The Coming and Work of Ezra

7 ^[a]Now after this, in the reign of Ar-ta-xerx′es king of Persia, Ezra the son of Serai′ah, son of Azari′ah, son of Hilki′ah, ² son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahi′tub, ³ son of Amari′ah, son of Azari′ah, son of Merai′oth, ⁴ son of Zerahi′ah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, ⁵ son of Abi′shua, son of Phin′ehas, son of Elea′zar, son of Aaron the chief priest— ⁶ this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses which the Lord the God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.

⁷ And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Ar-ta-xerx′es the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants. ⁸ And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king; ⁹ for on the first day of the first month he began^[b] to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was upon him. ¹⁰ For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach his statutes and ordinances in Israel.

The Letter of Artaxerxes to Ezra

¹¹ This is a copy of the letter which King Ar-ta-xerx′es gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel: ¹² “Ar-ta-xerx′es, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven.^[c] And now ¹³ I make a decree that any one of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. ¹⁴ For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your hand, ¹⁵ and also to convey the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶ with all the silver and gold which you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their cereal offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Whatever seems good to you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. ¹⁹ The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰ And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which you have occasion to provide, you may provide it out of the king’s treasury.

²¹ “And I, Ar-ta-xerx′es the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, be it done with all diligence, ²² up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. ²³ Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons. ²⁴ We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll upon any one of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵ “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and those who do not know them, you shall teach. ²⁶ Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed upon him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”

²⁷ Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, ²⁸ and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

Heads of Families Who Returned with Ezra

8 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Ar-ta-xerx′es the king: ² Of the sons of Phin′ehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ith′amar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush, ³ of the sons of Shecani′ah. Of the sons of Parosh, Zechari′ah, with whom were registered one hundred and fifty men. ⁴ Of the sons of Pa′hath-mo′ab, Eli-e-ho-e′nai the son of Zerahi′ah, and with him two hundred men. ⁵ Of the sons of Zattu,^[d] Shecani′ah the son of Jaha′ziel, and with him three hundred men. ⁶ Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty men. ⁷ Of the sons of Elam, Jeshai′ah the son of Athali′ah, and with him seventy men. ⁸ Of the sons of Shephati′ah, Zebadi′ah the son of Michael, and with him eighty men. ⁹ Of the sons of Jo′ab, Obadi′ah the son of Jehi′el, and with him two hundred and eighteen men. ¹⁰ Of the sons of Bani,^[e] Shelo′mith the son of Josiphi′ah, and with him a hundred and sixty men. ¹¹ Of the sons of Be′bai, Zechari′ah, the son of Be′bai, and with him twenty-eight men. ¹² Of the sons of Azgad, Joha′nan the son of Hak′katan, and with him a hundred and ten men. ¹³ Of the sons of Adoni′kam, those who came later, their names being Eliph′elet, Jeu′el, and Shemai′ah, and with them sixty men. ¹⁴ Of the sons of Big′vai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them seventy men.

Servants for the Temple

¹⁵ I gathered them to the river that runs to Aha′va, and there we encamped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi. ¹⁶ Then I sent for Elie′zer, Ariel, Shemai′ah, Elna′than, Jarib, Elna′than, Nathan, Zechari′ah, and Meshul′lam, leading men, and for Joi′arib and Elna′than, who were men of insight, ¹⁷ and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphi′a, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brethren the temple servants^[f] at the place Casiphi′a, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. ¹⁸ And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebi′ah with his sons and kinsmen, eighteen; ¹⁹ also Hashabi′ah and with him Jeshai′ah of the sons of Merar′i, with his kinsmen and their sons, twenty; ²⁰ besides two hundred and twenty of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.

Fasting and Prayer for Protection

²¹ Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Aha′va, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. ²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way; since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good upon all that seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all that forsake him.” ²³ So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

Gifts for the Temple

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebi′ah, Hashabi′ah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. ²⁵ And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered; ²⁶ I weighed out into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels worth a hundred talents, and a hundred talents of gold, ²⁷ twenty bowls of gold worth a thousand darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. ²⁸ And I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. ²⁹ Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

The Return to Jerusalem

³¹ Then we departed from the river Aha′va on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. ³² We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. ³³ On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Mer′emoth the priest, son of Uri′ah, and with him was Elea′zar the son of Phin′ehas, and with them were the Levites, Jo′zabad the son of Jeshua and No-adi′ah the son of Bin′nui. ³⁴ The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

³⁵ At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve he-goats; all this was a burnt offering to the Lord. ³⁶ They also delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River; and they aided the people and the house of God.

Hypocritical Fasting Condemned

7 In the fourth year of King Dari′us, the word of the Lord came to Zechari′ah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. ² Now the people of Bethel had sent Share′zer and Reg′em-mel′ech and their men, to entreat the favor of the Lord, ³ and to ask the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” ⁴ Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: ⁵ “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? ⁶ And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? ⁷ When Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, with her cities round about her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited, were not these the words which the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets?”

Punishment for Rejecting God’s Demands

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Zechari′ah, saying, ⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy each to his brother, ¹⁰ do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.” ¹¹ But they refused to hearken, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears that they might not hear. ¹² They made their hearts like adamant lest they should hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. ¹³ “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁴ “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

God’s Promises to Zion

8 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. ³ Thus says the Lord: I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. ⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand for very age. ⁵ And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. ⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, says the Lord of hosts? ⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country; ⁸ and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

⁹ Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets, since the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. ¹⁰ For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in; for I set every man against his fellow. ¹¹ But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the Lord of hosts. ¹² For there shall be a sowing of peace; the vine shall yield its fruit, and the ground shall give its increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³ And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.”

¹⁴ For thus says the Lord of hosts: “As I purposed to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁵ so again have I purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. ¹⁶ These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, ¹⁷ do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, says the Lord.”

Joyful Fasting

¹⁸ And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ¹⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love truth and peace.

Many Peoples Drawn to Jerusalem

²⁰ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities; ²¹ the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I am going.’ ²² Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of the Lord. ²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”