Ezra 4:4

Then the local people ¹  began to discourage ²  the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.

Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.

Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building,

Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work.

So these people started beating down the morale of the people of Judah, harassing them as they built.

Then the people of the land made the hands of the people of Judah feeble, troubling them with fear in their building;

Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build,

Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building,

Then the local people ¹  began to discourage ²  the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.

¹ tn Heb “the people of the land.” Elsewhere this expression sometimes has a negative connotation, referring to a lay population that was less zealous for Judaism than it should have been. Here, however, it seems to refer to the resident population of the area without any negative connotation.

² tn Heb “were making slack the hands of.”