Mar Zutra said (or if you prefer Mar Ukva) "In the beginning the Torah was given to Israel in Hebrew script and (was recited?) in the holy tongue. Then in the days of Ezra it was given in Assyrian script and the Aramaic tongue, then Israel chose Assyrian script and the holy tongue and they left the Hebrew script and the Aramaic language for the vulgar ones. Who are the vulgar ones? Rav Hisda said they are Cutheans [Samaritans]. What is Hebrew script, the Libona script. We have been taught that Rebbi Yossi said Ezra was worthy for the Torah to be given through him to Israel if Moshe hadn't preceded him. Of Moshe it says "Moshe went up to G-d" (Exodus 19:3) and of Ezra it says "This Ezra went up from Babylonia" (Ezra 7:6). ... And even though Torah wasn't given through him, it was by his hand that the script was changed, as it is written "And the writing of the letter was in the Aramaic script and Aramaic language (translation?)." (Ezra 4,7). And it is written, "But they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation." (Daniel 5,8). And it is written, "And he [the King] shall write this mishnah (law, repetition, change) of the Torah" (Devarim 17;18). It was foreseen that it would change. Why was it called Assyrian [the script of Ezra's time]? Because it came up with them from Assyria. Rebbi said, "In the beginning the Torah was given to them in this script. Because they sinned it was changed to broken script (roetz?). Because they returned/repented, he returned it to them, as it says 'Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope; Even today I declare that I will return to you a mishneh (a second chance. literally, a change) (Zaccariah 9, 12).'" Why was it called Assyrian there? Because it was approved/straight (meusheret) in its writing. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said as R Eliezer ben Prata said in the name of Rabbi Elazar HaModa'i, "The writing hasn't essentially changed as it is said, 'The vavs (hooks) of the pillars.' (Exodus 27, 10) Just as the pillars (pages?) haven't changed neither have the vavs."

This book was ordered and placed after the book of Daniel as it is explained in Bava Bathra (14b) and the story goes from this one to that one as it is written in Daniel (9:1-2) "(In the first year of Darius son of Ataxerxes of the seed of the Medeans that ruled over the kingdom of the Kasdim.) In the first year of his rule, I, Daniel, considered in the books the numbers of the years that were the word of the L-rd to Jeremi the prophet for the fulfilling of the destruction of Jerusalem seventy years." And then he tells the whole story of the destruction of the Temple and the time of the exile of Babylonia and his confession that he made regarding the sins of the children of Israel and the beginning of the order of this book is after Darius the Medean kills Belshatzar as it is written "And Darius the Medean received the kingdom..." (Daniel 7:1). And after the death of Darius, Cyrus reigned, that is the king of Persia and in the first year of his reign, the seventy ordained years of Babylonian exile were completed from the day that Yehoyakim was exiled, as it is written "...after the completion of seventy years of Babylonian exile..." (Jeremiah 29:10), that they returned to the land of Israel from Babylonian exile and in that same year, in the first year of Cyrus, they laid the foundations of the house of G/d and the enemies of Judah and Benjamin slandered them to Cyrus, king of Persia, and commanded to annul the work, so as not to build more of the building of G/d's Temple, and Israel idled and did not build the the House through the entire rule of Cyrus and Ataxerxes that ruled after him until the second year of Darius, son of Ataxerxes, king of Persia who was the son of Esther, so that in the second year of his rule they began to build the Temple until the building was completed. And from the first year of Cyrus' reign until the second year of Darius, son of Ataxerxes, king of Persia in whose days the Temple was rebuilt there were 18 years as it is said (Daniel 9:2) "...fulfilling of the destruction of Jerusalem seventy years"...

(1) Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. (2) Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his consorts and his concubines, might drink therein. (3) Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his lords, his consorts and his concubines, drank in them. (4) They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. (5) In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the palm of the hand that wrote. (6) Then the king’s countenance was changed in him, and his thoughts affrighted him; and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. (7) The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon: ‘Whosoever shall read this writing, and declare unto me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall rule as one of three in the kingdom.’ (8) Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation. (9) Then was king Belshazzar greatly affrighted, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were perplexed. (10) Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house; the queen spoke and said: ‘O king, live for ever! let not thy thoughts affright thee, nor let thy countenance be changed; (11) there is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; and the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made him master of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers; (12) forasmuch as a surpassing spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and declaring of riddles, and loosing of knots, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will declare the interpretation.’ (13) Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spoke and said unto Daniel: ‘Art thou Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah? (14) I have heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and surpassing wisdom is found in thee. (15) And now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof; but they could not declare the interpretation of the thing. (16) But I have heard of thee, that thou canst give interpretations, and loose knots; now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt rule as one of three in the kingdom.’ (17) Then Daniel answered and said before the king: ‘Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. (18) O thou king, God Most High gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty; (19) and because of the greatness that He gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. (20) But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him; (21) and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; until he knew that God Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that He setteth up over it whomsoever He will. (22) And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this; (23) but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy consorts and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified; (24) then was the palm of the hand sent from before Him, and this writing was inscribed. (25) And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN. (26) This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and brought it to an end. (27) TEKEL, Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. (28) PERES, thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.’ (29) Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should rule as one of three in the kingdom. (30) In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain.

(1) NOW IN the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying: (2) ’Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD, the God of heaven, given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. (3) Whosoever there is among you of all His people—his God be with him—let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD, the God of Israel, He is the God who is in Jerusalem. (4) And whosoever is left, in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill-offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’ (5) Then rose up the heads of fathers’houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. (6) And all they that were round about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered. (7) Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods; (8) even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. (9) And this is the number of them: thirty basins of gold, a thousand basins of silver, nine and twenty knives; (10) thirty bowls of gold, silver bowls of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand. (11) All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when they of the captivity were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem.

(1) In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel, and reigned nine years. (2) And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel that were before him. (3) Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him presents. (4) And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. (5) Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. (6) In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away unto Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. (7) And it was so, because the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, (8) and walked in the statutes of the nations, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they practised; (9) and the children of Israel did impute things that were not right unto the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city; (10) and they set them up pillars and Asherim upon every high hill, and under every leafy tree; (11) and there they offered in all the high places, as did the nations whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD; (12) and they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them: ‘Ye shall not do this thing’; (13) yet the LORD forewarned Israel, and Judah, by the hand of every prophet, and of every seer, saying: ‘Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by the hand of My servants the prophets’; (14) notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their neck, like to the neck of their fathers, who believed not in the LORD their God; (15) and they rejected His statutes, and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies wherewith He testified against them; and they went after things of nought, and became nought, and after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them; (16) and they forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal; (17) and they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and gave themselves over to do that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him; (18) that the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. (19) Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they practised. (20) And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight. (21) For He rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam drew Israel away from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin. (22) And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; (23) until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He spoke by the hand of all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day. (24) And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. (25) And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. (26) Wherefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying: ‘The nations which thou hast carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land; therefore He hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.’ (27) Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying: ‘Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.’ (28) So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. (29) Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. (30) And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, (31) and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. (32) So they feared the LORD, and made unto them from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. (33) They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. (34) Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law or after the commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel; (35) with whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying: ‘Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them; (36) but the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him shall ye fear, and Him shall ye worship, and to Him shall ye sacrifice; (37) and the statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment, which He wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods; (38) and the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods; (39) but the LORD your God shall ye fear; and He will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.’ (40) Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner. (41) So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images; their children likewise, and their children’s children, as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.

(1) Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple unto the LORD, the God of Israel; (2) then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’houses, and said unto them: ‘Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither.’ (3) But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’houses of Israel, said unto them: ‘Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.’ (4) Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and harried them while they were building, (5) and hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. (6) And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. (7) And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Aramaic character, and set forth in the Aramaic tongue. (8) Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort— (9) then wrote Rehum the commander, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinites, and the Apharesattechites, the Tarpelites, the Apharesites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites, the Dehites, the Elamites, (10) and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asenappar brought over, and set in the city of Samaria, and the rest that are in the country beyond the River:— ‘And now— (11) this is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king—thy servants the men beyond the River—and now (12) be it known unto the king, that the Jews that came up from thee are come to us unto Jerusalem; they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and have finished the walls, and are digging out the foundations. (13) Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, impost, or toll, and so thou wilt endamage the revenue of the kings. (14) Now because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not meet for us to see the king’s dishonour, therefore have we sent and announced to the king, (15) that search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers; so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time; for which cause was this city laid waste. (16) We announce to the king that, if this city be builded, and the walls finished, by this means thou shalt have no portion beyond the River.’ (17) Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the commander, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the River: ‘Peace, and now (18) the letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me. (19) And I decreed, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein. (20) There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the country beyond the River; and tribute, impost, and toll, was paid unto them. (21) Make ye now a decree to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until a decree shall be made by me. (22) And take heed that ye be not slack herein; why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?’ (23) Then when the copy of king Artaxerxes’letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. (24) Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.