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He was wiser than anyone else—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, or Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the musicians—and his fame spread throughout the neighboring peoples.
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The sons of Ezrah were Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Jether became the father of Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa.
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II. The Work of Ezra
Chapter 7
Ezra, Priest and Scribe. After these events, during the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra, son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,
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this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe, well-versed in the law of Moses given by the Lord, the God of Israel. The king granted him all that he requested, because the hand of the Lord, his God, was over him.
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Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month of that seventh year of the king.
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Ezra had set his heart on the study and practice of the law of the Lord and on teaching statutes and ordinances in Israel.
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The Decree of Artaxerxes. This is a copy of the rescript which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest-scribe, the scribe versed in matters concerning the Lord’s commandments and statutes for Israel:
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“Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, greetings! And now,
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I, Artaxerxes the king, issue this decree to all the treasurers of West-of-Euphrates: Whatever Ezra the priest, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requests of you, let it be done with all diligence,
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“As for you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom of your God which is in your possession, appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people in West-of-Euphrates, to all, that is, who know the laws of your God. Instruct those who do not know these laws.
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Ezra Prepares for the Journey. Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who put it into the heart of the king thus to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem,
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Chapter 8
Ezra’s Caravan. These are the heads of the ancestral houses and the genealogies of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
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Ezra’s Reaction. When I had heard this, I tore my cloak and my mantle, plucked hair from my head and beard, and sat there devastated.
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Chapter 10
Response to the Crisis. While Ezra prayed and acknowledged their guilt, weeping and prostrate before the house of God, a very large assembly of Israelites gathered about him, men, women, and children; and the people wept profusely.
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Then Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, made this appeal to Ezra: “We have indeed betrayed our God by taking as wives foreign women of the peoples of the land. Yet in spite of this there still remains a hope for Israel.
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Ezra stood and demanded an oath from the leaders of the priests, from the Levites and from all Israel that they would do as had been proposed; and they swore it.
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Then Ezra left his place before the house of God and entered the chamber of Johanan, son of Eliashib, where he spent the night neither eating food nor drinking water, for he was in mourning over the apostasy of the exiles.
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Then Ezra, the priest, stood up and said to them: “Your apostasy in taking foreign women as wives has added to Israel’s guilt.
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The exiles did as agreed. Ezra the priest appointed as his assistants men who were heads of ancestral houses, one for each ancestral house, all of them designated by name. They held sessions to examine the matter, beginning with the first day of the tenth month.
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II. Promulgation of the Law
Chapter 8
Ezra Reads the Law. Now when the seventh month came, the whole people gathered as one in the square in front of the Water Gate, and they called upon Ezra the scribe to bring forth the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had commanded for Israel.
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On the first day of the seventh month, therefore, Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to understand.
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In the square in front of the Water Gate, Ezra read out of the book from daybreak till midday, in the presence of the men, the women, and those children old enough to understand; and all the people listened attentively to the book of the law.
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Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the occasion; at his right side stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and on his left Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, Meshullam.
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Ezra opened the scroll so that all the people might see it, for he was standing higher than any of the people. When he opened it, all the people stood.
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Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people, their hands raised high, answered, “Amen, amen!” Then they knelt down and bowed before the Lord, their faces to the ground.