Ezra 6-8

New International Version

The Decree of Darius

6 King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives^(A) stored in the treasury at Babylon. ² A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:

Completion and Dedication of the Temple

¹³ Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates^(Q) carried it out with diligence. ¹⁴ So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching^(R) of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus,^(S) Darius^(T) and Artaxerxes,^(U) kings of Persia. ¹⁵ The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.^(V)

¹⁶ Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication^(W) of the house of God with joy. ¹⁷ For the dedication of this house of God they offered^(X) a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering^[b] for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸ And they installed the priests in their divisions^(Y) and the Levites in their groups^(Z) for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.^(AA)

The Passover

¹⁹ On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover.^{(AB) 20} The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered^(AC) the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves. ²¹ So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves^(AD) from the unclean practices^(AE) of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord,^(AF) the God of Israel. ²² For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread,^(AG) because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude^(AH) of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra Comes to Jerusalem

7 After these things, during the reign of Artaxerxes^(AI) king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah,^(AJ) the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,^{(AK) 2} the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok,^(AL) the son of Ahitub,^{(AM) 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,^(AN) the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest— ⁶ this Ezra^(AO) came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted^(AP) him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.^{(AQ) 7} Some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, musicians, gatekeepers and temple servants, also came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.^(AR)

⁸ Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king. ⁹ He had begun his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was on him.^{(AS) 10} For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching^(AT) its decrees and laws in Israel.

King Artaxerxes’ Letter to Ezra

¹¹ This is a copy of the letter King Artaxerxes had given to Ezra the priest, a teacher of the Law, a man learned in matters concerning the commands and decrees of the Lord for Israel:

²⁷ Praise be to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s heart^(BL) to bring honor^(BM) to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in this way ²⁸ and who has extended his good favor^(BN) to me before the king and his advisers and all the king’s powerful officials. Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me,^(BO) I took courage and gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

List of the Family Heads Returning With Ezra

8 These are the family heads and those registered with them who came up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:^(BP)

The Return to Jerusalem

¹⁵ I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava,^(BV) and we camped there three days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites^(BW) there. ¹⁶ So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of learning, ¹⁷ and I ordered them to go to Iddo, the leader in Kasiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his fellow Levites, the temple servants^(BX) in Kasiphia, so that they might bring attendants to us for the house of our God. ¹⁸ Because the gracious hand of our God was on us,^(BY) they brought us Sherebiah,^(BZ) a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah’s sons and brothers, 18 in all; ¹⁹ and Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and nephews, 20 in all. ²⁰ They also brought 220 of the temple servants^(CA)—a body that David and the officials had established to assist the Levites. All were registered by name.

²¹ There, by the Ahava Canal,^(CB) I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey^(CC) for us and our children, with all our possessions. ²² I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers^(CD) and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone^(CE) who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.^(CF)” ²³ So we fasted^(CG) and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, namely, Sherebiah,^(CH) Hashabiah and ten of their brothers, ²⁵ and I weighed out^(CI) to them the offering of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his advisers, his officials and all Israel present there had donated for the house of our God. ²⁶ I weighed out to them 650 talents^[j] of silver, silver articles weighing 100 talents,^[k] 100 talents^[l] of gold, ²⁷ 20 bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics,^[m] and two fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold.

²⁸ I said to them, “You as well as these articles are consecrated to the Lord.^(CJ) The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. ²⁹ Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel.” ³⁰ Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.

³¹ On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal^(CK) to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us,^(CL) and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way. ³² So we arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested three days.^(CM)

³³ On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out^(CN) the silver and gold and the sacred articles into the hands of Meremoth^(CO) son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, and so were the Levites Jozabad^(CP) son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.^{(CQ) 34} Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the entire weight was recorded at that time.

³⁵ Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls^(CR) for all Israel,^(CS) ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male lambs and, as a sin offering,^[n] twelve male goats.^(CT) All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. ³⁶ They also delivered the king’s orders^(CU) to the royal satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates,^(CV) who then gave assistance to the people and to the house of God.^(CW)