7 And after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkijah,

² the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,

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, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest,

⁶ —this Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which Jehovah the God of Israel had given. And the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him.

⁷ (And there went up [some] of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the doorkeepers, and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.)

⁸ And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

⁹ For upon the first of the first month the project of going up from Babylon was determined on, and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

¹⁰ For Ezra had directed his heart to seek the law of Jehovah and to do it, and to teach in Israel the statutes and the ordinances.

¹¹ And this is the copy of the letter that king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commandments of Jehovah, and of his statutes to Israel:

¹² Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, an accomplished scribe of the law of the God of the heavens, and so forth.

¹³ I have given orders that all they of the people of Israel, and of their priests and the Levites, in my realm, who are disposed to go to Jerusalem, go with thee.

¹⁴ Because thou art sent by the king, and by his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thy hand;

¹⁵ and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is at Jerusalem,

¹⁶ and all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, besides the voluntary offering of the people, and of the priests, who offer willingly for the house of their God which is at Jerusalem.

¹⁷ Therefore thou shalt buy diligently with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their oblations and their drink-offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is at Jerusalem.

¹⁸ And whatever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do according to the will of your God.

¹⁹ And the vessels that have been given thee for the service of the house of thy God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem.

²⁰ And whatever more shall be needful for the house of thy God which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure house.

²¹ And I, I Artaxerxes the king, do give orders to all the treasurers that are beyond the river, that whatever Ezra the priest and scribe of the law of the God of the heavens shall require of you, it be done diligently,

²² unto a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing [how much].

²³ Whatever is commanded by the God of the heavens, let it be carefully done for the house of the God of the heavens; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

²⁴ Also we inform you, as regards all the priests and Levites, singers, doorkeepers, Nethinim, and ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, tax, and toll upon them.

²⁵ And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, which is in thy hand, set magistrates and judges who may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye him that knows [them] not.

²⁶ And whosoever will not do the law of thy God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed diligently upon him, whether unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

²⁷ Blessed be Jehovah the God of our fathers, who has put [such a thing] as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem;

²⁸ and has extended mercy to me before the king and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened, as the hand of Jehovah my God was upon me; and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

8 And these are the chief fathers, and their genealogy, who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.

² Of the children of Phinehas, Gershom; of the children of Ithamar, Daniel; of the children of David, Hattush;

³ of the children of Shecaniah, of the children of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered by genealogy of the males a hundred and fifty.

⁴ Of the children of Pahath-Moab, Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.

⁵ Of the children of Shechaniah, the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.

⁶ And of the children of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.

⁷ And of the children of Elam, Isaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.

⁸ And of the children of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him eighty males.

⁹ Of the children of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

¹⁰ And of the children of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him a hundred and sixty males.

¹¹ And of the children of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males.

¹² And of the children of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him a hundred and ten males.

¹³ And of the children of Adonikam, the last ones, whose names are these: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males.

¹⁴ And of the children of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.

¹⁵ And I gathered them together at the river that runs to Ahava; and there we encamped three days; and I surveyed the people and the priests, and found none of the sons of Levi there.

¹⁶ And I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men, and for Joiarib and for Elnathan, men of understanding.

¹⁷ And I gave them a commission to Iddo the chief, at the place Casiphia, and I put words in their mouths to say to Iddo [and] his brethren the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.

¹⁸ And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely, Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;

¹⁹ and Hashabiah, and with him Isaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;

²⁰ and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of them were expressed by name.

²¹ And I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

²² For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way; for we had spoken to the king saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his anger is against all them that forsake him.

²³ And we fasted, and besought our God for this; and he was entreated of us.

²⁴ And I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

²⁵ and I weighed to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the heave-offering for the house of our God, which the king and his counsellors and his princes, and all Israel present, had offered.

²⁶ And I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver; and silver vessels a hundred talents, [and] of gold a hundred talents;

²⁷ and twenty basons of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of shining copper, precious as gold.

²⁸ And I said to them, Ye are holy unto Jehovah; the vessels also are holy; and the silver and the gold is a voluntary offering to Jehovah the God of your fathers.

²⁹ Watch and keep [them] until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.

³⁰ And the priests and the Levites received by weight the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

³¹ And we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.

³² And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.

³³ And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Urijah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites:

³⁴ the whole by number and by weight; and all the weight was written down at that time.

³⁵ The children of those that had been carried away, who had come out of the captivity, presented burnt-offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all for a burnt-offering to Jehovah.

³⁶ And they delivered the king's edicts to the king's satraps, and to the governors on this side the river. And they furthered the people and the house of God.