Be careful that you not be slack doing so. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?
Parallel translations
- KJV Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?
- BSB See that you do not neglect this matter. Why allow this threat to increase and the royal interests to suffer?
- NKJV Take heed now that you do not fail to do this. Why should damage increase to the hurt of the kings?
- NASB And beware of being negligent in carrying out this matter; why should there be great damage, to the detriment of the kings?”
- NLT Be diligent, and don’t neglect this matter, for we must not permit the situation to harm the king’s interests.”
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 warned the officials not to be slow in enforcing the order. He pressed for prompt action against the city.
Overview
The king's urgency reflects his fear of losing revenue and control. His warning empowered the adversaries to act quickly and forcefully. The verse intensifies the opposition just before it is carried out against the Jews.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Ezra 4:13Be it known now to the king that if this city is built and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful to the kings.
- Esth 3:8–9Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different than other people’s. They don’t keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to allow them to remain.
- Esth 7:3–4Then Esther the queen answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.
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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 4:22 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.