Ezra 6-8

21st Century King James Version

6 Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.

² And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a scroll, and therein was a record thus written:

³ “In the first year of Cyrus the king, the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: Let the house be built, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid — the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits,

⁴ with three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber — and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house.

⁵ And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem and brought unto Babylon, be restored and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God.

⁶ “Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the river, Shetharboznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the river, be ye far from thence.

⁷ Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place.

⁸ Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do for the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.

⁹ And that which they have need of — both young bullocks and rams and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests who are at Jerusalem — let it be given them day by day without fail,

¹⁰ that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savors unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons.

¹¹ Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.

¹² And the God who hath caused His name to dwell there, destroy all kings and people who shall put forth their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree. Let it be done with speed.”

¹³ Then Tattenai, governor on this side of the river, Shetharboznai and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.

¹⁴ And the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Idd. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

¹⁵ And this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

¹⁶ And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,

¹⁷ and offered at the dedication of this house of God a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve hegoats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁸ And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.

¹⁹ And the children of the captivity kept the Passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month.

²⁰ For the priests and the Levites were purified together; all of them were pure, and killed the Passover lamb for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

²¹ And the children of Israel, who had come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel, ate,

²² and kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

7 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes 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 this Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the Law of Moses, which the Lord 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 there went up some of the children 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.

⁸ And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

⁹ For upon the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

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 Now this is the copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord and of His statutes to Israel:

¹² “Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven. Perfect peace, and at such a time.

¹³ I make a decree that all those of the people of Israel and of his priests and Levites in my realm, who are minded of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.

¹⁴ Inasmuch as thou art sent by the king and by his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand,

¹⁵ and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,

¹⁶ and all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem”

¹⁷ thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

¹⁸ And whatsoever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.

¹⁹ The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.

²⁰ And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure house.

²¹ “And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers who are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,

²² up to a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.

²³ Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven. For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

²⁴ Also we inform you, that concerning any of the priests and Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinim, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom upon them.

²⁵ “And thou, Ezra, according to the wisdom of thy God that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges who may judge all the people who are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye those who know them not.

²⁶ And whosoever will not do the law of thy God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods or to imprisonment.”

²⁷ Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem,

²⁸ and hath extended mercy unto me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

8 Now these are the chiefs of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the 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 reckoned by genealogy of the males, a hundred and fifty.

⁴ Of the sons of Pahathmoab, Elihoenai 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 of the sons also 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 fourscore 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 threescore males;

¹¹ and of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and 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 last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these — Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah — and with them threescore males;

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

¹⁵ And I gathered them together at the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days. And I viewed the people and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.

¹⁶ Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib and for Elnathan, men of understanding.

¹⁷ And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo and to his brethren the Nethinim at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto u ministers for the house of our God.

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

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

²⁰ also of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim; all of them were expressed by name.

²¹ Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a right way for us and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

²² For I was ashamed to request of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath is against all those who forsake Him.”

²³ So we fasted and besought our God for this; and He was entreated by us.

²⁴ Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests —Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them —

²⁵ and weighed unto them the silver and the gold and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered.

²⁶ I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels a hundred talents, and of gold a hundred talents;

²⁷ also twenty basins of gold of a thousand drams, and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.

²⁸ And I said unto them, “Ye are holy unto the Lord; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord God of your fathers.

²⁹ Watch ye, and keep them until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.”

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

³¹ Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go unto Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from such as lay in wait by the way.

³² And we came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days.

³³ Now on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui.

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

³⁵ Also the children of those who had been carried away, who had come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel: twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve hegoats for a sin offering; all this was a burnt offering unto the Lord.

³⁶ And they delivered the king’s commissions unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors on this side of the river; and they furthered the people and the house of God.