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Ezra 5-7
Common English Bible

Work on God’s house continues

5 Then the prophet Haggai and the prophet Zechariah, Iddo’s son, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of Israel’s God who was over them. 2 Subsequently, Zerubbabel, Shealtiel’s son, and Jeshua, Jozadak’s son, began to rebuild God’s house in Jerusalem. God’s prophets were with them, helping them.

3 At the same time, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them, asking, “Who authorized you to build this house and finish preparing[a] this building material?”[b] 4 They[c] also asked them, “What are the names of the people who are building this building?” 5 But their God looked after the elders of the Jews, and they didn’t stop them until a report reached Darius and a letter with his response had arrived.

Writing to King Darius

6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues the officials who were in the province Beyond the River sent to King Darius. 7 In the message they sent him, the following was written:

To King Darius, all peace! 8 Let the king know that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with dressed stone and with timber set into the walls. This work makes good progress and prospers in their hands. 9 We asked those elders, “Who authorized you to build this house and to complete the preparation of this material?” 10 We also asked them their names so that we could write down the names of the leaders for your information.

11 This was their reply to us: “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed. 12 But because our ancestors angered the God of heaven, he gave them over into the power of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and deported the people to Babylonia. 13 However, in the first year of his rule, Babylon’s King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. 14 King Cyrus also took the gold and silver equipment from God’s house out of the temple in Babylon (the ones that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and placed in the temple in Babylon) and gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. 15 Cyrus said to him, ‘Take this equipment and go and put it in Jerusalem’s temple, and let God’s house be rebuilt on its original site.’ 16 Then Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of God’s house in Jerusalem. From then until now the rebuilding work has continued but is not yet complete.”

17 And now, if it seems good to the king, may a search be made in the royal archives in Babylon to see if King Cyrus had issued a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then may the king be pleased to send us his decision about this matter.

Darius responds

6 Then King Darius made a decree, and they searched the archives where the documents were stored in Babylon. 2 But a scroll was found in Ecbatana, the capital of the province of Media, on which was written the following:

A memorandum— 3 In the first year of his rule, King Cyrus made a decree: Concerning God’s house in Jerusalem: Let the house at the place where they offered sacrifices be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained. Its height will be ninety feet and its width ninety feet, 4 with three layers of dressed stones and one[d] layer of timber. The cost will be paid from the royal treasury. 5 In addition, the gold and silver equipment from God’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, is to be restored, that is, brought back to Jerusalem and put in their proper place in God’s house.

6 Now you, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and you, their colleagues, the officials in the province Beyond the River, keep away! 7 Leave the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.

8 I also issue a decree about what you should do to help these elders of the Jews as they rebuild this house of God: The total cost is to be paid to these people, and without delay, from the royal revenue that is made up of the tribute of the province Beyond the River. 9 And whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, or sheep for entirely burned offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—let that be given to them day by day without fail 10 so that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the lives of the king and his sons.

11 I also decree that if anyone disobeys this edict, a beam is to be pulled out of the house of the guilty party, and the guilty party will then be impaled upon it. The house will be turned into a trash heap.

12 May the God who has established his name there overthrow any king or people who try to change this order or to destroy God’s house in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have decreed it; let it be done with all diligence.

God’s house is completed and dedicated

13 Then Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues carried out the order of King Darius with all diligence. 14 So the elders of the Jews built and prospered because of the prophesying of the prophet Haggai and Zechariah, Iddo’s son. They finished building by the command of Israel’s God and of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia. 15 This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar,[e] in the sixth year of the rule of King Darius.

16 Then the Israelites, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles joyfully celebrated the dedication of this house of God. 17 At the dedication of this house of God, they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a purification offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 They set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their sections for the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the scroll from Moses.

19 [f] On the fourteenth day of the first month,[g] the returned exiles celebrated the Passover. 20 All of the priests and the Levites had purified themselves; all of them were clean. They slaughtered the Passover animals for all the returned exiles, their fellow priests, and themselves. 21 The Israelites who had returned from exile, together with all those who had joined them by separating themselves from the pollutions of the nations of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel, ate the Passover meal.[h]

22 They also joyfully celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days, because the Lord had made them joyful by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria toward them so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

Introduction to Ezra

7 After this, in the rule of Persia’s King Artaxerxes, Ezra son of Seraiah son of Azariah son of Hilkiah 2 son of Shallum son of Zadok son of Ahitub 3 son of Amariah son of Azariah son of Meraioth 4 son of Zerahiah son of Uzzi son of Bukki 5 son of Abishua son of Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the chief priest— 6 this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Instruction from Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. Moreover, the king gave him everything he requested because the Lord his God’s power was with him.

7 Some of the Israelites and some of the priests and the Levites, the singers and gatekeepers and the temple servants also came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. 8 They reached Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king. 9 The journey from Babylon began on the first day of the first month, and they came to Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him. 10 Ezra had determined to study and perform the Lord’s Instruction, and to teach law and justice in Israel.

Letter from Artaxerxes

11 This is a copy of the letter that Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, a scholar of the text of the Lord’s commandments and his requirements for Israel:

12 [i] Artaxerxes, king of kings,

to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the

Instruction from the God of heaven.

Peace![j]

And now 13 I decree that any of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom who volunteer to go to Jerusalem with you may go. 14 You are sent by the king and his seven counselors to investigate Judah and Jerusalem according to the Instruction from your God, which is in your hand.

15 You should bring the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 together with any of the silver and gold that you find in the entire province of Babylonia. You should also bring the spontaneous gifts of the people and the priests, given freely for God’s house in Jerusalem. 17 With this money you will be careful to buy bulls, rams, and lambs, as well as their grain offerings and their drink offerings. And you will offer them on the altar of God’s house in Jerusalem. 18 As long as it is God’s will, you and your colleagues may do what you think best with the rest of the silver and gold. 19 You will deliver the equipment that has been given to you for the service of God’s house to the God of Jerusalem. 20 If anything else is required for God’s house that you are responsible to provide, you may provide it from the royal treasury.

21 I, King Artaxerxes, decree to all of the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest and scribe of the Instruction from the God of heaven requires of you, it must be provided precisely, 22 even up to one hundred kikkars of silver, one hundred kors of wheat, one hundred baths[k] of wine, one hundred baths of oil, and unlimited salt. 23 Whatever the God of heaven commands will be done carefully for the house of the God of heaven, or wrath will come upon the realm of the king and his heirs. 24 You must also know that it is illegal for you to charge tribute, custom, or dues on any of the priests and Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

25 And you, Ezra, based on the divine wisdom that you have, appoint supervisors and judges to adjudicate among all the people in the province Beyond the River who know the laws of your God. You will also teach those who do not know them. 26 Let judgment be strictly carried out upon anyone who does not obey the Instruction from your God and the law of your king, including death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.

Ezra prepares to leave

27 Bless the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has moved the king to glorify the Lord’s house in Jerusalem, 28 and who has demonstrated his graciousness for me before the king and his counselors and all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage because the Lord my God’s power was with me. I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 5:3 Heb lacks preparing.
  2. Ezra 5:3 Heb uncertain; so also 5:9
  3. Ezra 5:4 LXX, Syr, Aram We
  4. Ezra 6:4 LXX; Heb new
  5. Ezra 6:15 February–March
  6. Ezra 6:19 Heb resumes with this verse.
  7. Ezra 6:19 March–April, Nisan
  8. Ezra 6:21 Heb lacks Passover meal.
  9. Ezra 7:12 7:12-26 is written in Aramaic.
  10. Ezra 7:12 Syr, Vulg 1 Esdr 8:9; Aram Perfect
  11. Ezra 7:22 One bath is approximately twenty quarts or five gallons.
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Ezra 5-7
New International Version

Tattenai’s Letter to Darius

5 Now Haggai(A) the prophet and Zechariah(B) the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied(C) to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel(D) son of Shealtiel and Joshua(E) son of Jozadak set to work(F) to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

3 At that time Tattenai,(G) governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai(H) and their associates went to them and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?”(I) 4 They[a] also asked, “What are the names of those who are constructing this building?” 5 But the eye of their God(J) was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.

6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius. 7 The report they sent him read as follows:

To King Darius:

Cordial greetings.

8 The king should know that we went to the district of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people are building it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls. The work(K) is being carried on with diligence and is making rapid progress under their direction.

9 We questioned the elders and asked them, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?”(L) 10 We also asked them their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.

11 This is the answer they gave us:

“We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple(M) that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But because our ancestors angered(N) the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.(O)

13 “However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree(P) to rebuild this house of God. 14 He even removed from the temple[b] of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple[c] in Babylon.(Q) Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar,(R) whom he had appointed governor, 15 and he told him, ‘Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on its site.’

16 “So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God(S) in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is not yet finished.”

17 Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives(T) of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.

The Decree of Darius

6 King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives(U) stored in the treasury at Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:

Memorandum:

3 In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:

Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid.(V) It is to be sixty cubits[d] high and sixty cubits wide, 4 with three courses(W) of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury.(X) 5 Also, the gold(Y) and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.(Z)

6 Now then, Tattenai,(AA) governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai(AB) and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. 7 Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.

8 Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:

Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury,(AC) from the revenues(AD) of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. 9 Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings(AE) to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, 10 so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.(AF)

11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled(AG) on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble.(AH) 12 May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there,(AI) overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.

I Darius(AJ) have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.

Completion and Dedication of the Temple

13 Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates(AK) carried it out with diligence. 14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching(AL) of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus,(AM) Darius(AN) and Artaxerxes,(AO) kings of Persia. 15 The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.(AP)

16 Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication(AQ) of the house of God with joy. 17 For the dedication of this house of God they offered(AR) a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering[e] for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they installed the priests in their divisions(AS) and the Levites in their groups(AT) for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.(AU)

The Passover

19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover.(AV) 20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered(AW) the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves. 21 So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves(AX) from the unclean practices(AY) of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord,(AZ) the God of Israel. 22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread,(BA) because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude(BB) of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra Comes to Jerusalem

7 After these things, during the reign of Artaxerxes(BC) king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah,(BD) the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,(BE) 2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok,(BF) the son of Ahitub,(BG) 3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, 4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas,(BH) the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest— 6 this Ezra(BI) came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted(BJ) him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.(BK) 7 Some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, musicians, gatekeepers and temple servants, also came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.(BL)

8 Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king. 9 He had begun his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was on him.(BM) 10 For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching(BN) its decrees and laws in Israel.

King Artaxerxes’ Letter to Ezra

11 This is a copy of the letter King Artaxerxes had given to Ezra the priest, a teacher of the Law, a man learned in matters concerning the commands and decrees of the Lord for Israel:

12 Artaxerxes, king of kings,(BO)

To Ezra the priest, teacher of the Law of the God of heaven:

Greetings.

13 Now I decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, including priests and Levites, who volunteer to go to Jerusalem with you, may go. 14 You are sent by the king and his seven advisers(BP) to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem with regard to the Law of your God, which is in your hand. 15 Moreover, you are to take with you the silver and gold that the king and his advisers have freely given(BQ) to the God of Israel, whose dwelling(BR) is in Jerusalem, 16 together with all the silver and gold(BS) you may obtain from the province of Babylon, as well as the freewill offerings of the people and priests for the temple of their God in Jerusalem.(BT) 17 With this money be sure to buy bulls, rams and male lambs,(BU) together with their grain offerings and drink offerings,(BV) and sacrifice(BW) them on the altar of the temple of your God in Jerusalem.

18 You and your fellow Israelites may then do whatever seems best with the rest of the silver and gold, in accordance with the will of your God. 19 Deliver(BX) to the God of Jerusalem all the articles entrusted to you for worship in the temple of your God. 20 And anything else needed for the temple of your God that you are responsible to supply, you may provide from the royal treasury.(BY)

21 Now I, King Artaxerxes, decree that all the treasurers of Trans-Euphrates are to provide with diligence whatever Ezra the priest, the teacher of the Law of the God of heaven, may ask of you— 22 up to a hundred talents[f] of silver, a hundred cors[g] of wheat, a hundred baths[h] of wine, a hundred baths[i] of olive oil, and salt without limit. 23 Whatever the God of heaven has prescribed, let it be done with diligence for the temple of the God of heaven. Why should his wrath fall on the realm of the king and of his sons?(BZ) 24 You are also to know that you have no authority to impose taxes, tribute or duty(CA) on any of the priests, Levites, musicians, gatekeepers, temple servants or other workers at this house of God.(CB)

25 And you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom of your God, which you possess, appoint(CC) magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people of Trans-Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach(CD) any who do not know them. 26 Whoever does not obey the law of your God and the law of the king must surely be punished by death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.[j](CE)

27 Praise be to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s heart(CF) to bring honor(CG) to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in this way 28 and who has extended his good favor(CH) to me before the king and his advisers and all the king’s powerful officials. Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me,(CI) I took courage and gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

Footnotes

  1. Ezra 5:4 See Septuagint; Aramaic We.
  2. Ezra 5:14 Or palace
  3. Ezra 5:14 Or palace
  4. Ezra 6:3 That is, about 90 feet or about 27 meters
  5. Ezra 6:17 Or purification offering
  6. Ezra 7:22 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons
  7. Ezra 7:22 That is, probably about 18 tons or about 16 metric tons
  8. Ezra 7:22 That is, about 600 gallons or about 2,200 liters
  9. Ezra 7:22 That is, about 600 gallons or about 2,200 liters
  10. Ezra 7:26 The text of 7:12-26 is in Aramaic.
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