King James Version

1 And after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah son of Azariah son of Hilkiah. 2 The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub. 3 The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth. 4 Zerachiah son of Uzziah son of Bukkiah. 5 The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest. 6 He, Ezra, went up from Babylon, and he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all his request according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. 7 And the sons of Israel and the priests and the Levites and the singers and the gatekeepers and the Nethinim ascended to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. 8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which is the seventh year of the king. 9 For on the first day of the month, it is the foundation of the ascent from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month, he came to Jerusalem, as by the hand of my God, the good one upon me. 10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. 11 And this is the decree of the decree that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commandments of Yahweh and of His statutes upon Israel. 12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect and according to the wisdom. 13 From all those who willingly offer in my kingdom from the people of Israel and their priests and Levites to this place in Jerusalem with you, O Lord. 14 All that is received from before the king and seven have been sent to call upon Judah and Jerusalem concerning the law of your God that is in your hand. 15 And to the sacrifice silver and gold, which the king will adorn, they freely offered to God, Israel, that is in Jerusalem, His dwelling. 16 And all the silver and gold that will be found in all the province of Babylon, along with the voluntary offering of the people and the priests, will be willingly given for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem. 17 All the offerings that I have collected will be presented with silver and the gifts of the sons of the people and their grain offerings, and I will bring them up on the altar of your house that is in Jerusalem. 18 And what is upon you and upon your brothers will be good in the rest of your silver and gold, to serve according to the desires of your gods you shall serve. 19 And/or those who are given to you to serve in the house of your God, may they be whole before God in Jerusalem. 20 And the remaining of your treasures in the house of your God, which you will give to you from the house of the storehouses of the king. 21 And from me, Artaxerxes, king, give a decree to all my governors beyond the river, that whatever they ask of you, it shall be done diligently, according to the law of your God, which is in heaven; I will be careful to do it. 22 Until silver as a hundred shekels, and until wheat as a hundred measures, and until barley as a hundred measures, and until a measure of oil as a hundred measures, and salt that is not written. 23 Whoever from the will of God will not be able to prevent the house of God from becoming anger upon the kingdom of the king and his son. 24 And therefore they make known that all my priests and Levites, my singers, my doorkeepers, and the servants of the house of God, they are not in control to take of them. 25 And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint judges and officers who may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all those who know the laws of your God, and whoever does not know you shall teach them. 26 And all that is not to be a servant of your God and that is a law of the king, I declared judgment to be worked from it; behold, to die, behold, to be rooted, behold, for punishment of possessions and for prohibitions. 27 Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, who has put such a thing in the heart of the king to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. 28 And I bent kindness before the king and his counselors and all the mighty men of the king, and I strengthened myself by the hand of Yahweh my God upon me, and I gathered chiefs from Israel to go up with me.