¹And after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, came Ezra, the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, ²the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, ³the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, ⁴the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, ⁵the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the head priest. ⁶This Ezra came up from Babylon, and he was a scribe astute in the law of Moses, whom the Lord God of Israel had appointed, and to whom the king had granted every request of his, according to the hand of the Lord his God on him. ⁷And in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the sons of Israel and some priests and Levites went up to Jerusalem, as did the singers and the gatekeepers and the temple-servants. ⁸And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, and it was in the king's seventh year. ⁹For it was on the first day of the first month that the start of the coming back up from Babylon took place, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived in Jerusalem, with the good hand of his God on him. ¹⁰For Ezra had resolved to seek the law of the Lord, and to observe it, and to teach statute and judgment in Israel. ¹¹And this is a transcript of the communiqué which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe – the scribe of the words of the Lord's commandments, and his statutes imposed on Israel: ¹²“From Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, scribe in the law of the God of heaven, greetings etcetera. ¹³A decree is hereby issued by me that everyone of the people of Israel in my kingdom – including its priests and the Levites – who wishes to go to Jerusalem, may go with you, ¹⁴it being so that you are sent from the king and his seven advisers to carry out investigations concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the law of your God, which is in your hand, ¹⁵and to take the silver and gold which the king and his advisers have voluntarily given to the God of Israel, whose abode is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶and all silver and gold which you find in the entire province of Babylon, given by the free will of the people and the priests, who freely give for the house of their God in Jerusalem. ¹⁷Pursuant to this, you shall diligently buy bulls and rams and lambs with this money, and their meal-offerings and their libations, and you will offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. ¹⁸And whatever seems right to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, do according to the good pleasure of your God. ¹⁹And restore in the presence of the God of Jerusalem the articles which are given to you for worship in the house of your God. ²⁰And pay for the remaining needs of the house of your God which you incur as expenses from the king's treasury. ²¹And a decree is hereby issued by me, Artaxerxes the king, to all treasurers of the region on the far side of the river, that whatever Ezra – the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven – asks of you, it be done forthwith, ²²up to one hundred talents of silver, and up to one hundred cors of wheat, and up to one hundred baths of wine, and up to one hundred baths of oil, and salt without bookkeeping. ²³Let everything which is by decree of the God of heaven be done diligently for the house of the God of heaven lest anger come upon the kingdom of the king or his sons. ²⁴And we make it known to you that for all the priests and the Levites and the singers and the gatekeepers and the temple-servants and the worshippers in this house of God, it is not authorized to impose the levy of tax and excise on them. ²⁵And you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom of your God, which is in your hand, appoint judges and magistrates who will judge all the people on the far side of the river – all those who know the laws of your God. And teach those who do not know them. ²⁶And as for anyone who does not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let justice be rigorously done with him, whether death or exile or confiscation of property or imprisonment.” ²⁷Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers who put this in the heart of the king, to adorn the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. ²⁸And he showed me kindness in the presence of the king and his advisers, and all the king's valiant commanders, and I was strengthened according to the hand of the Lord my God on me, and I gathered head men from Israel to go up with me.