Ezra 7:1-28
7 And after these things in the reign of Ar·ta·xerxʹes+ the king of Persia, Ezʹra+ the son of Se·raiʹah+ the son of Az·a·riʹah the son of Hil·kiʹah+
2 the son of Shalʹlum+ the son of Zaʹdok+ the son of A·hiʹtub+
3 the son of Am·a·riʹah+ the son of Az·a·riʹah+ the son of Me·raʹioth+
4 the son of Zer·a·hiʹah+ the son of Uzʹzi+ the son of Bukʹki+
5 the son of Ab·i·shuʹa+ the son of Phinʹe·has+ the son of El·e·aʹzar+ the son of Aaron+ the chief priest*+—
6 the said Ezʹra himself went up from Babylon; and he was a skilled copyist+ in the law of Moses,+ which Jehovah the God of Israel had given, so that the king granted him, according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him, all his request.+
7 Consequently some of the sons of Israel and of the priests+ and the Levites+ and the singers+ and the gatekeepers+ and the Nethʹi·nim+ went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Ar·ta·xerxʹes+ the king.
8 At length he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, that is, in the seventh year of the king.
9 For on the first [day] of the first month he himself appointed the going up from Babylon, and on the first [day] of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.+
10 For Ezʹra himself had prepared+ his heart to consult the law of Jehovah+ and to do [it]+ and to teach+ in Israel regulation+ and justice.+
11 And this is a copy of the letter that King Ar·ta·xerxʹes gave Ezʹra the priest the copyist,+ a copyist of the words of the commandments of Jehovah and of his regulations toward Israel:
12 * “Ar·ta·xerxʹes,+ the king of kings,+ to Ezʹra the priest, the copyist of the law of the God of the heavens:+ [Peace] be perfected.+ And now
13 by me an order+ has been put through that everyone in my realm+ of the people of Israel and their priests and Levites that is willing to go to Jerusalem with you should go.+
14 Inasmuch as from before the king and his seven counselors+ [an order] was sent to investigate+ concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the law+ of your God+ that is in your hand,
15 and to bring the silver and the gold that the king and his counselors have voluntarily given+ to the God of Israel, whose residence is in Jerusalem,+
16 with all the silver and the gold that you find in all the jurisdictional district of Babylon along with the gift of the people+ and the priests who are voluntarily giving to the house of their God,+ which is in Jerusalem;
17 accordingly you will promptly buy with this money bulls,+ rams,+ lambs+ and their grain offerings+ and their drink offerings+ and you will present them upon the altar of the house of YOUR God,+ which is in Jerusalem.+
18 “And whatever it seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold,+ according to the will+ of YOUR God, YOU men will do.+
19 And the vessels+ that are being given to you for the service of the house of your God deliver in full before God at Jerusalem.+
20 And the rest of the necessities of the house of your God that it devolves upon you to give, you will give out of the king’s house of treasures.+
21 “And by me myself, Ar·ta·xerxʹes the king, an order+ has been put through to all the treasurers+ that are beyond the River,+ that everything that Ezʹra+ the priest, the copyist of the law of the God of the heavens, requests of YOU men it will be done promptly,
22 even to a hundred talents*+ of silver and a hundred cor*+ measures of wheat and a hundred bath*+ measures of wine+ and a hundred bath measures of oil,+ and salt+ without limit.
23 Let all that is by the order+ of the God of the heavens be done with zeal+ for the house of the God of the heavens,+ that there may occur no wrath against the king’s realm and his sons.+
24 And to YOU men it is being made known that, as respects any of the priests+ and the Levites,+ the musicians,*+ the doorkeepers,+ the Nethʹi·nim,+ and the workers of this house of God, no tax, tribute+ or toll+ is allowed to be imposed upon them.
25 “And you, Ezʹra, according to the wisdom+ of your God that is in your hand appoint magistrates and judges that they may continually judge+ all the people that are beyond the River, even all those knowing the laws of your God; and anyone that has not known [them] YOU men will instruct.+
26 And as for everyone that does not become a doer of the law of your God+ and the law of the king, let judgment be promptly executed upon him, whether for death+ or for banishment,+ or for money fine+ or for imprisonment.”*
27 Blessed be Jehovah the God of our forefathers,+ who has put such a thing into the heart+ of the king, to beautify+ the house of Jehovah, which is in Jerusalem!
28 And toward me he has extended loving-kindness*+ before the king and his counselors+ and as respects all the mighty princes of the king. And I, for my part, strengthened myself according to the hand+ of Jehovah my God upon me, and I proceeded to collect out of Israel the head ones to go up with me.
Footnotes
^ Lit., “the head priest.” Heb., hak·ko·henʹ ha·roʼshʹ; Vg, “the priest from the beginning.”
^ A cor equaled 220 L (200 dry qt).
^ Or, “the singers [accompanied by music].”
^ The second section of Ezra written in Aram. ends here. See vs 12 ftn.
^ Or, “loyal love.”
