Ezra 7

1 And after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,

3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,

4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,

5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest,

6 this Ezra went up from Babylon. And he was a ready scribe in the Law of Moses, which Jehovah, the God of Israel had given. And the king granted him all he asked, according to the hand of Jehovah his God on him.

7 And there went up some of the sons of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the temple slaves, to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king.

9 For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon, and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God on him.

10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach statutes and judgments in Israel.

11 And this is the copy of the letter which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commandments of Jehovah, and of His statutes to Israel.

12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, perfect peace, and now:

13 From me was made a decree that everyone of the people of Israel, and their priests and Levites in my kingdom, who desire of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem, go with you;

14 since you have been sent by the king, and by his seven counselors to ask about Judah and Jerusalem, according to the Law of your God in your hand;

15 and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose house is in Jerusalem,

16 and all the silver and gold which you can 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 in Jerusalem.

17 Before all of this, you shall diligently buy with this money, bulls, rams, lambs, with their food offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem.

18 And whatever shall seem good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do that after the will of your God.

19 Also the vessels which are given you for the service of the house of your God, deliver them before the God of Jerusalem.

20 And whatever more shall be needful for the house of God, which you shall have need to give, give it out of the king's treasure house.

21 And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers who are Beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, shall ask of you, it shall be done exactly,

22 to a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without saying.

23 Whatever is commanded by the God of Heaven, let it be carefully done for the house of the God of Heaven, for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

24 Also, we notify you, that in regard to any of the priests and the Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple slaves, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, taxes, or custom on them.

25 And now, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, set officers and judges who may judge all the people who are Beyond the River, all who know the Laws of your God; and teach them who do not know.

26 And whoever will not do the Law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily on him, whether it is to death, or to exile, or to confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.

27 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of our fathers, who has put this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem,

28 and has extended mercy before the king and his counselors and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was made strong as the hand of Jehovah my God was on me, and I gathered out of Israel chief men to go up with me.