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The Book of Ezra 7

7 Many years later, during the time when Artaxerxes was the king of Persia, there was a man named Ezra. He was a descendant of Seraiah, who was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Hilkiah. 2 Hilkiah was the son of Shallum, who was the son of Zadok, who was a descendant of Ahitub, 3 who was a descendant of Amariah, who was the son of Azariah, who was a descendant of Meraioth, 4 who was the son of Zerahiah, who was the son of Uzzi, who was the son of Bukki, 5 who was the son of Abishua, who was the son of Phinehas, who was the son of Eleazar, who was the son of Aaron, the first Supreme Priest. 6 This man Ezra knew the laws of Moses very well. Those were the laws that Yahweh had given to the people who worship him, the Israelite people. Ezra asked the king for many things and the king gave Ezra everything that he asked for because Yahweh, the God whom Ezra worshiped, caused all of it to go well for him. Then Ezra traveled from Babylon to Jerusalem.

7 Many Israelite people came with Ezra to Jerusalem, including some priests, some Levites, some musicians, some gatekeepers, and some of the descendants of men who worked in the temple. That was during the seventh year that Artaxerxes was the king of Persia. 8 Ezra and the group with him arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year that Artaxerxes was king.

9 Consider this: They started out from Babylon on the first day of the first month. They arrived safely in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month of that year. God certainly acted very kindly toward them. 10 God made Ezra’s journey successful because Ezra had devoted himself to studying the laws of Yahweh and understanding how to obey them. He had also devoted himself to teach everything in those laws to the Israelite people.

11 King Artaxerxes gave a letter to Ezra the priest and scribe who studied what Yahweh had commanded in the law that Yahweh had given to Israel. This is what the letter said:

12 “This letter is from Artaxerxes, the greatest of the kings. I am giving it to Ezra the priest, who has carefully studied the law that the God who is in heaven gave to the Israelite people. Greetings. This is what I want you to know:

13 I am commanding that any of the Israelite people in my kingdom may go with you to Jerusalem if they want to go. That includes priests and Levites.

14 I, the king, and my seven advisors are sending you to investigate whether the people of Judah and Jerusalem are following the law of your God that you carry. 15 We are also telling you to take with you the silver and gold that I and my advisors will give to you. We give it freely to the God of Israel who has a temple in Jerusalem. 16 You should also take any silver and gold that the people in the entire province of Babylonia may give to you. Add that to the money that the Israelite people and the priests freely give for you to use at the temple of their God in Jerusalem. 17 Then carefully use this money to buy the bulls, rams, and lambs that the priests will burn on the altar of the temple of your God in Jerusalem. Also buy the grain and wine that go with these offerings.

18 If there is any silver or gold left over after you buy all of those things, you and your companions may use it to buy whatever you think that your God wants you to buy. 19 We have also given to you some valuable containers for the priests to use in the temple of your God. Take all of them to your God in Jerusalem. 20 If you need to supply any other things for the temple of your God, I permit you to get the money to pay for those things from the royal treasury.

21 And I, King Artaxerxes, personally command this to all the treasurers in the province west of the Euphrates River: Ezra is a priest who has carefully studied the laws of the God who is in heaven. If there is anything that he requests, give it to him quickly. 22 Give him up to three and one-third metric tons of silver, up to 500 bushels of wheat, up to two and one-fifth kiloliters of wine, up to the same amount of olive oil, and all the salt that he requests. 23 Be sure that you provide everything that the God who is in heaven requires for his temple. We certainly do not want this God to be angry with me or with my descendants, who will later be kings, because I did not provide what he required. 24 By means of this letter, I also prohibit you from collecting tax payments of any kind from any of the priests, Levites, musicians, gatekeepers, or any men who work in the temple. They are exempt from taxes because they serve in the temple of this God. 25 Now I will address you, Ezra. The God whom you worship has made you wise. Therefore, I want you to appoint men who can settle disputes between people and interpret God’s laws for all of the Jews in the province west of the Euphrates River. They must do this for all of those who know the laws of this God, and all of you must teach God’s laws to those who do not know them. 26 You and the men whom you appoint must make sure to severely punish everyone who does not obey my law or the law of the God whom you worship. You may decide whether to execute them or to send them out of the country or to take away all of their property or to put them in prison.”

27 When I, Ezra, read this letter, I said, “Praise Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors worshiped! He has caused the king to want to honor his temple in Jerusalem. 28 God also acted very kindly to me by causing the king and his advisors and all of his powerful officials to want to help me. When I saw how Yahweh, the God whom I worship, was making all of my plans succeed, I boldly asked some of the Israelite leaders to go to Jerusalem with me.”

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