1 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia,
Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
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 the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request,
according to the hand of the LORD 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 porters, and the Nethinims,
unto 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 day of the first month began he to go up
from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to
Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.
10 For
Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
11 Now
this is the
copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the
scribe, even a
scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to
Israel.
12 Artaxerxes,
king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven,
perfect peace, and at such a time.
13 I
make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his
priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go
up to Jerusalem, go with thee.
14 Forasmuch
as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire
concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in
thine hand;
15 And
to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely
offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in
Jerusalem,
16 And
all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon,
with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering
willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem:
17 That
thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat
offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house
of your God which is in Jerusalem.
18 And
whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of
the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.
19 The
vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver
thou before the God of Jerusalem.
20 And
whatsoever 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, even I
Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond
the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of
heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,
22 Unto
an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an
hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without
prescribing how much.
23 Whatsoever
is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of
the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king
and his sons?
24 Also
we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters,
Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose
toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.
25 And
thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and
judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the
laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.
26 And
whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment
be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to
confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
27 Blessed be the
LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to
beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem:
28 And
hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before
all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD
my God was upon
me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.
