Ezra Comes Up from Babylon
1After these events, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, 2son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, 3son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, 4son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, 5son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest — 6this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him everything he asked, for the hand of Yahweh his God was upon him. 7Some of the Israelites, and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants, went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. 8Ezra reached Jerusalem in the fifth month of the king’s seventh year. 9He had fixed his departure from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was upon him. 10For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of Yahweh, to put it into practice, and to teach its statutes and rulings in Israel.
The Letter of King Artaxerxes
11This is a copy of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, a scribe learned in the words of Yahweh’s commands and his statutes for Israel: 12“Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe fully versed in the law of the God of heaven. And now: 13I hereby issue an order that anyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel, and from their priests and Levites, who freely chooses to go to Jerusalem may go with you. 14For you are sent by the king and his seven counsellors to make inquiry about Judah and Jerusalem in accordance with the law of your God, which is in your hand, 15and to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16together with all the silver and gold you may find in the whole province of Babylon, and the freewill offerings of the people and of the priests, given freely for the house of their God in Jerusalem. 17With this money, then, buy without delay bulls, rams and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and present them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. 18And whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, do it according to the will of your God. 19The vessels given to you for the service of the house of your God you are to deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. 20And whatever else is needed for the house of your God and falls to you to provide, you may provide from the royal treasury. 21And I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue an order to all the treasurers of Beyond the River: whatever Ezra the priest, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, asks of you is to be done with diligence, 22up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of oil, and salt without limit. 23Whatever the God of heaven has commanded, let it be carried out with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, so that no wrath may come upon the realm of the king and his sons. 24And we inform you that it is not permitted to impose tribute, tax or toll on any of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, the temple servants or the other servants of this house of God. 25And you, Ezra, by the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people of Beyond the River — all who know the laws of your God; and whoever does not know them, you are to teach. 26And whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with diligence: death, or banishment, or confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.” 27Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to bring honour to the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem, 28and who reached out his love to me before the king and his counsellors and all the king’s powerful officials. And I took courage, for the hand of Yahweh my God was upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.
