Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build
New Century Version
Then the people around them tried to discourage the people of Judah by making them afraid to build.
New English Translation
Then the local people began to discourage the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.
Amplified Bible
Then [the Samaritans and others of] the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them [to deter them] from building,
New American Standard Bible
Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building,
World English Bible
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
Geneva Bible (1587)
Wherefore the people of the land discouraged the people of Iudah, and troubled them in buylding,
Legacy Standard Bible
So the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and dismayed them from building,
Berean Standard Bible
Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build.
Complete Jewish Bible
Then the people of the land began discouraging the people of Y'hudah, in order to make them afraid to build.
Darby Translation
And the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building;
Easy-to-Read Version
So the enemies began to discourage them and tried to frighten them in order to stop them from building the Temple.
George Lamsa Translation
Then the Gentiles of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and terrified them that they should not build,
Good News Translation
Then the people who had been living in the land tried to discourage and frighten the Jews and keep them from building.
Lexham English Bible
Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build
Literal Translation
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah and terrified them in building.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then the folke of the londe hyndered the people of Iuda, and made them afrayed to buylde,
American Standard Version
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
Bible in Basic English
Then the people of the land made the hands of the people of Judah feeble, troubling them with fear in their building;
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And it came to passe, that the folke of the lande discouraged the people of Iuda, & troubled them as they were building:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and harried them while they were building,
King James Version (1611)
Then the people of the land weakened the handes of the people of Iudah, and troubled them in building,
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Juda, and hindered them in building,
English Revised Version
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe it was doon, that the puple of the lond lettide the hondis of the puple of Juda, and trobliden hem in bildyng.
Update Bible Version
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
Webster's Bible Translation
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
New King James Version
Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building,
New Living Translation
Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work.
New Life Bible
Then the people of the land made the hearts of the people of Judah weak, and made them afraid to go on building.
New Revised Standard
Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then came it to pass, that, the people of the land, were weakening the hands of the people of Judah, - and troubling them in building;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Then the people of the land hindered the hands of the people of Juda, and troubled them in building.
Revised Standard Version
Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build,
Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass, the people of the land are making the hands of the people of Judah feeble, and troubling them in building,
THE MESSAGE
So these people started beating down the morale of the people of Judah, harassing them as they built. They even hired propagandists to sap their resolve. They kept this up for about fifteen years, throughout the lifetime of Cyrus king of Persia and on into the reign of Darius king of Persia.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building,

Contextual Overview

1 The enemies of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people had come back to rebuild the temple of the Lord God of Israel. 2 So they went to Zerubbabel and to the family leaders and said, "Let us help! Ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here, we have worshiped your God and offered sacrifices to him." 3 But Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the family leaders answered, "You cannot take part in building a temple for the Lord our God! We will build it ourselves, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us." 4 Then the neighboring people began to do everything possible to frighten the Jews and to make them stop building. 5 During the time that Cyrus was king and even until Darius became king, they kept bribing government officials to slow down the work.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

weakened: Ezra 3:3, Nehemiah 6:9, Isaiah 35:3, Isaiah 35:4, Jeremiah 38:4

troubled: Nehemiah 4:7, Nehemiah 4:8, Nehemiah 4:11

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 4:1 - his hands Nehemiah 2:10 - there was come Daniel 10:13 - the prince Zechariah 1:19 - scattered

Cross-References

Genesis 4:16
But Cain had to go far from the Lord and live in the Land of Wandering, which is east of Eden.
Genesis 4:17
Later, Cain and his wife had a son named Enoch. At the time Cain was building a town, and so he named it Enoch after his son.
Genesis 4:19
Lamech married Adah, then Zillah.
Genesis 4:20
Lamech and Adah had two sons, Jabal and Jubal. Their son Jabal was the first to live in tents and raise sheep and goats. Jubal was the first to play harps and flutes.
Genesis 15:17
Sometime after sunset, when it was very dark, a smoking cooking pot and a flaming fire went between the two halves of each animal.
Exodus 13:12
From then on, you must give him every first-born son from your families and every first-born male from your animals, because these belong to him.
Leviticus 9:24
The Lord sent fiery flames that burned up everything on the altar, and when everyone saw this, they shouted and fell to their knees to worship the Lord .
Numbers 16:35
Suddenly the Lord sent a fire that burned up the two hundred fifty men who had offered incense to him.
Numbers 18:12
For example, when the Israelites bring me the first batches of oil, wine, and grain, you can have the best parts of those gifts.
Numbers 18:17
However, all first-born cattle, sheep, and goats belong to me and cannot be bought back. Splatter their blood on the altar and send their fat up in smoke, so I can smell it and be pleased.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building. By threatening them, or by dissuading the workmen from going on, by endeavouring to hinder their having materials from the Tyrians and Zidonians, or money out of the king's revenues to bear the expenses as ordered; see Ezra 6:4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezra 4:4. Weakened the hands — Discouraged and opposed them by every possible means.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile