Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Make a decree now to cause these men to cease, and that this city not be built, until a decree is made by me.
- BSB Now, therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order.
- NKJV Now give the command to make these men cease, that this city may not be built until the command is given by me.
- NASB Now issue a decree to make those men stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me.
- NLT Therefore, issue orders to have these men stop their work. That city must not be rebuilt except at my express command.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The king decreed that the men be stopped and the city not rebuilt until he ordered otherwise. He commanded a halt to the work.
Overview
Artaxerxes ordered the rebuilding stopped, granting the adversaries their aim for a time. The qualifying phrase "until a decree is made by me" left the door open for a future reversal. The verse shows a real setback, yet not a permanent defeat for God's purposes.
Cross-references & the web
No cross-references recorded for this verse.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The return from exile and the rebuilt altar keep alive the hope of a greater restoration — the true return from our deeper exile of sin accomplished by Christ.
How Ezra 4:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.