¹⁶ We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, you will not have any possession west of the Euphrates.

Artaxerxes’s Reply

¹⁷ The king sent a reply to his chief officer Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the River Euphrates:

Greetings.

²⁰ Powerful kings have also ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the River Euphrates, and tribute, duty, and land tax were paid to them.