(This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:) “To King Artaxerxes, ¹  from your servants in ²  Trans-Euphrates:

The fifth time that Sanballat sent his assistant to me in this way, he had an open letter in his hand.

So Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority to confirm this second ¹  letter about Purim.

Hezekiah took the letter ¹  from the messengers and read it. ²  Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord.

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter ¹  in the law to become void. ² 

They sent this letter with them: ¹  From the apostles ²  and elders, your brothers, ³  to the Gentile brothers and sisters ⁴  in Antioch, ⁵  Syria, ⁶  and Cilicia, greetings!

So when they were dismissed, ¹  they went down to Antioch, ²  and after gathering the entire group ³  together, they delivered the letter.

When the governor ¹  had read ²  the letter, ³  he asked ⁴  what province he was from. ⁵  When he learned ⁶  that he was from Cilicia, ⁷ 

Therefore, brothers and sisters, ¹  stand firm and hold on to the traditions that we taught you, whether by speech or by letter. ² 

But if anyone does not obey our message through this letter, take note of him and do not associate closely with him, so that he may be ashamed.

I, Paul, have written ¹  this letter ²  with my own hand: ³  I will repay it. I could also mention that you owe ⁴  me your very self.

Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written ¹  you, in which ²  I am trying to stir up ³  your pure mind by way of reminder:

that the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  has a message for him. ²  Tell him, ³  ‘On your own initiative ⁴  you sent a letter ⁵  to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah ⁶  and to all the other priests and to all the people in Jerusalem. ⁷  In your letter you said to Zephaniah, ⁸ 

The king of Syria said, “Go! I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman ¹  went, taking with him ten talents ²  of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, ³  and ten suits of clothes.

When they received the letter, they seized the king’s sons and executed all seventy of them. ¹  They put their heads in baskets and sent them to him in Jezreel.

Jehoram ¹  received this letter from Elijah the prophet: “This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: ‘You ²  have not followed in the footsteps ³  of your father Jehoshaphat and of ⁴  King Asa of Judah,

And during the reign ¹  of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, ²  Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues ³  wrote to King Artaxerxes ⁴  of Persia. This letter ⁵  was first written in Aramaic but then translated. [Aramaic:] ⁶ 

But God was watching over ¹  the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped ²  until a report could be dispatched ³  to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.

This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and his colleagues who were the officials of Trans-Euphrates sent to King Darius.

What follows ¹  is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priestly scribe. ²  Ezra was ³  a scribe in matters pertaining to the commandments of the Lord and his statutes over Israel: