Ezra Arrives in Jerusalem

After these things, when Artaxerxes, the king of the Persians, was reigning, Ezra came, the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum,

This Ezra came up from Babylon as a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which was given by the God of Israel,

For Ezra possessed great knowledge, so that he omitted nothing from the law of the Lord or the commandments but taught all Israel all the ordinances and judgments.

The King’s Mandate

The following is a copy of the written decree from King Artaxerxes that was delivered to Ezra the priest and reader of the law of the Lord:

“King Artaxerxes to Ezra the priest and reader of the law of the Lord, greeting.

“I, King Artaxerxes, have commanded the treasurers of Syria and Phoenicia that whatever Ezra the priest and reader of the law of the Most High God sends for, they shall take care to give him, up to a hundred talents of silver,

“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of God, appoint judges and justices to judge all those who know the law of your God throughout all Syria and Phoenicia, and you shall teach it to those who do not know it.

Ezra Praises God

Then Ezra the scribe said, “Blessed be the Lord alone, who put this into the heart of the king, to glorify his house that is in Jerusalem,

Ezra Proclaims a Fast

There I proclaimed a fast for the young men before our Lord,

Ezra’s Prayer

After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said,

The Plan for Ending Mixed Marriages

While Ezra was praying and making his confession, weeping and lying on the ground before the temple, there gathered around him a very great crowd of men and women and youths from Jerusalem, for there was great weeping among the multitude.

Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, one of the men of Israel, called out and said to Ezra, “We have sinned against the Lord and have married foreign women from the nations of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel.

Then Ezra rose up and made the leaders of the priests and Levites of all Israel swear that they would do this. And they swore to it.

The Expulsion of Foreign Wives

Then Ezra set out and went from the court of the temple to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib

Then Ezra stood up and said to them, “You have broken the law and married foreign women and so have increased the sin of Israel.

Ezra the priest chose for himself the leading men of their ancestral houses, all of them by name, and on the new moon of the tenth month they began their sessions to investigate the matter.

Ezra Reads the Law to the People

The priests and the Levites and the Israelites settled in Jerusalem and in the region. On the new moon of the seventh month, when the people of Israel were in their settlements,

they told Ezra the chief priest and reader to bring the law of Moses that had been given by the Lord God of Israel.

So Ezra the chief priest brought the law, for all the multitude, men and women, and all the priests to hear the law, on the new moon of the seventh month.

Ezra the priest and reader of the law stood on the wooden platform that had been prepared,

Then Ezra took up the book of the law in the sight of the multitude, for he had the place of honor in the presence of all.

When he opened the law, they all stood erect. And Ezra blessed the Lord God Most High, the God of hosts, the Almighty,

Then Attharates said to Ezra the chief priest and reader and to the Levites who were teaching the multitude and to all,