1

1 It was the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia. In order that the word of Jehovah given by the mouth of Jeremiah might come true, Jehovah moved the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. He made a public statement through all his kingdom, and put it in writing, saying:

2 »These are the words of Cyrus, king of Persia: ‘Jehovah the God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has made me responsible for building a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3 »‘May your God be with you and let you go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah. There you are to build the house of Jehovah the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem.

4 »‘If any of his people in exile need help to return, their neighbors should give them help. They are to provide them with silver and gold, supplies and pack animals, as well as offerings to present in the Temple of God in Jerusalem.’«

5 The heads of the clans of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and Levites, and everyone else whose heart God had moved got ready to go and rebuild Jehovah’s Temple in Jerusalem.

6 Their neighbors helped by giving many things: silver utensils, gold, supplies, pack animals, other valuables, and offerings for the Temple.

7 King Cyrus gave back the bowls and cups that King Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and put in the temple of his god.

8 And King Cyrus turned them over to Mithredath, chief of the royal treasury, who made an inventory of them for Sheshbazzar, the governor of Judah,

9 Now this was their inventory: 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes and 29 duplicates.

10 There were also 30 gold bowls, 410 matching silver bowls and 1,000 other articles.

11 All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all of them along with the exiles who traveled from Babylon to Jerusalem.

2

1 These are the people of the divisions of the kingdom. Included were those who had been made prisoners by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and taken away to Babylon, who went back to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his town.

2 Who went with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah, The number of the men of the people of Israel:

3 The children of Parosh, two thousand, one hundred and seventy-two.

4 The children of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two.

5 The children of Arah, seven hundred and seventy-five.

6 The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand, eight hundred and twelve.

7 The children of Elam, a thousand, two hundred and fifty-four.

8 The children of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five.

9 The children of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty.

10 The children of Bani, six hundred and forty-two.

11 The children of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-three.

12 The children of Azgad, a thousand, two hundred and twenty-two.

13 The children of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-six.

14 The children of Bigvai, two thousand and fifty-six.

15 The children of Adin, four hundred and fifty-four.

16 The children of Ater, of Hezekiah, ninety-eight.

17 The children of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-three.

18 The children of Jorah, a hundred and twelve.

19 The children of Hashum, two hundred and twenty-three.

20 The children of Gibbar, ninety-five.

21 The children of Bethlehem, a hundred and twenty-three.

22 The men of Netophah, fifty-six.

23 The men of Anathoth, a hundred and twenty-eight.

24 The children of Azmaveth, forty-two.

25 The children of Kiriatharim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three.

26 The children of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one.

27 The men of Michmas, a hundred and twenty-two.

28 The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three.

29 The children of Nebo, fifty-two.

30 The children of Magbish, a hundred and fifty-six.

31 The children of the other Elam, a thousand, two hundred and fifty-four.

32 The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty.

33 The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five.

34 The children of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five.

35 The children of Senaah, three thousand, six hundred and thirty.

36 The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three.

37 The children of Immer, a thousand and fifty-two.

38 The children of Pashhur, a thousand, two hundred and forty-seven.

39 The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen.

40 The Levites: the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah, seventy-four.

41 The music-makers: the children of Asaph, a hundred and twenty-eight.

42 The children of the door-keepers: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, a hundred and thirty-nine.

43 The Nethinim: the children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,

44 The children of Keros, the children of Siaha, the children of Padon,

45 The children of Lebanah, the children of Hagabah, the children of Akkub,

46 The children of Hagab, the children of Shamlai, the children of Hanan,

47 The children of Giddel, the children of Gahar, the children of Reaiah,

48 The children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda, the children of Gazzam,

49 The children of Uzza, the children of Paseah, the children of Besai,

50 The children of Asnah, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephisim,

51 The children of Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur,

52 The children of Bazluth, the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha,

53 The children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Temah,

54 The children of Neziah, the children of Hatipha.

55 The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Hassophereth, the children of Peruda,

56 The children of Jaalah, the children of Darkon, the children of Giddel,

57 The children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the children of Ami.

58 All the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon's servants, were three hundred and ninety-two.

59 And these were the people who went up from Telmelah, Telharsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer. But having no knowledge of their fathers' families or offspring, it was not certain that they were Israelites.

60 The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred and fifty-two.

61 Of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai, who was married to one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and took their name.

62 They made search for their record among the lists of families. Their names were nowhere to be found. So they were looked on as unclean and no longer priests.

63 The Tirshatha Governor said they were not to have the most holy things for their food, till a priest came to give decision by Urim and Thummim.

64 The number of all the people together was forty-two thousand, three hundred and sixty,

65 As well as their men-servants and their women-servants, of whom there were seven thousand, three hundred and thirty-seven: and they had two hundred men and women to make music.

66 They had seven hundred and thirty-six horses, two hundred and forty-five transport beasts.

67 There were four hundred and thirty-five camels, six thousand, seven hundred and twenty Asses.

68 And some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of Jehovah which is in Jerusalem, gave freely of their wealth for the building up of the house of God in its place:

69 Every one, as he was able, gave for the work sixty-one thousand drachmas of gold, five thousand pounds of silver and a hundred priests' robes.

70 So the priests and the Levites, the people and the music-makers, the doorkeepers and the Nethinim, took their places in their towns.

3

1 When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people came together like one man to Jerusalem.

2 Then Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, with his brothers, got up and built the altar of the God of Israel for burned offerings. This was according to the Law of Moses, the man of God.

3 The returning exiles were afraid of the people who were living in the land. Regardless of that, they rebuilt the altar where it had stood before. Then they began once again to burn on it the regular morning and evening sacrifices.

4 They celebrated the Festival of Booths according to what is written. Each day they offered the sacrifices required for that day.

5 They also offered the regular sacrifices to be burned whole and those to be offered at the New Moon Festival and at all the other Festivals of Jehovah, as well as all the offerings that were given to Jehovah voluntarily.

6 The people had not yet started to rebuild the Temple. Yet they began on the first day of the seventh month to burn sacrifices to Jehovah.

7 They gave money to the stoneworkers and woodworkers. Meat and drink and oil were given to the people of Zidon and of Tyre, for the transport of cedar-trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, as Cyrus, king of Persia, had given them authority to do.

8 The second year and third month of their coming to the house of God in Jerusalem Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, took charge of the construction. Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come from the land where they were prisoners to Jerusalem: and the Levites, of twenty years or older, were responsible for overseeing the work of the house of Jehovah.

9 Then Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, the sons of Hodaviah, together took up the work of overseeing the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brothers, the Levites.

10 When the builders laid the foundation of the Temple of Jehovah, the priests, dressed in their robes, took their places with horns, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with brass instruments, to give praise to Jehovah in the way ordered by David, king of Israel.

11 They praised Jehovah and thanked him, saying: »He is good; his loving kindness to Israel is for all generations.« All the people gave a joyful cry. They praised Jehovah because the foundation of Jehovah’s house was in place.

12 Some of the priests, Levites, heads of families and old men who had seen the first house were present. When the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes they were overcome with weeping; and a number were crying out with joy:

13 So that in the ears of the people the cry of joy was mixed with the sound of weeping. The cries of the people were loud and came to the ears of those who were a long way off.

4

1 News came to the enemies of Judah and Benjamin that the people who had come back were building a Temple to Jehovah, the God of Israel.

2 They approached Zerubbabel and the heads of families and said: »Let us help you build for we are servants of your God, the same as you. We have been making offerings to him from the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who sent us here.«

3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of families in Israel said to them: »You have no part with us in the building of a house for our God. We will do the work for Jehovah, the God of Israel, as Cyrus, king of Persia, has given us orders.«

4 The people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and tried to make them afraid to go on building.

5 They hired men to work against them and kept them from accomplishing their plans during the reign of Cyrus, king of Persia, till Darius became king.

6 When Ahasuerus first became king, they put on record a statement against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

7 In the time of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his friends, sent a letter to Artaxerxes, king of Persia, writing it in the Aramaic language.

8 Rehum, the chief ruler, and Shimshai the scribe, sent a letter against Jerusalem, to Artaxerxes the king as follows:

9 The letter was sent by Rehum, the chief ruler, and Shimshai the scribe and their friends; the Dinaites and the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites people of Susa , the Dehaites, the Elamites,

10 The rest of the nations the great and noble Osnappar took over and put in Samaria and the rest of the country over the river:

11 »This is a copy of the letter that they sent to Artaxerxes the king: ‘Your servants living across the river send these words:

12 »We give news to the king that the Jews who came from you have come to us at Jerusalem. They are again building that uncontrolled and evil town. The walls are complete and they are repairing the bases.

13 »The king may be certain that when the town and its wall are completely rebuilt they will pay no tax or payment in goods or forced payments, and in the end it will be a cause of loss to the kings.

14 »Because we are responsible to the king, and it is not right for us to see the king's honor damaged, we have sent to give the king word of these things.

15 »That way a search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will see in the book of the records that this town has been uncontrolled. It has been a cause of trouble to kings and countries. There were outbursts against authority in the past. That is the reason the town was laid waste.

16 »We give you word, that if this town and its walls is completely rebuilt, your power in the country across the river will end.«

17 The king sent an answer to Rehum, the chief ruler, and Shimshai the scribe, and their friends living in Samaria, and to the rest of those across the river, saying, »Peace to you:

18 »The meaning of the letter you sent to us has been made clear to me,

19 »I gave orders for a search to be made, and it is certain that in the past this town has made trouble for kings, and that outbursts against authority have taken place there.

20 »Further, there have been great kings in Jerusalem. They ruled over all the country across the river. Taxes and tribute was paid to them.

21 »Give an order now that these men are to do no more work and that the building of the town is to be stopped till I give an order.

22 »Be sure to do this with all care. Do not let trouble increase to damage the king.«

23 Then, after reading the king's letter, Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their friends went quickly to Jerusalem, to the Jews to compel them by force to stop.

24 So the work of the house of God at Jerusalem was stopped, till the second year of the rule of Darius, king of Persia.

5

1 The prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, were preaching to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel.

2 Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, went to work building the house of God at Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, helping them.

3 At the same time, Tattenai, ruler of the land across the river, and Shethar-bozenai, and their men, came to them and said, »Who gave you orders to go on building this house and this wall?«

4 Then they said these words to them: »What are the names of the men who are at work on this building?«

5 The eye of their God was on the chiefs of the Jews, and they did not make them give up working till the question had been put before Darius and an answer came by letter about it.

6 This is a copy of the letter Tattenai, the ruler of the land across the river, and Shethar-bozenai and his friends the Apharsachites, from across the river, sent to Darius the king.

7 They sent him a letter saying: »To Darius the king, all peace:

8 »This is to give the king word that we went to the land of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is made of large stones and has its walls supported with wood. The work is going on with diligence and they are making rapid progress.

9 »Then we asked the men responsible: ‘Who gave you authority for the building of this house and these walls?’

10 »We requested their names, so that we might send you word, and give you the names of the men in charge.

11 »Their answer was: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are building the house which was put up in times long past and was designed and made complete by a great king of Israel.

12 »‘But when our fathers moved the God of heaven to wrath, he gave them up into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the Chaldaean. He sent destruction on this house and took the people away to Babylon.

13 »‘In the first year of Cyrus, king of Babylon, Cyrus the king gave an order for the building of this house of God.

14 »‘The gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem, were put into the house of his god in Babylon. Cyrus the king took these from the house of his god in Babylon, and gave them to Sheshbazzar, whom he had made ruler.’

15 He said to him: »Go, take these vessels, and put them in the Temple in Jerusalem. Let the house of God be constructed again in its place.«

16 »Then this same Sheshbazzar came and put the house of God in Jerusalem on its foundations. From that time until now the building has been going on, but it is still not complete.«

17 »If it seems good to the king, let search be made in the king's storehouse at Babylon. See if it is true that an order was given by Cyrus the king for the building of this house of God at Jerusalem. Let the king send us word of his pleasure in connection with this business.«

6

1 Then Darius the king gave an order and a search was made in the house of the records. This is where the things of value were stored in Babylon.

2 In the great house of the king in the land of Media, at Achmetha they came across a roll. This statement was put on record:

3 »In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made an order: In connection with the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be constructed as the place where they make offerings. Let them brake ground for the foundation. Let it be 90 feet high and 90 feet wide,

4 »with three lines of large stones and one line of new wood supports. Let the necessary money be given out of the king's storehouse.

5 »And let the gold and silver vessels from the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple at Jerusalem to Babylon, be given back and taken again to the Temple at Jerusalem, every one in its place, and put them in the house of God.

6 »Tattenai, ruler of the land across the river, and Shethar-bozenai and your people the Apharsachites across the river, keep far from that place:

7 »Let the work of this house of God continue. Let the ruler of the Jews and their responsible men construct this house of God in its place.

8 »Further, I give orders as to what you are to do for the responsible men of the Jews in connection with the building of this house of God: That from the king's wealth, that is, from the taxes got together in the land over the river, the money needed is to be given to these men readily, so that their work may not be stopped.

9 »When they need young bulls and sheep and lambs, for burned offerings to the God of heaven and grain, salt, wine, and oil, whatever the priests in Jerusalem say is necessary, is to be given to them day by day regularly:

10 »That they may make offerings of a sweet smell to the God of heaven, with prayers for the life of the king and of his sons.

11 »I further give orders that if anyone makes any change in this word; one of the supports is to be pulled out of his house. He is to be lifted up and fixed to it and his house is to be destroyed.

12 »May the God who has made it a resting-place for his name send destruction on all kings and peoples whose hands are outstretched to make any change in this or to do damage to this house of God at Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given this order. Let it be done with all care.«

13 Then Tattenai, the ruler across the river, and Shethar-bozenai and their people, because of the order given by King Darius, did as he said with all care.

14 The responsible men of the Jews went on with their building and progressed rapidly. The teaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, helped them. They went on building till it was complete. They kept the word of the God of Israel, and the orders of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia.

15 The construction of this house was complete on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the rule of Darius the king.

16 The children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of those who had come back, kept the feast of the opening of this house of God with joy.

17 They gave a hundred oxen, two hundred sheep and four hundred lambs as offerings at the opening of this house of God. They gave twelve he goats as a sin offering for all of Israel. Twelve is the number of the tribes of Israel.

18 They put the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their order, for the worship of God at Jerusalem. This is recorded in the book of Moses.

19 And the children of Israel who came back kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

20 the priests and the Levites made themselves clean together. They were all clean when they put the Passover lamb to death for all those who had come back, and for their brothers the priests and for themselves.

21 The children of Israel, who had come back, and all those who were joined to them, after separating themselves from the evil ways of the people of the land to become the servants of Jehovah, the God of Israel, ate together.

22 They joyfully kept the feast of unleavened bread for seven days. Jehovah filled them with joy by turning the heart of the king of Assyria to them to give them help in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

7

1 Now after these things, when Artaxerxes was king of Persia, Ezra, the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the 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 The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,

5 The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest:

6 Ezra came from Babylon. He was a scribe copyist and an expert in the Law of Moses which Jehovah, the God of Israel, had given. The king was moved by Jehovah his God to give him whatever he requested.

7 Some of the children of Israel went with some of the priests and Levites and the music-makers and the doorkeepers and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

8 He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king's rule.

9 He started his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month. He arrived at Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, by the good help of his God.

10 Ezra devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of Jehovah. He taught its decrees and laws in Israel.

11 This is a copy of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra, the priest and the scribe-copyist, who put into writing the words of the orders of Jehovah and of his rules for Israel:

12 »Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, all peace;

13 »It is my order that all the people of Israel, including their priests and Levites in my kingdom, who are ready and have a desire to go to Jerusalem, are to go with you.

14 »The king and his seven wise men send you to get knowledge about Judah and Jerusalem. The Law of your God orders you.

15 »You are to take with you the silver and gold freely offered by the king and his wise men to the God of Israel, who’s Temple is in Jerusalem,

16 »As well as all the silver and gold which you get from the land of Babylon, together with the offering of the people and of the priests, freely given for the house of their God in Jerusalem.

17 »Use this money to buy bulls, sheep, and lambs, with their meal offerings and their drink offerings, to be offered on the altar of the house of your God, which is in Jerusalem.

18 »Whatever seems right to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, that do, as may be pleasing to your God.

19 »The vessels that have been given to you for the uses of the house of your God, you are to give to the God of Jerusalem.

20 »Whatever is needed for the house of your God, and which you may have to give, take it from the king's storehouse.

21 »And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, now give orders to all keepers of the king's money across the river, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may have need of from you, is to be done with all care,

22 »Up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred measures of grain, a hundred measures of wine, and a hundred measures of oil, and salt without measure.

23 »Whatever the God of heaven orders let it be done completely for the house of the God of heaven. Let there not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons.

24 »In addition, we make it clear to you, that it will be against the law to put any tax or payment in goods or forced payment on any of the priests or Levites, the music-makers, doorkeepers, Nethinim, or any servants of this house of God.

25 »And you, Ezra, by the wisdom of your God which is in you, are to put rulers and judges to have authority over all the people across the river who have knowledge of the laws of your God. You are to teach any who have no knowledge of them.

26 »If anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, take care that punishment is given to him. This is by death or by driving him from his country or by taking away his goods or by putting him in prison.«

27 Praise be to Jehovah, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing into the heart of the king, to make fair the house of Jehovah that is in Jerusalem.

28 He has given mercy to me before the king and his government and before all the king's great captains. I was made strong by the hand of Jehovah my God which was on me, and I got together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

8

1 These are the heads of families who were listed of those who went up with me from Babylon, when Artaxerxes was king.

2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush;

3 Of the sons of Shecaniah; of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were listed a hundred and fifty males.

4 Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.

5 Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.

6 And of the sons of Adin, Ebed, the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.

7 And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah; the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.

8 And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, the son of Michael; and with him eighty males.

9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah, the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

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

11 And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males.

12 And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan, the son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred and ten males.

13 And of the sons of Adonikam, the last, whose names were Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males.

14 And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.

15 I made them come together by the river flowing to Ahava. We were there in tents for three days. And after viewing the people and the priests I saw that no sons of Levi were there.

16 Then I sent for Eliezer and Ariel and Shemaiah and Elnathan Jarib and Elnathan and Nathan and Zechariah and Meshullam, all responsible men; and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise men.

17 I sent them to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and gave them orders what to say to Iddo and his brothers the Nethinim at the place Casiphia, so that they might come back to us with men to do the work of the house of our God.

18 With the help of our God they got for us Ish-sechel, one of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah with his sons and brothers, eighteen;

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

20 Of the Nethinim, to whom David and the captains had given the work of helping the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them specially named.

21 Then I gave orders for a time of going without food, there by the Ahava River, so that we might make ourselves low before our God in prayer, requesting from him a safe journey for us and for our little ones and for all our substance.

22 I would not make request to the king for a band of armed men and horsemen to give us help against those who might attack us on the way. We said to the king: »The hand power protection of our God is on his servants for good, but his power and his wrath are against all those who have turned away from him.«

23 So we went without food, requesting our God for this: and his ear was open to our prayer.

24 I put on one side twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,

25 I gave to them by weight the silver and the gold and the vessels, all the offering for the house of our God that the king and his wise men and his captains and all Israel there present had given:

26 Measuring into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels, a hundred talents' weight, and a hundred talents of gold,

27 And twenty gold basins, of a thousand darics, and two vessels of the best bright brass, equal in value to gold.

28 I said to them: »You are holy to Jehovah and the vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are an offering freely given to Jehovah, the God of your fathers.

29 »Take care of them and keep them, till you put them on the scales before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and the chiefs of the families of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of Jehovah.«

30 So the priests and the Levites took the weight of silver and gold and the vessels, to take them to Jerusalem into the house of our God.

31 Then we went away from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us. He gave us salvation from our enemies and those who were waiting to attack us on the way.

32 We went to Jerusalem and were there for three days.

33 On the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the vessels were measured out by weight in the house of our God into the hands of Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the priest; and with him was Eleazar, the son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad, the son of Jeshua, and Obadiah, the son of Binnui, the Levites.

34 All was handed over by number and by weight: and the weight was put on record at that time.

35 Those who had been prisoners, who had come back from a strange land, made burned offerings to the God of Israel, twelve oxen for all Israel, ninety-six male sheep, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all this was a burned offering to Jehovah.

36 They gave the king's orders to the king's captains and the rulers across the river. They gave the people and the house of God the help that was needed.

9

1 After these things were done, the captains came to me and said: »The people of Israel and the priests and Levites have not kept themselves separate from the people of the lands. They have taken part in the disgusting ways of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

2 »They have taken their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons. They have mingled the holy race with peoples around them. In fact the leaders and officials were first to do this evil.«

3 Hearing this, with signs of grief and pulling out the hair of my head and my chin, I took my seat on the earth deeply troubled.

4 Then everyone who respected the word of the God of Israel were overcome with grief because of the sin of those who came back. They gathered with me until the evening offering.

5 I humbled myself before God at the evening offering. I got up, with signs of grief, and fell on my knees with my hands stretched out to Jehovah my God,

6 I said, »O my God, shame keeps me from lifting up my face praying to you being in your presence , my God: for our sins have increased higher than our heads and our evil-doing has come up to heaven.

7 »From the days of our fathers till this day we have been great sinners. Because of our sins, the kings of the lands captured us. We were given to the sword and to prison and to loss of goods and to shame of face, as it is this day.

8 »Now for a little time grace favour has come to us from Jehovah our God, to let a small band of us go free and to give us a nail in his holy place. Our God gives light to our eyes and a measure of new life in our prison chains.

9 »We are servants. Our God has not been turned away from us in our prison. He had mercy on us before the eyes of the kings of Persia, to give us new strength, to put up again the house of our God and to restore its desolate places, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

10 »And now, O our God, what are we to say after this? For we have not obeyed your laws,

11 ‘»Which you gave to your servants the prophets, saying: ‘The land where you are going, you should take for a heritage. It is an unclean land, because of the evil lives of the peoples of the land and their disgusting ways, which have made the land unclean from end to end.’

12 »Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or do anything for their peace or well being for a very long time. That way you may be strong, living on the good of the land, and handing it on to your children for a heritage for as long as they live.

13 »After all this and because of our evil-doing and our great sin, and seeing that the punishment that you, O God, have given us, is less than the measure of our sins, and that you have kept from death those of us who are here;

14 »Are we again to go against your orders, taking wives from among the people who do these disgusting things? Would you not be angry with us till our destruction was complete, till there was not one who got away safe?

15 »O Jehovah, God of Israel, righteousness is yours. We are only a small band that has been kept from death this day. See, we are before you in our sin. For no one may keep his place before you because of this.«

10

1 While Ezra was saying his prayer and his confession of wrongdoing he wept and fell down before the house of God. A very great number of men and women and children out of Israel came together around him, for the people were weeping bitterly.

2 Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answering, said to Ezra, We have done evil against our God, and have taken as our wives strange women of the peoples of the land. But still there is hope for Israel in this question.

3 »Let us make an agreement with our God to put away all the wives and all their children, if it seems right to my lord and to those who go in fear of the words of our God. Let it be done in keeping with the law.

4 »Up, now! For this is your business, and we are with you. Take heart and do it.«

5 Then Ezra got up, and made the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and all Israel take an oath that they would do this. So they took an oath.

6 Then Ezra got up from before the house of God and went into the room of Jehohanan, the son of Eliashib. When he arrived there, he took no food or drink, for he was sorrowing for the sin of those who had come back.

7 They made a public statement to all Judah and Jerusalem, to all those who came back, that they were to come together to Jerusalem.

8 And that if anyone did not come before three days were past, as ordered by the rulers and the responsible men, all his goods would be put under the curse. He himself would be cut off from the meeting of the people who had come back.

9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin came together to Jerusalem before three days were past. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people were seated in the wide square in front of the house of God. They shook with fear because of this business of this business and because of the great rain.

10 Ezra the priest got to his feet and said to them: »You have done wrong and taken strange women for your wives, thus increasing the sin of Israel.

11 « Give praise to Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the strange women.«

12 Then all the people, answered with a loud voice: As you have said, so it is right for us to do.

13 »The number of people is great, and it is a time of much rain; it is not possible for us to go on waiting outside. This is not a thing that may be done in one day or even two: for our sin in this business is great.

14 »So now let our rulers be representatives for all the people. Let all those in our towns who are married to strange women come at fixed times, and with them the responsible men and the judges of every town, till the burning wrath of our God is turned away from us, and this has been done.«

15 Only Jonathan, the son of Asahel, and Jahzeiah, the son of Tikvah, were against this, Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supporting them.

16 So those who had come back did so. Ezra the priest, with certain heads of families, by their fathers' families, all of them by their names, were marked out. On the first day of the tenth month they took their places to go into the question with care.

17 they reached the end of all the men who were married to strange women by the first day of the first month.

18 Among the sons of the priests who were married to strange women were these: of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak and his brothers, Maaseiah and Eliezer and Jarib and Gedaliah.

19 They gave their word that they would put away their wives; and for their sin, they gave an offering of a male sheep of the flock.

20 Of the sons of Immer, Hanani and Zebadiah.

21 Of the sons of Harim, Maaseiah and Elijah and Shemaiah and Jehiel and Uzziah.

22 Of the sons of Pashhur, Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

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

24 Of the music-makers, Eliashib; and of the doorkeepers, Shallum and Telem and Uri.

25 Of Israel, the sons of Parosh, Ramiah and Izziah and Malchijah and Mijamin and Eleazar and Malchijah and Benaiah.

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

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

28 Of the sons of Bebai, Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.

29 Of the sons of Bani, Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub and Sheal, Jeremoth.

30 And of the sons of Pahath-moab, Adna and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel and Binnui and Manasseh.

31 And of the sons of Harim, Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

32 Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.

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

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

35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,

36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu,

38 And Bani and Binnui, Shimei;

39 And Shelemiah and Nathan and Adaiah,

40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

41 Azarel and Shelemiah, Shemariah,

42 Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.

43 Of the sons of Nebo, Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Iddo, and Joel, Benaiah.

44 All these had taken strange wives; and some of them had wives by whom they had offspring.