Ezra 7:11-28
Christian Standard Bible
Letter from Artaxerxes
11 This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in matters of the Lord’s commands and statutes for Israel:[a]
12 Artaxerxes, king of kings,(A) to Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of the heavens:
Greetings.
13 I issue a decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who want to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.(B) 14 You are sent by the king and his seven counselors(C) to evaluate Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your possession. 15 You are also to bring the silver and gold the king and his counselors have willingly given to the God of Israel,(D) whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,(E) 16 and all the silver and gold you receive throughout the province of Babylon, together with the freewill offerings given by the people and the priests to the house of their God in Jerusalem.(F) 17 Then you are to be diligent to buy with this money bulls, rams, and lambs, along with their grain and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar at the house of your God in Jerusalem.(G) 18 You may do whatever seems best to you and your brothers with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God. 19 Deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles given to you for the service of the house of your God.(H) 20 You may use the royal treasury[b] to pay for anything else needed for the house of your God.(I)
21 I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers in the region west of the Euphrates River:(J)
Whatever Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of the heavens, asks of you must be provided in full,(K) 22 up to 7,500 pounds[c] of silver, 500 bushels[d] of wheat, 550 gallons[e] of wine, 550 gallons of oil, and salt without limit.[f] 23 Whatever is commanded by the God of the heavens must be done diligently for the house of the God of the heavens, so that wrath will not fall on the realm of the king and his sons.(L) 24 Be advised that you do not have authority to impose tribute, duty, and land tax on any priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
25 And you, Ezra, according to[g] God’s wisdom that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the region west of the Euphrates who know the laws of your God and to teach anyone who does not know them.(M) 26 Anyone who does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let the appropriate judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.(N)
27 Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s mind(O) to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem,(P) 28 and who has shown favor to me before the king,(Q) his counselors, and all his powerful officers. So I took courage because I was strengthened by the hand of the Lord my God,[h](R) and I gathered Israelite leaders to return with me.(S)
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Ezra 8:1-14
Christian Standard Bible
Those Returning with Ezra
8 These are the family heads and the genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:(A)
2 Gershom, from Phinehas’s descendants;
Daniel, from Ithamar’s descendants;
Hattush, from David’s descendants,
3 who was of Shecaniah’s descendants;(B)
Zechariah, from Parosh’s(C) descendants,
and 150 men[a] with him who were registered by genealogy;
4 Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah
from Pahath-moab’s descendants,(D)
and 200 men with him;
5 Shecaniah[b] son of Jahaziel
from Zattu’s descendants,
and 300 men with him;
6 Ebed son of Jonathan
from Adin’s descendants,(E)
and 50 men with him;
7 Jeshaiah son of Athaliah
from Elam’s descendants,
and 70 men with him;
8 Zebadiah son of Michael
from Shephatiah’s descendants,
and 80 men with him;
9 Obadiah son of Jehiel
from Joab’s descendants,
and 218 men with him;
10 Shelomith[c] son of Josiphiah
from Bani’s descendants,
and 160 men with him;
11 Zechariah son of Bebai
from Bebai’s descendants,
and 28 men with him;
12 Johanan son of Hakkatan
from Azgad’s descendants,
and 110 men with him;
13 these are the last ones, from Adonikam’s descendants,(F)
and their names are
Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah,
and 60 men with them;
14 Uthai and Zaccur[d]
from Bigvai’s descendants,
and 70 men with them.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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