Ezra 6-10

Ezra 6

¹Then Darius the king made a decree, and they sought in the house of the books of the treasuries placed there in Babylon,

²and there hath been found at Achmetha, in a palace that is in the province of Media, a roll, and a record thus written within it is:

³‘In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king hath made a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: the house let be builded in the place where they are sacrificing sacrifices, and its foundations strongly laid; its height sixty cubits, its breadth sixty cubits;

⁴three rows of rolled stones, and a row of new wood, and the outlay let be given out of the king's house.

⁵‘And also, the vessels of the house of God, of gold and silver, that Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple that is in Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, let be given back, and go to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place, and put them down in the house of God.

⁶‘Now, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-Boznai, and their companions, the Apharsachites, who are beyond the river, be ye far from hence;

⁷let alone the work of this house of God, let the governor of the Jews, and the elders of the Jews, build this house of God on its place.

⁸‘And by me is made a decree concerning that which ye do with the elders of these Jews to build this house of God, that of the riches of the king, that are of the tribute beyond the river, speedily let the outlay be given to these men, that they cease not;

⁹and what they are needing -- both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs for burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil according to the saying of the priests who are in Jerusalem -- let be given to them day by day without fail,

¹⁰that they be bringing near sweet savours to the God of heaven, and praying for the life of the king, and of his sons.

¹¹‘And by me is made a decree, that any one who changeth this thing, let wood be pulled down from his house, and being raised up, let him be smitten on it, and his house let be made a dunghill for this.

¹²And God, who caused His name to dwell there, doth cast down any king and people that putteth forth his hand to change, to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem; I Darius have made a decree; speedily let it be done.'

¹³Then Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-Boznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king hath sent, so they have done speedily;

¹⁴and the elders of the Jews are building and prospering through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah son of Iddo, and they have built and finished by the decree of the God of Israel, and by the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

¹⁵And this house hath gone out till the third day of the month Adar, that is in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

¹⁶And the sons of Israel have made, and the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the sons of the captivity, a dedication of this house of God with joy,

¹⁷and have brought near for the dedication of this house of God, bullocks a hundred, rams two hundred, lambs four hundred; and young he-goats for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve, according to the number of the tribes of Israel;

¹⁸and they have established the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, over the service of God that is in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

¹⁹And the sons of the captivity make the passover on the fourteenth of the first month,

²⁰for the priests and the Levites have been purified together -- all of them are pure -- and they slaughter the passover for all the sons of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

²¹And the sons of Israel, those returning from the captivity, and every one who is separated from the uncleanness of the nations of the land unto them, to seek to Jehovah, God of Israel, do eat,

²²and they make the feast of unleavened things seven days with joy, for Jehovah made them to rejoice, and turned round the heart of the king of Asshur unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra 7

¹And after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,

²son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub,

³son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth,

⁴son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki,

⁵son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the head priest;

⁶Ezra himself hath come up from Babylon, and he is a scribe ready in the law of Moses, that Jehovah God of Israel gave, and the king giveth to him -- according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him -- all his request.

⁷And there go up of the sons of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

⁸And he cometh in to Jerusalem in the fifth month, that is in the seventh year of the king,

⁹for on the first of the month he hath founded the ascent from Babylon, and on the first of the fifth month he hath come in unto Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him,

¹⁰for Ezra hath prepared his heart to seek the law of Jehovah, and to do, and to teach in Israel statute and judgment.

¹¹And this is a copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commands of Jehovah, and of His statutes on Israel:

¹²‘Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a perfect scribe of the law of the God of heaven, and at such a time:

¹³By me hath been made a decree that every one who is willing, in my kingdom, of the people of Israel and of its priests and Levites, to go to Jerusalem with thee, doth go;

¹⁴because that from the king and his seven counsellors thou art sent, to inquire concerning Judah and concerning Jerusalem, with the law of God that is in thy hand,

¹⁵and to carry silver and gold that the king and his counsellors willingly offered to the God of Israel, whose tabernacle is in Jerusalem,

¹⁶and all the silver and gold that thou findest in all the province of Babylon, with the free-will offerings of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly, for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem,

¹⁷therefore thou dost speedily buy with this money, bullocks, rams, lambs, and their presents, and their libations, and dost bring them near to the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem,

¹⁸and that which to thee and to thy brethren is good to do with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God ye do.'

¹⁹‘And the vessels that are given to thee, for the service of the house of thy God, make perfect before the God of Jerusalem;

²⁰and the rest of the needful things of the house of thy God, that it falleth to thee to give, thou dost give from the treasure-house of the king.

²¹‘And by me -- I Artaxerxes the king -- is made a decree to all treasurers who are beyond the river, that all that Ezra the priest, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, doth ask of you, be done speedily:

²²Unto silver a hundred talents, and unto wheat a hundred cors, and unto wine a hundred baths, and unto oil a hundred baths, and salt without reckoning;

²³all that is by the decree of the God of heaven, let be done diligently for the house of the God of heaven; for why is there wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons?

²⁴‘And to you we are making known, that upon any of the priests and Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinim, and servants of the house of God, tribute and custom there is no authority to lift up.

²⁵‘And thou, Ezra, according to the wisdom of thy God, that is in thy hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may be judges to all the people who are beyond the river, to all knowing the law of thy God, and he who hath not known ye cause to know;

²⁶and any who doth not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, speedily is judgment done upon him, whether to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of riches, and to bonds.'

²⁷Blessed is Jehovah, God of our fathers, who hath given such a thing as this in the heart of the king, to beautify the house of Jehovah that is in Jerusalem,

²⁸and unto me hath stretched out kindness before the king and his counsellors, and before all the mighty heads of the king: and I have strengthened myself as the hand of Jehovah my God is upon me, and I gather out of Israel heads to go up with me.

Ezra 8

¹And these are heads of their fathers, and the genealogy of those going up with me, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king, from Babylon.

²From the sons of Phinehas: Gershom; from the sons of Ithamar: Daniel; from the sons of David: Hattush;

³from the sons of Shechaniah, from the sons of Pharosh: Zechariah, and with him, reckoning themselves by genealogy, of males a hundred and fifty.

⁴From the sons of Pahath-Moab: Elihoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred who are males.

⁵From the sons of Shechaniah: the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred who are males.

⁶And from the sons of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him fifty who are males.

⁷And from the sons of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him seventy who are males.

⁸And from the sons of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him eighty who are males.

⁹From the sons of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen who are males.

¹⁰And from the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him a hundred and sixty who are males.

¹¹And from the sons of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight who are males.

¹²And from the sons of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him a hundred and ten who are males.

¹³And from the younger sons of Adonikam -- and these are their names -- Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty who are males.

¹⁴And from the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them seventy who are males.

¹⁵And I gather them unto the river that is going unto Ahava, and we encamp there three days; and I consider about the people, and about the priests, and of the sons of Levi I have found none there;

¹⁶and I send for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, heads, and for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding;

¹⁷and I charge them for Iddo the head, in the place Casiphia, and put in their mouth words to speak unto Iddo, and his brethren the Nethinim, in the place Casiphia, to bring to us ministrants for the house of our God.

¹⁸And they bring to us, according to the good hand of our God upon us, a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, and Sherebiah, and his sons, and his brethren, eighteen;

¹⁹and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, of the sons of Merari, his brethren, and their sons, twenty;

²⁰and from the Nethinim, whom David and the heads gave for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them defined by name.

²¹And I proclaim there a fast, by the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our infants, and for all our substance,

²²for I was ashamed to ask from the king a force and horsemen to help us because of the enemy in the way, for we spake to the king, saying, ‘The hand of our God is upon all seeking Him for good, and His strength and His wrath is upon all forsaking Him.'

²³And we fast, and seek from our God for this, and He is entreated of us.

²⁴And I separate from the heads of the priests, twelve, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them of their brethren ten,

²⁵and I weigh to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, a heave-offering of the house of our God, that the king, and his counsellors, and his heads, and all Israel -- those present -- lifted up;

²⁶and I weigh to their hand, of silver, talents six hundred and fifty, and of vessels of silver a hundred talents, of gold a hundred talents,

²⁷and basins of gold twenty, of a thousand drams, and two vessels of good shining brass, desirable as gold.

²⁸And I say unto them, ‘Ye are holy to Jehovah, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a willing-offering to Jehovah, God of your fathers;

²⁹watch, and keep, till ye weigh before the heads of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the fathers of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.'

³⁰And the priests and the Levites took the weight of the silver, and of the gold, and of the vessels, to bring to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

³¹And we journey from the river Ahava, on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God hath been upon us, and He delivereth us from the hand of the enemy and the lier in wait by the way;

³²and we come in to Jerusalem, and dwell there three days.

³³And on the fourth day hath been weighed the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, in the house of our God, unto the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest, and with him Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them Jozabad son of Jeshua, and Noadiah son of Binnui, the Levites:

³⁴by number, by weight of every one, and all the weight is written at that time.

³⁵Those coming in of the captives -- sons of the removal -- have brought near burnt-offerings to the God of Israel, bullocks twelve, for all Israel, rams ninety and six, lambs seventy and seven, young he-goats for a sin-offering twelve -- the whole a burnt-offering to Jehovah;

³⁶and they give the laws of the king to the lieutenants of the king and the governors beyond the river, and they have lifted up the people and the house of God.

Ezra 9

¹And at the completion of these things, drawn nigh unto me have the heads, saying, ‘The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not been separated from the peoples of the lands, as to their abominations, even the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, the Ammonite, the Moabite, the Egyptian, and the Amorite,

²for they have taken of their daughters to them, and to their sons, and the holy seed have mingled themselves among the peoples of the lands, and the hand of the heads and of the seconds have been first in this trespass.'

³And at my hearing this word, I have rent my garment and my upper robe, and pluck out of the hair of my head, and of my beard, and sit astonished,

⁴and unto me are gathered every one trembling at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trespass of the removal, and I am sitting astonished till the present of the evening.

⁵And at the present of the evening I have risen from mine affliction, and at my rending my garment and my upper robe, then I bow down on my knees, and spread out my hands unto Jehovah my God,

⁶and say, ‘O my God, I have been ashamed, and have blushed to lift up, O my God, my face unto Thee, for our iniquities have increased over the head, and our guilt hath become great unto the heavens.

⁷‘From the days of our fathers we are in great guilt unto this day, and in our iniquities we have been given -- we, our kings, our priests -- into the hand of the kings of the lands, with sword, with captivity, and with spoiling, and with shame of face, as at this day.

⁸‘And now, as a small moment hath grace been from Jehovah our God, to leave to us an escape, and to give to us a nail in His holy place, by our God's enlightening our eyes, and by giving us a little quickening in our servitude;

⁹for servants we are, and in our servitude our God hath not forsaken us, and stretcheth out unto us kindness before the kings of Persia, to give to us a quickening to lift up the house of our God, and to cause its wastes to cease, and to give to us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

¹⁰‘And now, what do we say, O our God, after this? for we have forsaken Thy commands,

¹¹that Thou hast commanded by the hands of thy servants the prophets, saying, The land into which ye are going to possess it, is a land of impurity, by the impurity of the people of the lands, by their abominations with which they have filled it -- from mouth unto mouth -- by their uncleanness;

¹²and now, your daughters ye do not give to their sons, and their daughters ye do not take to your sons, and ye do not seek their peace, and their good -- unto the age, so that ye are strong, and have eaten the good of the land, and given possession to your sons unto the age.

¹³‘And after all that hath come upon us for our evil works, and for our great guilt (for Thou, O our God, hast kept back of the rod from our iniquities, and hast given to us an escape like this),

¹⁴do we turn back to break Thy commands, and to join ourselves in marriage with the people of these abominations? art not Thou angry against us -- even to consumption -- till there is no remnant and escaped part?

¹⁵‘O Jehovah, God of Israel, righteous art Thou, for we have been left an escape, as it is this day; lo, we are before Thee in our guilt, for there is none to stand before Thee concerning this.'

Ezra 10

¹And at Ezra's praying, and at his making confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there have been gathered unto him out of Israel an assembly very great -- men and women and children -- for the people have wept, multiplying weeping.

²And Shechaniah son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answereth and saith to Ezra, ‘We -- we have trespassed against our God, and we settle strange women of the peoples of the land; and now there is hope for Israel concerning this,

³and now, let us make a covenant with our God, to cause all the women to go out, and that which is born of them, by the counsel of the Lord, and of those trembling at the command of our God, and according to law it is done;

⁴rise, for on thee is the matter, and we are with thee; be strong, and do.'

⁵And Ezra riseth, and causeth the heads of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear to do according to this word -- and they swear.

⁶And Ezra riseth from before the house of God, and goeth unto the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib; yea, he goeth there, bread he hath not eaten, and water he hath not drunk, for he is mourning because of the trespass of the removal.

⁷And they cause a voice to pass over into Judah and Jerusalem, to all sons of the removal, to be gathered to Jerusalem,

⁸and every one who cometh not in by the third day, according to the counsel of the heads and of the elders, all his substance is devoted, and himself separated from the assembly of the removal.

⁹And gathered are all the men of Judah and Benjamin to Jerusalem by the third day, it is the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sit in the broad place of the house of God, trembling on account of the matter and of the showers.

¹⁰And Ezra the priest riseth, and saith unto them, ‘Ye -- ye have trespassed, and ye settle strange women, to add to the guilt of Israel;

¹¹and, now, make confession to Jehovah, God of your fathers, and do His good pleasure, and be separated from the peoples of the land, and from the strange women.'

¹²And all the assembly answer and say with a great voice, ‘Right; according to thy word -- on us to do;

¹³but the people are many, and it is the time of showers, and there is no power to stand without, and the work is not for one day, nor for two, for we have multiplied to transgress in this thing.

¹⁴‘Let, we pray thee, our heads of all the assembly stand, and all who are in our cities, who have settled strange wives, do come in at the times appointed, and with them the elders of city and city, and its judges, till the turning back of the fury of the wrath of our God from us, for this thing.'

¹⁵Only Jonathan son of Asahel, and Jahaziah son of Tikvah, stood against this, and Meshullam, and Shabbethai the Levite, helped them.

¹⁶And the sons of the removal do so, and Ezra the priest, and men, heads of the fathers, for the house of their fathers, are separated, even all of them by name, and they sit on the first day of the tenth month, to examine the matter;

¹⁷and they finish with all the men who have settled strange women unto the first day of the first month.

¹⁸And there are found of the sons of the priests that have settled strange women: of the sons of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah;

¹⁹and they give their hand to send out their wives, and, being guilty, a ram of the flock, for their guilt.

²⁰And of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah;

²¹and of the sons of Harim: Masseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah;

²²and of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

²³And of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah -- he is Kelita, -- Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

²⁴And of the singers: Eliashib. And of the gatekeepers: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.

²⁵And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Jeziah, and Malchijah, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.

²⁶And of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah.

²⁷And of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.

²⁸And of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.

²⁹And of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth.

³⁰And of the sons of Pahath-Moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.

³¹And of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

³²Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.

³³Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattathah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei.

³⁴Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel,

³⁵Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhu,

³⁶Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

³⁷Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasau,

³⁸and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei,

³⁹and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,

⁴⁰Machnadbai, Shashai, Sharai,

⁴¹Azareel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,

⁴²Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.

⁴³Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jadau, and Joel, Benaiah;

⁴⁴all these have taken strange women, and there are of them women -- who adopt sons.