Ezra 7–10

Ezra Comes to Jerusalem

7After all of those things had happened, Ezra came up to Jerusalem from Babylonia. It was during the rule of Artaxerxes. He was king of Persia. Ezra was the son of Seraiah. Seraiah was the son of Azariah. Azariah was the son of Hilkiah. ²Hilkiah was the son of Shallum. Shallum was the son of Zadok. Zadok was the son of Ahitub. ³Ahitub was the son of Amariah. Amariah was the son of Azariah. Azariah was the son of Meraioth. ⁴Meraioth was the son of Zerahiah. Zerahiah was the son of Uzzi. Uzzi was the son of Bukki. ⁵Bukki was the son of Abishua. Abishua was the son of Phinehas. Phinehas was the son of Eleazar. And Eleazar was the son of the chief priest Aaron.

⁶So Ezra came up from Babylonia. He was a teacher. He knew the Law of Moses very well. The Lord had given Israel that law. He is the God of Israel. The king had given Ezra everything he asked for. That’s because the powerful hand of the Lord his God helped him.

⁷Some of the people of Israel came up to Jerusalem too. They included priests, Levites and singers. They also included the temple servants and those who guarded the temple gates. It was in the seventh year that Artaxerxes was king.

⁸Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king’s rule. ⁹Ezra had begun his journey from Babylonia on the first day of the first month. He arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month. That’s because the gracious hand of his God helped him.

¹⁰Ezra had committed himself to study and obey the Law of the Lord. He also wanted to teach the Lord’s rules and laws in Israel.

King Artaxerxes Gives Ezra a Letter

¹¹Ezra was a priest and teacher. He was an educated man. He knew the Lord’s commands and rules for Israel very well. Here is a copy of a letter King Artaxerxes had given to Ezra. It said,

¹²I, Artaxerxes, am writing this letter. I am the greatest king of all.

I have given it to the priest Ezra. He is a teacher of the Law of the God of heaven.

I give you my greetings.

¹³Ezra, there are people from Israel in my kingdom. I am giving an order that any of them who want to go to Jerusalem with you can go. The order also allows priests and Levites to go with you.

¹⁴I and my seven advisers are sending you to see how things are going in Judah and Jerusalem. Find out whether the people there are obeying the Law of your God. You have a copy of that law with you.

¹⁵I and my advisers have freely given some silver and gold to the God of Israel. He lives in Jerusalem. Take the silver and gold with you. ¹⁶Also take any other silver and gold you can get from the land of Babylonia. And take the offerings the people and priests choose to give for the temple of their God in Jerusalem. ¹⁷Make sure you use the money to buy bulls, rams and male lambs. Also buy their grain offerings and drink offerings. Then sacrifice them on the altar of the temple of your God in Jerusalem.

¹⁸You and the other Jews can do what you think is best with the rest of the silver and gold. Do what your God wants you to do. ¹⁹Give to the God of Jerusalem all of the articles you are accountable for. Use them for worshiping your God in his temple. ²⁰You might need to supply some other things for the temple of your God. If you do, take them from among the royal treasures.

²¹I, King Artaxerxes, also give this order. It applies to all those who are in charge of the treasures west of the Euphrates River. Make sure you provide anything the priest Ezra might ask you to give. He is a teacher of the Law of the God of heaven. ²²Give Ezra up to three and three-fourths tons of silver. Give him up to 600 bushels of wheat. Give him up to 600 gallons of wine. Also give him up to 600 gallons of olive oil. And give him as much salt as he needs.

²³Work hard for the temple of the God of heaven. Do everything he has required. I don’t want him to be angry with my kingdom and the kingdom of my sons.

²⁴I want you to know that you don’t have any authority to collect taxes, gifts or fees from these people. You can’t collect them from the priests, Levites, singers or those who guard the temple gates. And you can’t collect them from the temple servants or other workers at the house of God in Jerusalem.

²⁵Ezra, appoint judges and other court officials. When you do it, use the wisdom your God gives you. Those you appoint should do what is right and fair when they judge people. They should do it for everyone who lives west of the Euphrates. They should do it for everyone who knows the laws of your God. And I want you to teach the people who don’t know those laws.

²⁶Anyone who doesn’t obey the law of your God must be punished. The same thing applies to anyone who doesn’t obey my law. The people must be punished in keeping with the laws they have broken. Some of them must be put to death. Others must be forced to leave the places where they live. Others must have their property taken away from them. Still others must be put in prison.

Ezra Praises the Lord

²⁷People of Israel, give praise to the Lord. He is the God of our people who lived long ago. He has put it in the king’s heart to bring honor to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. The king has honored the Lord in his letter. ²⁸The Lord has shown his good favor to me. He has caused the king and his advisers to show me their favor. In fact, all of the king’s powerful officials have shown favor to me. The strong hand of the Lord my God helped me. That gave me new strength. So I gathered together leaders from Israel to go up to Jerusalem with me.

The Family Leaders Who Returned to Jerusalem With Ezra

8Many family leaders came up to Jerusalem with me from Babylonia. So did others who were listed with them. It was during the time when Artaxerxes was king. Here is a list of those who came.

²Gershom came from the family line of Phinehas.

Daniel came from the family line of Ithamar.

Hattush came from the family line of David. ³Hattush also belonged to the family of Shecaniah.

Zechariah came from the family line of Parosh. The total number of men who were listed with him was 150.

⁴Eliehoenai came from the family line of Pahath-Moab. Eliehoenai was the son of Zerahiah. The total number of men with him was 200.

⁵Shecaniah came from the family line of Zattu. Shecaniah was the son of Jahaziel. The total number of men with him was 300.

⁶Ebed came from the family line of Adin. Ebed was the son of Jonathan. The total number of men with him was 50.

⁷Jeshaiah came from the family line of Elam. Jeshaiah was the son of Athaliah. The total number of men with him was 70.

⁸Zebadiah came from the family line of Shephatiah. Zebadiah was the son of Michael. The total number of men with him was 80.

⁹Obadiah came from the family line of Joab. Obadiah was the son of Jehiel. The total number of men with him was 218.

¹⁰Shelomith came from the family line of Bani. Shelomith was the son of Josiphiah. The total number of men with him was 160.

¹¹Zechariah came from the family line of Bebai. Zechariah was the son of Bebai. The total number of men with him was 28.

¹²Johanan came from the family line of Azgad. Johanan was the son of Hakkatan. The total number of men with him was 110.

¹³Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah came from the family line of Adonikam. Some members of their family had gone up to Jerusalem before them. The total number of men with them was 60.

¹⁴Uthai and Zaccur came from the family line of Bigvai. The total number of men with them was 70.

Ezra Leads Many Jews Back to Jerusalem

¹⁵I gathered the people together at the waterway that flows toward Ahava. We camped there for three days. I looked for Levites among the people and priests. But I didn’t find any. ¹⁶So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan and Jarib. I also sent for Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam. All of them were leaders. And I sent for Joiarib and Elnathan. They were very well educated.

¹⁷I sent all of those men to Iddo. He was the leader in Casiphia. He and his relatives were temple servants there. I told my men what to say to them. I wanted Iddo and his relatives to bring some attendants to us for the house of our God.

¹⁸The gracious hand of our God helped us. So they brought us Sherebiah. He was a man of ability. He came from the family line of Mahli. Mahli was the son of Levi. Levi was a son of Israel. They also brought us Sherebiah’s sons and brothers. The total number of men was 18. ¹⁹And they brought Hashabiah and his brothers and nephews. They brought them together with Jeshaiah. He came from the family line of Merari. The total number of men was 20. ²⁰They also brought 220 of the temple servants. That was a special group David and his officials had established. They were supposed to help the Levites. All of them were listed by name.

²¹I announced a fast by the waterway that flows toward Ahava. I told the people not to eat any food. In that way, we made ourselves low in the sight of God. We prayed that he would give us and our children a safe journey. We asked him to keep safe everything we owned.

²²I was ashamed to ask King Artaxerxes for soldiers and horsemen. They could have kept us safe from enemies on the road. But we had told the king that our God would keep us safe. We had said, “The gracious hand of our God helps everyone who looks to him. But he becomes very angry with anyone who deserts him.”

²³So we didn’t eat anything. We prayed to our God about all of those matters. And he answered our prayers.

²⁴Then I set 12 of the leading priests apart. I also set apart Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their relatives.

²⁵I weighed out to them the offering of silver and gold and other articles. They had been given for the house of our God. The king, his advisers and officials, and all of the people of Israel who were there had given them. ²⁶I weighed out 25 tons of silver to those men. I weighed out almost four tons of silver articles. I weighed out almost four tons of gold. ²⁷I weighed out 20 gold bowls. They weighed 19 pounds. I also weighed out two fine articles. The bronze they…