Ezra
7
- After these things, during the reign of
Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son
of Hilkiah,
- the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the
son of Ahitub,
- the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah,
the son of Meraioth,
- the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the
son of Bukki,
- the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas,
the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest --
- this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a
teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel,
had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the
LORD his God was on him.
- Some of the Israelites, including priests,
Levites, singers, gatekeepers and temple servants, also came up to Jerusalem
in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.
- Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month
of the seventh year of the king.
- He had begun his journey from Babylon on
the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first
day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was on him.
- For Ezra had devoted himself to the study
and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws
in Israel.
- This is a copy of the letter King Artaxerxes
had given to Ezra the priest and teacher, a man learned in matters concerning
the commands and decrees of the LORD for Israel:
- Artaxerxes, king of kings, To Ezra the priest,
a teacher of the Law of the God of heaven: Greetings.
- Now I decree that any of the Israelites
in my kingdom, including priests and Levites, who wish to go to Jerusalem
with you, may go.
- You are sent by the king and his seven advisers
to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem with regard to the Law of your God, which
is in your hand.
- Moreover, you are to take with you the silver
and gold that the king and his advisers have freely given to the God of Israel,
whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,
- together with all the silver and gold you
may obtain from the province of Babylon, as well as the freewill offerings
of the people and priests for the temple of their God in Jerusalem.
- With this money be sure to buy bulls, rams
and male lambs, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and
sacrifice them on the altar of the temple of your God in Jerusalem.
- You and your brother Jews may then do whatever
seems best with the rest of the silver and gold, in accordance with the will
of your God.
- Deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the
articles entrusted to you for worship in the temple of your God.
- And anything else needed for the temple
of your God that you may have occasion to supply, you may provide from the
royal treasury.
- Now I, King Artaxerxes, order all the treasurers
of Trans-Euphrates to provide with diligence whatever Ezra the priest, a teacher
of the Law of the God of heaven, may ask of you --
- up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred
cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of olive oil, and
salt without limit.
- Whatever the God of heaven has prescribed,
let it be done with diligence for the temple of the God of heaven. Why should
there be wrath against the realm of the king and of his sons ?
- You are also to know that you have no authority
to impose taxes, tribute or duty on any of the priests, Levites, singers,
gatekeepers, temple servants or other workers at this house of God.
- And you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom
of your God, which you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to administer
justice to all the people of Trans-Euphrates -- all who know the laws of your
God. And you are to teach any who do not know them.
- Whoever does not obey the law of your God
and the law of the king must surely be punished by death, banishment, confiscation
of property, or imprisonment.
- Praise be to the LORD, the God of our fathers,
who has put it into the king's heart to bring honor to the house of the LORD
in Jerusalem in this way
- and who has extended his good favor to me
before the king and his advisers and all the king's powerful officials. Because
the hand of the LORD my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leading
men from Israel to go up with me.
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