Ezra 7–8

¹And after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, ²son 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 head priest; ⁶Ezra himself hath come up from Babylon, and he is a scribe ready in the law of Moses, that Jehovah God of Israel gave, and the king giveth to him—according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him—all his request. ⁷And there go up of the sons of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. ⁸And he cometh in to Jerusalem in the fifth month, that is in the seventh year of the king, ⁹for on the first of the month he hath founded the ascent from Babylon, and on the first of the fifth month he hath come in unto Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him, ¹⁰for Ezra hath prepared his heart to seek the law of Jehovah, and to do, and to teach in Israel statute and judgment.

¹¹And this is a copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commands of Jehovah, and of His statutes on Israel: ¹²‘Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a perfect scribe of the law of the God of heaven, and at such a time: ¹³By me hath been made a decree that every one who is willing, in my kingdom, of the people of Israel and of its priests and Levites, to go to Jerusalem with thee, doth go; ¹⁴because that from the king and his seven counsellors thou art sent, to inquire concerning Judah and concerning Jerusalem, with the law of God that is in thy hand, ¹⁵and to carry silver and gold that the king and his counsellors willingly offered to the God of Israel, whose tabernacle is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶and all the silver and gold that thou findest in all the province of Babylon, with the free-will offerings of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly, for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem, ¹⁷therefore thou dost speedily buy with this money, bullocks, rams, lambs, and their presents, and their libations, and dost bring them near to the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem, ¹⁸and that which to thee and to thy brethren is good to do with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God ye do.’ ¹⁹‘And the vessels that are given to thee, for the service of the house of thy God, make perfect before the God of Jerusalem; ²⁰and the rest of the needful things of the house of thy God, that it falleth to thee to give, thou dost give from the treasure-house of the king.

²¹‘And by me—I Artaxerxes the king—is made a decree to all treasurers who are beyond the river, that all that Ezra the priest, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, doth ask of you, be done speedily: ²²Unto silver a hundred talents, and unto wheat a hundred cors, and unto wine a hundred baths, and unto oil a hundred baths, and salt without reckoning; ²³all that is by the decree of the God of heaven, let be done diligently for the house of the God of heaven; for why is there wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons?

²⁴‘And to you we are making known, that upon any of the priests and Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinim, and servants of the house of God, tribute and custom there is no authority to lift up.

²⁵‘And thou, Ezra, according to the wisdom of thy God, that is in thy hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may be judges to all the people who are beyond the river, to all knowing the law of thy God, and he who hath not known ye cause to know; ²⁶and any who doth not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, speedily is judgment done upon him, whether to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of riches, and to bonds.’

²⁷Blessed is Jehovah, God of our fathers, who hath given such a thing as this in the heart of the king, to beautify the house of Jehovah that is in Jerusalem, ²⁸and unto me hath stretched out kindness before the king and his counsellors, and before all the mighty heads of the king: and I have strengthened myself as the hand of Jehovah my God is upon me, and I gather out of Israel heads to go up with me.

Chapter 8

¹And these are heads of their fathers, and the genealogy of those going up with me, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king, from Babylon. ²From the sons of Phinehas: Gershom; from the sons of Ithamar: Daniel; from the sons of David: Hattush; ³from the sons of Shechaniah, from the sons of Pharosh: Zechariah, and with him, reckoning themselves by genealogy, of males a hundred and fifty. ⁴From the sons of Pahath-Moab: Elihoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred who are males. ⁵From the sons of Shechaniah: the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred who are males. ⁶And from the sons of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him fifty who are males. ⁷And from the sons of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him seventy who are males. ⁸And from the sons of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him eighty who are males. ⁹From the sons of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen who are males. ¹⁰And from the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him a hundred and sixty who are males. ¹¹And from the sons of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight who are males. ¹²And from the sons of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him a hundred and ten who are males. ¹³And from the younger sons of Adonikam—and these are their names—Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty who are males. ¹⁴And from the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them seventy who are males. ¹⁵And I gather them unto the river that is going unto Ahava, and we encamp there three days; and I consider about the people, and about the priests, and of the sons of Levi I have found none there; ¹⁶and I send for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, heads, and for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding; ¹⁷and I charge them for Iddo the head, in the place Casiphia, and put in their mouth words to speak unto Iddo, and his brethren the Nethinim, in the place Casiphia, to bring to us ministrants for the house of our God. ¹⁸And they bring to us, according to the good hand of our God upon us, a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, and Sherebiah, and his sons, and his brethren, eighteen; ¹⁹and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, of the sons of Merari, his brethren, and their sons, twenty; ²⁰and from the Nethinim, whom David and the heads gave for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them defined by name.

²¹And I proclaim there a fast, by the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our infants, and for all our substance, ²²for I was ashamed to ask from the king a force and horsemen to help us because of the enemy in the way, for we spake to the king, saying, ‘The hand of our God is upon all seeking Him for good, and His strength and His wrath is upon all forsaking Him.’ ²³And we fast, and seek from our God for this, and He is entreated of us.

²⁴And I separate from the heads of the priests, twelve, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them of their brethren ten, ²⁵and I weigh to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, a heave-offering of the house of our God, that the king, and his counsellors, and his heads, and all Israel—those present—lifted up; ²⁶and I weigh to their hand, of silver, talents six hundred and fifty, and of vessels of silver a hundred talents, of gold a hundred talents, ²⁷and basins of gold twenty, of a thousand drams, and two vessels of good shining brass, desirable as gold. ²⁸And I say unto them, ‘Ye are holy to Jehovah, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a willing-offering to Jehovah, God of your fathers; ²⁹watch, and keep, till ye weigh before the heads of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the fathers of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.’ ³⁰And the priests and the Levites took the weight of the silver, and of the gold, and of the vessels, to bring to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

³¹And we journey from the river Ahava, on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God hath been upon us, and He delivereth us from the hand of the enemy and the lier in wait by the way; ³²and we come in to Jerusalem, and dwell there three days. ³³And on the fourth day hath been weighed the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, in the house of our God, unto the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest, and with him Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them Jozabad son of Jeshua, and Noadiah son of Binnui, the Levites: ³⁴by number, by weight of every one, and all the weight is written at that time. ³⁵Those coming in of the captives—sons of the removal—have brought near burnt-offerings to the God of Israel, bullocks twelve, for all Israel, rams ninety and six, lambs seventy and seven, young he-goats for a sin-offering twelve—the whole a burnt-offering to Jehovah; ³⁶and they give the laws of the king to the lieutenants of the king and the governors beyond the river, and they have lifted up the people and the house of God.

Chapter 9