Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra,
the son of Saraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shalom,
the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitab, the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah,
the son of Mereoth, the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzziah, the son of Buccai,
the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron,
the chief priest.
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.
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 Nethanims, unto Jerusalem in the
seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of
the king.
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.
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.
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.
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, 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 free will to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.
For as much as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counselors, to inquire
concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God,
which is in thine hand, and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his
counselors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in
Jerusalem, and all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province
of Babylon, with the free will offering of the people and of the priests,
offering willingly for the house of their God, which is in Jerusalem, 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.
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.
The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God,
those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.
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.
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.
Unto one hundred talents of silver, and to one hundred measures of wheat,
and to one hundred baths of wine, and to one hundred baths of oil,
and salt, without prescribing how much.
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?
Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers,
porters, methanims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to
impose toll, tribute, or custom upon them.
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.
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.
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, 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.