1After these things, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, there was Ezra son of Seraiah. Seraiah was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Hilkiah,
2who was the son of Shallum, who was the son of Zadok, who was the son of Ahitub,
3who was the son of Amariah, who was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Meraioth,
4who was the son of Zerahiah, who was the son of Uzzi, who was the son of Bukki,
5who was the son of Abishua, who was the son of Phinehas, who was the son of Eleazar, who was the son of Aaron the chief priest.
6This Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given. The king gave him everything he asked for, because the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.
7Some of the people of Israel went up to Jerusalem with him, and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers and the Nethinims. This was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
9He set out from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he came to Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the good hand of his God was upon him.
10For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach its statutes and judgments in Israel.
11This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD 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 at such a time."
13"I make a decree that any of the people of Israel in my kingdom, and any of his priests and Levites, who freely choose to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you."
14"For you are sent by the king and by his seven counsellors to ask about Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your hand,"
15"and to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counsellors have freely given to the God of Israel, whose home is in Jerusalem,"
16"together with all the silver and gold you can find in the whole province of Babylon, and the freewill offering of the people and of the priests, who give willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem."
17"With this money buy bulls, rams and lambs without delay, along with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem."
18"Whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do it according to the will of your God."
19"The vessels also that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, hand them over before the God of Jerusalem."
20"And whatever else is needed for the house of your God, which you have reason to spend, spend it out of the king's treasure house."
21"And I, I Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers beyond the river: whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, asks of you, let it be done quickly,"
22"up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred measures of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, and a hundred baths of oil, and salt without limit."
23"Whatever the God of heaven commands, let it be done carefully for the house of the God of heaven. Why should there be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons?"
24"We also tell you that concerning any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinims, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to lay toll, tribute or custom on them."
25"And you, Ezra, by the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people who are beyond the river, all those who know the laws of your God. And teach those who do not know them."
26"Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be carried out on him quickly, whether it be death, or banishment, or the taking away of his goods, or prison."
27Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to make beautiful the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem,
28and who has shown me mercy before the king, and his counsellors, and all the king's mighty princes. So I was made strong, because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered leading men out of Israel to go up with me.