Esdras 7

Ezra comes up from Babylon

¹After these events, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,^{a 2}son 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 well versed in the law of Moses, which the LORD the God of Israel had given. The king granted him everything he asked, because the hand of the LORD his God was on him.

⁷Some of the Israelites, as well as some of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers and temple servants, also went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. ⁸Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the king’s seventh year. ⁹He had set the first day of the first month for the departure from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived in Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him. ¹⁰For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD, to practice it, and to teach its statutes and rulings in Israel.

The letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra

¹¹This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in the commandments and statutes of the LORD for Israel:

¹²“Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven: Greetings.^{b 13}I hereby decree that any of the people of Israel in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who choose freely to go to Jerusalem may go with you. ¹⁴For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to look into conditions in Judah and Jerusalem by the law of your God, which is in your hand, ¹⁵and to take with you the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely given to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶along with all the silver and gold you may obtain throughout the province of Babylon, and the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, given willingly for the house of their God in Jerusalem. ¹⁷With this money, then, you are to buy without fail bulls, rams and lambs, with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. ¹⁸You and your fellow Jews may do whatever seems best with the rest of the silver and gold, in keeping with the will of your God. ¹⁹The vessels given to you for the service of the house of your God you must deliver in full to the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰Anything else needed for the house of your God that you are responsible for supplying, you may provide from the royal treasury. ²¹I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, asks of you is to be provided in full, ²²up to about 3 3/4 tons of silver, about 600 bushels of wheat, about 600 gallons of wine, about 600 gallons of olive oil, and salt without limit. ²³Whatever the God of heaven commands for the house of the God of heaven must be done exactly. Why should wrath come upon the realm of the king and his sons? ²⁴We also inform you that you have no authority to impose tribute, tax or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants or other workers of this house of God. ²⁵And you, Ezra, by the wisdom of your God that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the province Beyond the River who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach anyone who does not know them. ²⁶Anyone who does not obey the law of your God and the law of the king must be punished without fail, whether by death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.”^c

Ezra praises the God of our ancestors

²⁷Blessed be the LORD, the God of our ancestors, who put it into the king’s heart to bring honor to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, ²⁸and who has shown me faithful love before the king, his counselors and all the king’s powerful officials. Because the hand of the LORD my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.