Ezra*

1 And in the first year of Cyrus*+ the king of Persia, that Jehovah’s word from the mouth of Jeremiah+ might be accomplished, Jehovah roused+ the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia so that he caused a cry+ to pass through all his realm, and also in writing,+ saying:

2 “This is what Cyrus the king of Persia has said,+ ‘All the kingdoms of the earth Jehovah the God of the heavens+ has given me,+ and he himself has commissioned me to build him a house in Jerusalem,+ which is in Judah. 3 Whoever there is among YOU of all his people, may his God prove to be with him.+ So let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of Jehovah the God of Israel—he is the [true] God*+—which was in Jerusalem.+ 4 As for anyone that is left from all the places where he is residing as an alien,+ let the men of his place assist him with silver and with gold and with goods and with domestic animals along with the voluntary offering+ for the house of the [true] God, which was in Jerusalem.’”

5 Then the heads+ of the fathers of Judah and of Benjamin and the priests and the Levites rose up, even everyone whose spirit+ the [true] God had roused, to go up and rebuild the house of Jehovah,+ which was in Jerusalem. 6 As for all those round about them, they strengthened+ their hands with utensils of silver, with gold, with goods and with domestic animals and with choice things, besides all that which was voluntarily offered.*+

7 Also, King Cyrus himself brought forth the utensils of the house of Jehovah,+ which Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar had brought out from Jerusalem+ and then put in the house of his god.*+ 8 And Cyrus the king of Persia proceeded to bring them forth under the control of Mithʹre·dath the treasurer and to number them out to Shesh·bazʹzar*+ the chieftain* of Judah.+

9 Now these are the numbers of them: thirty basket-shaped vessels of gold, a thousand basket-shaped vessels of silver, twenty-nine replacement vessels, 10 thirty small bowls+ of gold, four hundred and ten small secondary bowls of silver, a thousand other utensils. 11 All the utensils of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred. Everything Shesh·bazʹzar+ brought up, along with the bringing up of the exiled+ people out of Babylon* to Jerusalem.

2 And these were the sons of the jurisdictional district*+ that went up out of the captivity of the exiled+ people whom Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar the king of Babylon had taken into exile+ at Babylon and who later returned+ to Jerusalem and Judah,+ each one to his own city; 2 those who came with Ze·rubʹba·bel,+ Jeshʹu·a,*+ Ne·he·miʹah, Se·raiʹah,*+ Re·el·aiʹah,* Morʹde·cai, Bilʹshan, Misʹpar,* Bigʹvai, Reʹhum,*+ Baʹa·nah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: 3 The sons of Paʹrosh,+ two thousand one hundred and seventy-two; 4 the sons of Sheph·a·tiʹah,+ three hundred and seventy-two; 5 the sons of Aʹrah,+ seven hundred and seventy-five; 6 the sons of Paʹhath-moʹab,*+ of the sons of Jeshʹu·a [and] Joʹab,+ two thousand eight hundred and twelve; 7 the sons of Eʹlam,+ a thousand two hundred and fifty-four; 8 the sons of Zatʹtu,+ nine hundred and forty-five; 9 the sons of Zacʹcai,+ seven hundred and sixty; 10 the sons of Baʹni,*+ six hundred and forty-two; 11 the sons of Beʹbai,+ six hundred and twenty-three; 12 the sons of Azʹgad,+ a thousand two hundred and twenty-two; 13 the sons of Ad·o·niʹkam,+ six hundred and sixty-six; 14 the sons of Bigʹvai,+ two thousand and fifty-six; 15 the sons of Aʹdin,+ four hundred and fifty-four; 16 the sons of Aʹter,+ of Hez·e·kiʹah, ninety-eight; 17 the sons of Beʹzai,+ three hundred and twenty-three; 18 the sons of Joʹrah,* a hundred and twelve; 19 the sons of Haʹshum,+ two hundred and twenty-three; 20 the sons of Gibʹbar,*+ ninety-five; 21 the sons of Bethʹle·hem,+ a hundred and twenty-three; 22 the men of Ne·toʹphah,+ fifty-six; 23 the men of Anʹa·thoth,+ a hundred and twenty-eight; 24 the sons of Azʹma·veth,+ forty-two; 25 the sons of Kirʹi·ath-jeʹa·rim,+ Che·phiʹrah and Be·erʹoth, seven hundred and forty-three; 26 the sons of Raʹmah+ and Geʹba,+ six hundred and twenty-one; 27 the men of Michʹmas,+ a hundred and twenty-two; 28 the men of Bethʹel+ and Aʹi,+ two hundred and twenty-three; 29 the sons of Neʹbo,*+ fifty-two; 30 the sons of Magʹbish, a hundred and fifty-six; 31 the sons of the other Eʹlam,+ a thousand two hundred and fifty-four; 32 the sons of Haʹrim,+ three hundred and twenty; 33 the sons of Lod,+ Haʹdid+ and Oʹno,+ seven hundred and twenty-five; 34 the sons of Jerʹi·cho,+ three hundred and forty-five; 35 the sons of Se·naʹah,+ three thousand six hundred and thirty.

36 The priests:+ The sons of Je·daʹiah+ of the house of Jeshʹu·a+ nine hundred and seventy-three; 37 the sons of Imʹmer,+ a thousand and fifty-two; 38 the sons of Pashʹhur,+ a thousand two hundred and forty-seven; 39 the sons of Haʹrim,+ a thousand and seventeen.

40 The Levites:+ The sons of Jeshʹu·a+ and Kadʹmi·el,+ of the sons of Hod·a·viʹah,+ seventy-four. 41 The singers, the sons of Aʹsaph,+ a hundred and twenty-eight. 42 The sons of the gatekeepers, the sons of Shalʹlum,+ the sons of Aʹter,+ the sons of Talʹmon,+ the sons of Akʹkub,+ the sons of Ha·tiʹta,+ the sons of Shoʹbai, all together, a hundred and thirty-nine.

43 The Nethʹi·nim:*+ The sons of Ziʹha, the sons of Ha·suʹpha, the sons of Tab·baʹoth,+ 44 the sons of Keʹros, the sons of Siʹa·ha, the sons of Paʹdon,+ 45 the sons of Le·baʹnah, the sons of Hagʹa·bah, the sons of Akʹkub,+ 46 the sons of Haʹgab, the sons of Salʹmai,+ the sons of Haʹnan, 47 the sons of Gidʹdel, the sons of Gaʹhar,+ the sons of Re·aʹiah, 48 the sons of Reʹzin,+ the sons of Ne·koʹda,+ the sons of Gazʹzam, 49 the sons of Uzʹza, the sons of Pa·seʹah,+ the sons of Beʹsai, 50 the sons of Asʹnah, the sons of Me·uʹnim, the sons of Ne·phuʹsim;+ 51 the sons of Bakʹbuk, the sons of Ha·kuʹpha, the sons of Harʹhur,+ 52 the sons of Bazʹluth, the sons of Me·hiʹda, the sons of Harʹsha,+ 53 the sons of Barʹkos, the sons of Sisʹe·ra, the sons of Teʹmah,+ 54 the sons of Ne·ziʹah, the sons of Ha·tiʹpha.+

55 The sons of the servants of Solʹo·mon:+ The sons of Soʹtai, the sons of So·pheʹreth, the sons of Pe·ruʹda,+ 56 the sons of Jaʹa·lah, the sons of Darʹkon, the sons of Gidʹdel,+ 57 the sons of Sheph·a·tiʹah, the sons of Hatʹtil, the sons of Poʹche·reth-haz·ze·baʹim, the sons of Aʹmi.+

58 All the Nethʹi·nim+ and the sons of the servants of Solʹo·mon were three hundred and ninety-two.+

59 And these were the ones going up from Tel-meʹlah, Tel-harʹsha, Cheʹrub, Adʹdon [and] Imʹmer, and they proved unable to tell the house of their fathers and their origin,*+ whether they were of Israel: 60 the sons of De·laʹiah, the sons of To·biʹah, the sons of Ne·koʹda,+ six hundred and fifty-two. 61 And of the sons of the priests:+ the sons of Ha·baiʹah, the sons of Hakʹkoz,+ the sons of Bar·zilʹlai,+ who took a wife from the daughters of Bar·zilʹlai+ the Gilʹe·ad·ite and came to be called by their name. 62 These were the ones that looked for their register to establish their genealogy publicly, and they did not find themselves, so that they were barred as polluted from the priesthood.+ 63 Consequently the Tir·shaʹtha*+ said to them that they could not eat+ from the most holy things until a priest stood up with Uʹrim+ and Thumʹmim.*

64 The entire congregation* as one group+ was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty,+ 65 apart from their men slaves and their slave girls, these being seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred male singers+ and female singers. 66 Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules two hundred and forty-five,+ 67 their camels four hundred and thirty-five, [their] asses six thousand seven hundred and twenty.+

68 And certain ones of the heads+ of the paternal+ houses, on coming to the house of Jehovah,+ which was in Jerusalem,+ made voluntary+ offerings to the house of the [true] God, to cause it to stand on its own site.+ 69 According to their power they gave gold+ for the working supplies, sixty-one thousand drachmas,* and silver,+ five thousand miʹnas,* and a hundred robes+ of priests. 70 And the priests and the Levites and some of the people,+ and the singers and the gatekeepers and the Nethʹi·nim took up dwelling in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.+

3 When the seventh+ month arrived the sons of Israel were in [their] cities. And the people began to gather themselves as one+ man to Jerusalem.+ 2 And Jeshʹu·a*+ the son of Je·hozʹa·dak* and his brothers the priests and Ze·rubʹba·bel+ the son of She·alʹti·el+ and his brothers proceeded to rise up and build the altar of the God of Israel, to offer up burnt sacrifices upon it, according to what is written+ in the law of Moses the man of the [true] God.*

3 So they established the altar firmly upon its own site,+ for fright [came] upon them* because of the peoples of the lands,*+ and they began offering up burnt sacrifices to Jehovah upon it, the burnt sacrifices of the morning and of the evening.+ 4 Then they held the festival of booths+ according to what is written,+ with the burnt sacrifices day by day in number according to the rule of what was due each day.+ 5 And afterward there was the constant burnt offering+ and that for the new moons+ and for all the sanctified festival+ seasons of Jehovah and for everyone that willingly offered a voluntary+ offering to Jehovah. 6 From the first day of the seventh month+ on they started to offer up burnt sacrifices to Jehovah, when the foundation of Jehovah’s temple* itself had not yet been laid.

7 And they proceeded to give money+ to the cutters+ and to the craftsmen,+ and eatables+ and drink and oil+ to the Si·doʹni·ans+ and the Tyrʹi·ans,+ to bring cedar timbers from Lebʹa·non+ to the sea at Jopʹpa,+ according to the permission granted by Cyrus+ the king of Persia to them.

8 And in the second year of their coming to the house of the [true] God at Jerusalem, in the second month,+ Ze·rubʹba·bel+ the son of She·alʹti·el+ and Jeshʹu·a+ the son of Je·hozʹa·dak and the rest of their brothers, the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity+ to Jerusalem started; and they now put in positions the Levites+ from twenty years of age upward to act as supervisors over the work of the house of Jehovah.+ 9 Accordingly Jeshʹu·a,+ his sons and his brothers, [and] Kadʹmi·el and his sons, the sons of Judah,* stood up as one group to act as supervisors over the doers of the work in the house of the [true] God, [also] the sons of Henʹa·dad,+ their sons and their brothers, the Levites.

10 When the builders laid the foundation+ of the temple of Jehovah, then the priests in official clothing,+ with the trumpets,+ and the Levites the sons of Aʹsaph,+ with the cymbals,+ stood up to praise Jehovah according to the direction+ of David the king of Israel. 11 And they began to respond by praising+ and giving thanks to Jehovah, “for he is good,+ for his loving-kindness* toward Israel is to time indefinite.”+ As for all the people, they shouted with a loud shout+ in praising Jehovah over the laying of the foundation of the house of Jehovah. 12 And many of the priests+ and the Levites and the heads of the paternal+ houses, the old men that had seen the former house,+ were weeping+ with a loud voice at the laying of the foundation+ of this house before their eyes, while many others were raising the voice in shouting for joy.+ 13 Hence the people were not distinguishing the sound of the shout of rejoicing+ from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people were shouting with a loud shout, and the sound itself was heard even to a great distance.

4 When the adversaries+ of Judah and Benjamin heard that the sons of the Exile+ were building a temple to Jehovah the God of Israel, 2 they immediately approached Ze·rubʹba·bel+ and the heads+ of the paternal houses and said to them: “Let us build along with YOU;+ for, just like YOU, we search for YOUR God+ and to him we are sacrificing since the days of Eʹsar-hadʹdon+ the king of As·syrʹi·a, who brought us up here.”+ 3 However, Ze·rubʹba·bel and Jeshʹu·a+ and the rest of the heads+ of the paternal houses of Israel said to them: “YOU have nothing to do with us* in building a house to our God,+ for we ourselves shall together build to Jehovah the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus+ the king of Persia has commanded us.”

4 At that the people of the land were continually weakening+ the hands of the people of Judah and disheartening them from building,+ 5 and hiring+ counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus the king of Persia down till the reign of Da·riʹus+ the king of Persia. 6 And in the reign of A·has·u·eʹrus, at the start of his reign, they wrote an accusation+ against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 7 Also, in the days of Ar·ta·xerxʹes, Bishʹlam, Mithʹre·dath, Tabʹe·el and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Ar·ta·xerxʹes the king of Persia, and the writing of the letter was written in Ar·a·maʹic characters and translated into the Ar·a·maʹic+ language.

8* Reʹhum the chief government official and Shimʹshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Ar·ta·xerxʹes the king, as follows: 9 Then Reʹhum+ the chief government official and Shimʹshai the scribe and the rest of their colleagues, the judges and the lesser governors across the River,*+ the secretaries,+ the people of Eʹrech,+ the Babylonians,+ the inhabitants of Suʹsa,*+ that is, the Eʹlam·ites,+ 10 and the rest of the nations+ whom the great and honorable Asʹe·nap·par*+ took into exile and settled in the cities of Sa·marʹi·a,+ and the rest beyond the River, ——;* and now 11 this is a copy of the letter that they sent concerning it:

“To Ar·ta·xerxʹes+ the king your servants, the men beyond the River: And now 12 let it become known to the king that the Jews who came up here from you to us have come to Jerusalem. They are building the rebellious and bad city, and they proceed to finish the walls+ and to repair the foundations. 13 Now let it become known to the king that, if this city should be rebuilt and its walls be finished, neither tax+ nor tribute+ nor toll+ will they give, and it will cause loss to the treasuries+ of the kings. 14 Now inasmuch as we do eat the salt* of the palace, and it is not proper for us to see the denuding of the king, on this account we have sent and made [it] known to the king, 15 that there may be an investigation of the book of records+ of your ancestors. Then you will find in the book of records and learn that that city is a city rebellious and causing loss to kings and jurisdictional districts, and within it there were movers of revolt from the days of old. For this reason that city has been laid waste.+ 16 We are making known to the king that, if that city should be rebuilt and its walls be finished, you also will certainly have no share beyond the River.”*+

17 The king sent word to Reʹhum+ the chief government official and Shimʹshai the scribe and the rest of their colleagues+ who were dwelling in Sa·marʹi·a and the rest beyond the River:

“Greetings!*+ And now 18 the official document that YOU have sent us* has been distinctly read before me. 19 So an order has been put through by me, and they have investigated+ and found that that city has from the days of old been one rising up against kings and one in which rebellion and revolt have been carried on.+ 20 And there proved to be strong kings+ over Jerusalem and governing all beyond the River,+ and tax, tribute and toll were being given to them.+ 21 Now PUT an order through for these able-bodied men to stop, that that city may not be rebuilt until the order is put through by me. 22 So be careful that there be no negligence about acting in this regard, that the harm may not increase to the injury of kings.”+

23 Now after the copy of the official document of Ar·ta·xerxʹes the king had been read before Reʹhum+ and Shimʹshai+ the scribe and their colleagues,+ they went in a hurry to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms.*+ 24 It was then that the work on the house of God, which was in Jerusalem, stopped; and it continued stopped until the second year of the reign of Da·riʹus+ the king of Persia.

5 And Hagʹgai+ the prophet and Zech·a·riʹah+ the grandson of Idʹdo+ the prophet prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and in Jerusalem, in the name+ of the God of Israel [who was] over them.+ 2 It was then that Ze·rubʹba·bel+ the son of She·alʹti·el*+ and Jeshʹu·a+ the son of Je·hozʹa·dak got up and started to rebuild the house of God, which was in Jerusalem; and with them there were God’s prophets+ giving them aid. 3 At that time Tatʹte·nai+ the governor beyond the River+ and Sheʹthar-bozʹe·nai and their colleagues came to them, and this is what they were saying to them: “Who put an order through to YOU to build this house and to finish this beam structure?”*+ 4 Then they* said to them this: “What are the names of the able-bodied men that are building this building?” 5 And the eye+ of their God proved to be upon+ the older men* of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report could go to Da·riʹus and then an official document concerning this could be sent back.

6 [Here] is a copy+ of the letter that Tatʹte·nai+ the governor beyond the River+ and Sheʹthar-bozʹe·nai+ and his colleagues,+ the lesser governors that were beyond the River,* sent to Da·riʹus the king; 7 they sent the word to him, and the writing in it was in this manner:

“To Da·riʹus the king:

“All peace!+ 8 Let it become known to the king that we went to the jurisdictional district+ of Judah to the house of the great God,+ and it is being built with stones rolled* [into place], and timbers are being laid in the walls; and that work is being eagerly done and is making progress in their hands. 9 Then we asked these older men. This is what we said to them: ‘Who put an order through to YOU to build this house and to finish this beam structure?’+ 10 And we also asked them their names, so as to let you know, that we might write the names of the able-bodied men that are at their head.+

11 “And this is the word that they gave back to us, saying: ‘We are the servants of the God of the heavens and the earth,+ and we are rebuilding the house that had been built many years before this, which a great king of Israel built and finished.+ 12 However, because our fathers irritated+ the God of the heavens, he gave+ them into the hand of Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar+ the king of Babylon, the Chal·deʹan,+ and he demolished this house+ and took the people into exile at Babylon.+ 13 Nevertheless, in the first year of Cyrus+ the king of Babylon,* Cyrus the king put an order through to rebuild this house of God.+ 14 And also the gold and silver vessels+ of the house of God that Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar had taken out of the temple, which was in Jerusalem, and brought to the temple of Babylon,*+ these Cyrus the king+ took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were given to Shesh·bazʹzar,*+ the name of the one whom he made governor.+ 15 And he said to him: “Take these vessels.+ Go, deposit them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt upon its place.”+ 16 When that Shesh·bazʹzar came he laid the foundations of the house of God,+ which is in Jerusalem; and from then until now it is being rebuilt but it has not been completed.’+

17 “And now if to the king it seems good, let there be an investigation+ in the king’s house of treasures that is there in Babylon, whether it is so that from Cyrus the king an order+ was put through to rebuild that house of God in Jerusalem; and the decision of the king concerning this let him send to us.”

6 It was then that Da·riʹus the king put an order through, and they made an investigation in the house of the records+ of the treasures deposited there in Babylon. 2 And at Ec·batʹa·na,* in the fortified place that was in the jurisdictional district+ of Meʹdi·a, there was found a scroll, and the memorandum to this effect was written within it:

3 “In the first year of Cyrus the king,+ Cyrus the king put an order through concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the house be rebuilt as the place where they are to offer sacrifices,+ and its foundations are to be fixed, its height being sixty cubits,* its width sixty cubits,+ 4 with three layers of stones rolled+ [into place] and one layer of timbers;+ and let the expense be given from the king’s house.+ 5 And also let the gold and silver+ vessels of the house of God that Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar+ took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon be returned, that they may reach the temple that is in Jerusalem at its place and be deposited in the house of God.+

6 “Now Tatʹte·nai+ the governor beyond the River,+ Sheʹthar-bozʹe·nai+ and their colleagues, the lesser governors+ that are beyond the River, keep YOUR distance from there.+ 7 Let the work on that house of God alone.+ The governor of the Jews and the older men of the Jews will rebuild that house of God upon its place. 8 And by me an order+ has been put through as to what YOU will do with these older men of the Jews, for rebuilding that house of God; and from the royal treasury+ of the tax beyond the River the expense will promptly be given+ to these able-bodied men without cessation.+ 9 And what is needed, young bulls+ as well as rams+ and lambs+ for the burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat,+ salt,+ wine+ and oil,+ just as the priests that are in Jerusalem say, let there be given them continually day by day without fail; 10 that they may continually+ be presenting soothing offerings+ to the God of the heavens and praying for the life of the king and his sons.+ 11 And by me an order has been put through that, as for anybody that violates+ this decree,* a timber+ will be pulled out of his house and he will be impaled+ upon it,* and his house will be turned into a public privy on this account.+ 12 And may the God who has caused his name+ to reside there overthrow any king and people that thrusts his hand out to commit a violation and destroy+ that house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I, Da·riʹus, do put through an order. Let it be done promptly.”

13 Then Tatʹte·nai the governor beyond the River,+ Sheʹthar-bozʹe·nai+ and their colleagues, just as Da·riʹus the king had sent [word], so they did promptly. 14 And the older men+ of the Jews were building+ and making progress under the prophesying of Hagʹgai+ the prophet and Zech·a·riʹah+ the grandson of Idʹdo,+ and they built and finished [it] due to the order of the God of Israel+ and due to the order of Cyrus+ and Da·riʹus+ and Ar·ta·xerxʹes+ the king of Persia. 15 And they completed this house by the third day of the lunar month Aʹdar,+ that is, in the sixth year of the reign of Da·riʹus the king.

16 And the sons of Israel, the priests and the Levites+ and the rest of the former exiles*+ held the inauguration+ of this house of God with joy. 17 And they presented for the inauguration of this house of God a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.+ 18 And they appointed the priests in their classes and the Levites in their divisions,+ for the service of God which is in Jerusalem, according to the prescription of the book of Moses.*+

19 And the former exiles proceeded to hold the passover+ on the fourteenth [day] of the first month.+ 20 As the priests and the Levites had cleansed+ themselves as one group, they were all of them clean, and so they slaughtered the passover victim+ for all the former exiles and for their brothers the priests and for themselves. 21 Then the sons of Israel that had returned from the Exile ate,+ and everyone that had separated himself to them from the uncleanness+ of the nations of the land, to search for Jehovah the God of Israel.+ 22 And they went on to hold the festival of unfermented cakes+ seven days with rejoicing; for Jehovah caused them to rejoice, and he had turned+ the heart of the king of As·syrʹi·a around toward them to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of the [true] God, the God of Israel.

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.

8 Now these were the heads of their paternal+ houses and the genealogical+ enrollment of those going up with me during the reign of Ar·ta·xerxʹes+ the king out of Babylon: 2 Of the sons of Phinʹe·has,+ Gerʹshom;+ of the sons of Ithʹa·mar,+ Daniel;+ of the sons of David,+ Hatʹtush; 3 of the sons of Shec·a·niʹah, of the sons of Paʹrosh,+ Zech·a·riʹah, and with him there was an enrollment of a hundred and fifty males; 4 of the sons of Paʹhath-moʹab,+ Elʹie·ho-eʹnai the son of Zer·a·hiʹah, and with him two hundred males; 5 of the sons [of Zatʹtu],*+ Shec·a·niʹah the son of Ja·ha·ziʹel, and with him three hundred males; 6 and of the sons of Aʹdin,+ Eʹbed the son of Jonʹa·than, and with him fifty males; 7 and of the sons of Eʹlam,+ Je·shaʹiah the son of Ath·a·liʹah, and with him seventy males; 8 and of the sons of Sheph·a·tiʹah,+ Zeb·a·diʹah the son of Miʹcha·el, and with him eighty males; 9 of the sons of Joʹab, O·ba·diʹah the son of Je·hiʹel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males; 10 and of the sons of [Baʹni],*+ She·loʹmith the son of Jo·si·phiʹah, and with him a hundred and sixty males; 11 and of the sons of Beʹbai, Zech·a·riʹah the son of Beʹbai,+ and with him twenty-eight males; 12 and of the sons of Azʹgad,+ Jo·haʹnan the son of Hakʹka·tan, and with him a hundred and ten males; 13 and of the sons of Ad·o·niʹkam,+ those who were the last, and these were their names: E·liphʹe·let, Je·iʹel and She·maiʹah, and with them sixty males; 14 and of the sons of Bigʹvai,+ Uʹthai and Zabʹbud,* and with them seventy males.

15 And I proceeded to collect them at the river+ that comes to A·haʹva;+ and we kept encamped there three days, that I might scrutinize the people+ and the priests,+ but none of the sons of Leʹvi+ did I find there. 16 Accordingly I sent for E·li·eʹzer, Arʹi·el, She·maiʹah and El·naʹthan and Jaʹrib and El·naʹthan and Nathan and Zech·a·riʹah and Me·shulʹlam, head ones, and for Joiʹa·rib and El·naʹthan, instructors.*+ 17 Then I gave them a command concerning Idʹdo the head one in the place Ca·si·phiʹa, and I put in their mouth words+ to speak to Idʹdo [and] his brothers* the Nethʹi·nim*+ in the place Ca·si·phiʹa, to bring to us ministers*+ for the house of our God. 18 So they brought to us, according to the good hand+ of our God upon us, a man of discretion+ from the sons of Mahʹli+ the grandson of Leʹvi+ the son of Israel, namely, She·re·biʹah+ and his sons and his brothers, eighteen; 19 and Hash·a·biʹah and with him Je·shaʹiah from the sons of Me·rarʹi,+ his brothers, and their sons, twenty. 20 And from the Nethʹi·nim, whom David and the princes gave to the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethʹi·nim, all of whom had been designated by [their] names.

21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river A·haʹva, to humble+ ourselves before our God, to seek from him the right way+ for us and for our little ones+ and for all our goods. 22 For I felt ashamed to ask a military force+ and horsemen+ from the king to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had said to the king: “The hand+ of our God is over all those seeking him for good,+ but his strength and his anger+ are against all those leaving him.”+ 23 Therefore we fasted+ and made request+ of our God concerning this, so that he let himself be entreated+ by us.

24 I now separated from the chiefs of the priests twelve, namely, She·re·biʹah,+ Hash·a·biʹah,+ and with them ten of their brothers. 25 And I proceeded to weigh out to them the silver and the gold and the utensils,+ the contribution to the house of our God that the king+ and his counselors+ and his princes and all the Israelites+ who were to be found had contributed. 26 Thus I weighed out into their hand six hundred and fifty talents* of silver+ and a hundred silver utensils worth [two] talents, [and] gold a hundred talents, 27 and twenty small gold bowls worth a thousand darics* and two utensils of good copper, gleaming red, as desirable as gold.

28 Then I said to them: “YOU are something holy+ to Jehovah, and the utensils+ are something holy, and the silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to Jehovah the God of YOUR forefathers. 29 Keep awake and be on guard until YOU weigh+ [them] out before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and the princes of the fathers of Israel in Jerusalem, in the dining halls+ of the house of Jehovah.” 30 And the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold and the utensils, to bring [them] to Jerusalem to the house of our God.+

31 Finally we pulled away from the river A·haʹva+ on the twelfth [day] of the first month+ to go to Jerusalem, and the very hand of our God proved to be over us, so that he delivered+ us out of the palm of the enemy and the ambush by the way. 32 So we came to Jerusalem+ and dwelt there three days. 33 And on the fourth day we proceeded to weigh out the silver and the gold+ and the utensils+ in the house of our God into the hand of Merʹe·moth+ the son of U·riʹjah the priest and with him El·e·aʹzar the son of Phinʹe·has and with them Joʹza·bad+ the son of Jeshʹu·a* and No·a·diʹah the son of Binʹnu·i+ the Levites, 34 by number [and] by weight for everything, after which all the weight was written down at that time. 35 Those coming out of the captivity, the former exiles,*+ themselves presented burnt sacrifices+ to the God of Israel, twelve bulls+ for all Israel, ninety-six rams,+ seventy-seven male lambs, twelve he-goats+ as a sin offering, everything as a burnt offering to Jehovah.

36 Then we gave the laws+ of the king to the satraps*+ of the king and the governors+ beyond the River,*+ and they assisted the people+ and the house of the [true] God.

9 And as soon as these things were finished, the princes+ approached me, saying: “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated+ themselves from the peoples of the lands as regards their detestable things,+ namely, the Caʹnaan·ites,+ the Hitʹtites,+ the Perʹiz·zites,+ the Jebʹu·sites,+ the Amʹmon·ites,+ the Moʹab·ites,+ the Egyptians+ and the Amʹor·ites.+ 2 For they have accepted some of their daughters for themselves and for their sons;+ and they, the holy seed,+ have become mingled+ with the peoples of the lands, and the hand+ of the princes and the deputy rulers has proved to be foremost+ in this unfaithfulness.”

3 Now as soon as I heard of this thing I ripped apart my garment+ and my sleeveless coat, and I began to pull out some of the hair of my head+ and of my beard, and I kept sitting stunned.+ 4 Also to me they came gathering themselves, everyone trembling+ because of the words of the God of Israel against the unfaithfulness of the exiled people, while I was sitting stunned until the grain offering of the evening.+

5 And at the grain offering+ of the evening I stood up from my humiliation, with my garment and my sleeveless coat torn apart, and I proceeded to kneel upon my knees+ and spread out my palms to Jehovah my God.+ 6 And I went on to say:+ “O my God, I do feel ashamed+ and embarrassed+ to raise my face to you, O my God, for our errors+ themselves have multiplied over our head and our guiltiness has grown great even to the heavens.+ 7 From the days of our forefathers+ we have been in great guiltiness until this day;+ and because of our errors we have been given, we ourselves, our kings,+ our priests,+ into the hand of the kings of the lands with the sword,+ with the captivity+ and with the plunder+ and with shame of face,+ just as this day. 8 And now for a little moment favor+ from Jehovah our God has come by leaving over for us those who escape+ and by giving us a peg* in his holy place, to make our eyes shine,+ O our God, and to give us a little reviving in our servitude.+ 9 For we are servants;+ and in our servitude our God has not left us,+ but he extends toward us loving-kindness before the kings of Persia,+ to give us a reviving so as to raise up the house of our God+ and to restore its desolated places+ and to give us a stone wall+ in Judah and in Jerusalem.

10 “And now what shall we say, O our God, after this? For we have left your commandments,+ 11 which you commanded by means of your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that YOU people are going in to take possession of is an impure land because of the impurity of the peoples of the lands,+ because of their detestable things+ with which they have filled it from end+ to end by their uncleanness.+ 12 And now YOUR daughters do not YOU people give to their sons,+ neither their daughters do YOU accept for YOUR sons; and to time indefinite YOU must not work for their peace+ and their prosperity,* in order that YOU may grow strong+ and certainly eat the good of the land and indeed take possession [of it] for YOUR sons to time indefinite.’+ 13 And after all that has come upon us for our bad deeds+ and our great guiltiness—for you yourself, O our God, have underestimated our error,+ and you have given us those who have escaped such as these+— 14 shall we go breaking your commandments again and forming marriage alliances+ with the peoples of these detestable things?+ Will you not get incensed at us to the limit+ so that there will be none remaining+ and none escaping? 15 O Jehovah the God of Israel, you are righteous,+ because we have been left over as an escaped people as at this day. Here we are before you in our guiltiness,+ for it is impossible to stand before you on account of this.”+

10 Now as soon as Ezʹra had prayed+ and he had made confession+ while weeping and lying prostrate+ before the house+ of the [true] God, those of Israel collected themselves together to him, a very large congregation, men and women and children, for the people had wept profusely.* 2 Then Shec·a·niʹah the son of Je·hiʹel+ of the sons of Eʹlam+ answered and said to Ezʹra: “We—we have acted unfaithfully against our God, so that we gave a dwelling to foreign wives from the peoples of the land.+ Yet now there exists a hope+ for Israel concerning this. 3 And now let us conclude a covenant+ with our God to put away+ all the wives and those born from them according to the counsel of Jehovah* and of those trembling+ at the commandment+ of our God, that it may be done according to the law.+ 4 Get up, for the matter devolves upon you, and we are with you. Be strong and act.”

5 At that Ezʹra rose and had the chiefs of the priests, the Levites and all Israel take an oath+ to do according to this word. Accordingly they took an oath. 6 Ezʹra now rose from before the house of the [true] God and went to the dining hall+ of Je·ho·haʹnan the son of E·liʹa·shib. Although he went there, he ate no bread+ and drank no water, for he was mourning+ over the unfaithfulness of the exiled people.

7 Then they caused a call to pass throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the former exiles+ to collect themselves together at Jerusalem; 8 and anyone that did not come+ in three days’ time according to the counsel of the princes+ and the older men—all his goods would be put under a ban+ and he himself be separated+ from the congregation of the exiled people. 9 So all the men of Judah and Benjamin collected themselves together at Jerusalem within three days, that is, in the ninth+ month on the twentieth [day] of the month, and all the people kept sitting in the open place of the house of the [true] God, shivering because of the matter and on account of the showers of rain.+

10 At length Ezʹra the priest rose and said to them: “YOU yourselves have acted unfaithfully in that YOU gave a dwelling to foreign wives+ so as to add to the guiltiness of Israel.+ 11 And now make confession+ to Jehovah the God of YOUR forefathers and do his pleasure+ and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”+ 12 To this all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice: “Exactly according to your word it devolves upon us to do.+ 13 However, the people are many, and it is the season of showers of rain, and it is not possible to stand outside; and the business will not take one day or two, for we have rebelled to a great extent in this matter. 14 So, please, let our princes+ act representatively for all the congregation; and, as for all in our cities who have given a dwelling to foreign wives, let them come at the times appointed and along with them the older men of each individual city and its judges, until we have turned back the burning anger of our God from us, on account of this matter.”

15 (However, Jonʹa·than the son of Asʹa·hel and Jah·zeiʹah the son of Tikʹvah themselves stood up against+ this,* and Me·shulʹlam and Shabʹbe·thai+ the Levites were the ones that helped them.) 16 And the former exiles*+ proceeded to do that way; and Ezʹra the priest [and] the men that were the heads of the fathers for their paternal house,+ even all of them by [their] names, now separated themselves and began sitting on the first day of the tenth month+ to inquire into the matter;+ 17 and gradually they finished with all the men that had given a dwelling to foreign+ wives by the first day of the first month. 18 And some of the sons of the priests+ came to be found that had given a dwelling to foreign wives; of the sons of Jeshʹu·a+ the son of Je·hozʹa·dak*+ and his brothers, Ma·a·seiʹah and E·li·eʹzer and Jaʹrib and Ged·a·liʹah. 19 But they promised by shaking hands* to put their wives away, and that, they being guilty,+ there should be a ram+ of the flock for their guiltiness.*

20 And of the sons of Imʹmer+ there were Ha·naʹni and Zeb·a·diʹah; 21 and of the sons of Haʹrim,+ Ma·a·seiʹah and E·liʹjah and She·maiʹah and Je·hiʹel and Uz·ziʹah; 22 and of the sons of Pashʹhur,+ Eli·o·eʹnai, Ma·a·seiʹah, Ishʹma·el, Ne·thanʹel, Joʹza·bad and El·e·aʹsah. 23 And of the Levites, Joʹza·bad and Shimʹe·i and Ke·laiʹah (that is, Ke·liʹta), Peth·a·hiʹah, Judah and E·li·eʹzer; 24 and of the singers, E·liʹa·shib; and of the gatekeepers, Shalʹlum and Teʹlem and Uʹri.

25 And of Israel, of the sons of Paʹrosh+ there were Ra·miʹah and Iz·ziʹah and Mal·chiʹjah and Mijʹa·min and El·e·aʹzar and Mal·chiʹjah* and Be·naiʹah; 26 and of the sons of Eʹlam,+ Mat·ta·niʹah, Zech·a·riʹah and Je·hiʹel+ and Abʹdi and Jerʹe·moth and E·liʹjah; 27 and of the sons of Zatʹtu,+ Eli·o·eʹnai, E·liʹa·shib, Mat·ta·niʹah and Jerʹe·moth and Zaʹbad and A·ziʹza; 28 and of the sons of Beʹbai,+ Je·ho·haʹnan, Han·a·niʹah, Zabʹbai, Athʹlai; 29 and of the sons of Baʹni, Me·shulʹlam, Malʹluch and A·daiʹah, Jaʹshub and Sheʹal [and] Jerʹe·moth;* 30 and of the sons of Paʹhath-moʹab,+ Adʹna and Cheʹlal, Be·naiʹah, Ma·a·seiʹah, Mat·ta·niʹah, Bezʹal·el and Binʹnu·i and Ma·nasʹseh; 31 and [of] the sons of Haʹrim,+ E·li·eʹzer, Is·shiʹjah, Mal·chiʹjah,+ She·maiʹah, Shimʹe·on, 32 Benjamin, Malʹluch [and] Shem·a·riʹah; 33 of the sons of Haʹshum,+ Mat·teʹnai, Matʹtat·tah, Zaʹbad, E·liphʹe·let, Jerʹe·mai, Ma·nasʹseh [and] Shimʹe·i; 34 of the sons of Baʹni, Ma·a·daʹi, Amʹram and Uʹel, 35 Be·naiʹah, Be·deiʹah, Chelʹu·hi, 36 Va·niʹah, Merʹe·moth, E·liʹa·shib, 37 Mat·ta·niʹah, Mat·teʹnai and Jaʹa·su; 38 and of the sons of Binʹnu·i,* Shimʹe·i 39 and Shel·e·miʹah and Nathan and A·daiʹah, 40 Mach·nadʹe·bai, Shaʹshai, Shaʹrai, 41 Azʹar·el and Shel·e·miʹah,* Shem·a·riʹah, 42 Shalʹlum, Am·a·riʹah, Joseph; 43 of the sons of Neʹbo, Je·iʹel, Mat·ti·thiʹah, Zaʹbad, Ze·biʹna, Jadʹdai and Joel [and] Be·naiʹah. 44 These all had accepted foreign wives,+ and they proceeded to send away wives along with sons.*