1After these things, when Ar-ta-xerx'es the king of the Persians was reigning, Ezra came, the son of Serai'ah, son of Azari'ah, son of Hilki'ah, son of Shallum, 2son of Zadok, son of Ahi'tub, son of Amari'ah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, son of Abishu'a, son of Phin'ehas, son of Elea'zar, son of Aaron the chief priest. 3This Ezra came up from Babylon as a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which was given by the God of Israel; 4and the king showed him honour, for he found favour before the king8.4 Gk him in all his requests. 5There came up with him to Jerusalem some of the people of Israel and some of the priests and Levites and temple singers and gatekeepers and temple servants, 6in the seventh year of the reign of Ar-ta-xerx'es, in the fifth month (this was the king's seventh year); for they left Babylon on the new moon of the first month and arrived in Jerusalem on the new moon of the fifth month, by the prosperous journey which the Lord gave them.8.6 Other authorities add for him or upon him 7For Ezra possessed great knowledge, so that he omitted nothing from the law of the Lord or the commandments, but taught all Israel all the ordinances and judgments.

8The following is a copy of the written commission from Ar-ta-xerx'es the king which was delivered to Ezra the priest and reader of the law of the Lord:

9“King Ar-ta-xerx'es to Ezra the priest and reader of the law of the Lord, greeting. 10In accordance with my gracious decision, I have given orders that those of the Jewish nation and of the priests and Levites and others in our realm, who freely choose to do so, may go with you to Jerusalem. 11Let as many as are so disposed, therefore, depart with you as I and the seven friends who are my counsellors have decided, 12in order to look into matters in Judea and Jerusalem, in accordance with what is in the law of the Lord, 13and to carry to Jerusalem the gifts for the Lord of Israel which I and my friends have vowed, and to collect for the Lord in Jerusalem all the gold and silver that may be found in the country of Babylonia, 14together with what is given by the nation for the temple of their Lord which is in Jerusalem, both gold and silver for bulls and rams and lambs and what goes with them, 15so as to offer sacrifices upon the altar of their Lord which is in Jerusalem. 16And whatever you and your brethren are minded to do with the gold and silver, perform it in accordance with the will of your God; 17and deliver the holy vessels of the Lord which are given you for the use of the temple of your God which is in Jerusalem. 18And whatever else occurs to you as necessary for the temple of your God, you may provide out of the royal treasury.

19“And I, Ar-ta-xerx'es the king, have commanded the treasurers of Syria and Phoeni'cia that whatever Ezra the priest and reader of the law of the Most High God sends for, they shall take care to give him, 20up to a hundred talents of silver, and likewise up to a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, and salt in abundance. 21Let all things prescribed in the law of God be scrupulously fulfilled for the Most High God, so that wrath may not come upon the kingdom of the king and his sons. 22You are also informed that no tribute or any other tax is to be laid on any of the priests or Levites or temple singers or gatekeepers or temple servants or persons employed in this temple, and that no one has authority to impose any tax upon them.

23“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of God, appoint judges and justices to judge all those who know the law of your God, throughout all Syria and Phoeni'cia; and those who do not know it you shall teach. 24And all who transgress the law of your God or the law of the kingdom shall be strictly punished, whether by death or some other punishment, either fine or imprisonment.”

25Blessed be the Lord alone, who put this into the heart of the king, to glorify his house which is in Jerusalem, 26and who honoured me in the sight of the king and his counsellors and all his friends and nobles. 27I was encouraged by the help of the Lord my God, and I gathered men from Israel to go up with me.

28These are the principal men, according to their fathers' houses and their groups, who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Ar-ta-xerx'es the king: 29Of the sons of Phin'ehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ith'amar, Gama'ael. Of the sons of David, Hattush the son of Shecani'ah. 30Of the sons of Parosh, Zechari'ah, and with him a hundred and fifty men enrolled. 31Of the sons of Pa'hath-mo'ab, El'ieho-e'nai the son of Zerahi'ah, and with him two hundred men. 32Of the sons of Zattu, Shecani'ah the son of Jahazi'el, and with him three hundred men. Of the sons of Adin, Obed the son of Jonathan, and with him two hundred and fifty men. 33Of the sons of Elam, Jeshai'ah the son of Gotholi'ah, and with him seventy men. 34Of the sons of Shephati'ah, Zera'iah the son of Michael, and with him seventy men. 35Of the sons of Jo'ab, Obadi'ah the son of Jehi'el, and with him two hundred and twelve men. 36Of the sons of Bani, Shelo'mith the son of Josiphi'ah, and with him a hundred and sixty men. 37Of the sons of Be'bai, Zechari'ah the son of Be'bai, and with him twenty-eight men. 38Of the sons of Azgad, Joha'nan the son of Hak'katan, and with him a hundred and ten men. 39Of the sons of Adoni'kam, the last ones, their names being Eliph'elet, Jeu'el, and Shemai'ah, and with them seventy men. 40Of the sons of Big'vai, Uthai the son of Istalcu'rus, and with him seventy men.

41I assembled them at the river called Theras, and we encamped there three days, and I inspected them. 42When I found there none of the sons of the priests or of the Levites, 43I sent word to Elie'zar, Id'u-el, Ma-as'mas, 44Elna'than, Shemai'ah, Jarib, Nathan, Elna'than, Zechari'ah, and Meshul'lam, who were leaders and men of understanding; 45and I told them to go to Iddo, who was the leading man at the place of the treasury, 46and ordered them to tell Iddo and his brethren and the treasurers at that place to send us men to serve as priests in the house of our Lord. 47And by the mighty hand of our Lord they brought us competent men of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebi'ah8.47 Gk Asebebias with his sons and kinsmen, eighteen; 48also Heshabi'ah and Annu'nus and Jeshai'ah his brother, of the sons of Hanani'ah, an their sons, twenty men; 49and of the temple servants, whom David and the leaders had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty temple servants; the list of all their names was reported.

50There I proclaimed a fast for the young men before our Lord, to seek from him a prosperous journey for ourselves and for our children and the cattle that were with us. 51For I was ashamed to ask the king for foot soldiers and horsemen and an escort to keep us safe from our adversaries; 52for we had said to the king, “The power of our Lord will be with those who seek him, and will support them in every way.” 53And again we prayed to our Lord about these things, and we found him very merciful.

54Then I set apart twelve of the leaders of the priests, Sherebi'ah and Hashabi'ah, and ten of their kinsmen with them; 55and I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the holy vessels of the house of our Lord, which the king himself and his counsellors and the nobles and all Israel had given. 56I weighed and gave to them six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels worth a hundred talents, and a hundred talents of gold, 57and twenty golden bowls, and twelve bronze vessels of fine bronze that glittered like gold. 58And I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are vowed to the Lord, the Lord of our fathers. 59Be watchful and on guard until you deliver them to the leaders of the priests and the Levites, and to the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of our Lord.” 60So the priests and the Levites who took the silver and the gold and the vessels which had been in Jerusalem carried them to the temple of the Lord.

61We departed from the river Theras on the twelfth day of the first month; and we arrived in Jerusalem by the mighty hand of our Lord which was upon us; he delivered us from every enemy on the way, and so we came to Jerusalem. 62When we had been there three days, the silver and the gold were weighed and delivered in the house of our Lord to Mer'emoth the priest, son of Uri'ah; 63and with him was Elea'zar the son of Phin'ehas, and with them were Jo'zabad the son of Jeshua and Moeth the son of Bin'nui,8.63 Gk Sabannus the Levites. 64The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded at that very time. 65And those who had come back from captivity offered sacrifices to the Lord, the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, 66seventy-two lambs, and as a thank offering twelve he-goats — all as a sacrifice to the Lord. 67And they delivered the king's orders to the royal stewards and to the governors of Coelesyria and Phoeni'cia; and these officials8.67 Gk they honoured the people and the temple of the Lord.

68After these things had been done, the principal men came to me and said, 69“The people of Israel and the leaders and the priests and the Levites have not put away from themselves the alien peoples of the land and their pollutions, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Per'izzites, the Jeb'usites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the E'domites. 70For they and their sons have married the daughters of these people,8.70 Gk their daughters and the holy race has been mixed with the alien peoples of the land; and from the beginning of this matter the leaders and the nobles have been sharing in this iniquity.”

71As soon as I heard these things, I rent my garments and my holy mantle, and pulled out hair from my head and beard, and sat down in anxiety and grief. 72And all who were ever moved at8.72 Or zealous for the word of the Lord of Israel gathered round me, as I mourned over this iniquity, and I sat grief-stricken until the evening sacrifice. 73Then I rose from my fast, with my garments and my holy mantle rent, and kneeling down and stretching forth my hands to the Lord 74I said,

“O Lord, I am ashamed and confounded before thy face. 75For our sins have risen higher than our heads, and our mistakes have mounted up to heaven 76from the times of our fathers, and we are in great sin to this day. 77And because of our sins and the sins of our fathers we with our brethren and our kings and our priests were given over to the kings of the earth, to the sword and captivity and plundering, is shame until this day. 78And now in some measure mercy has come to us from thee, O Lord, to leave to us a root and a name in thy holy place, 79and to uncover a light for us in the house of the Lord our God, and to give us food in the time of our servitude. 80Even in our bondage we were not forsaken by our Lord, but he brought us into favour with the kings of the Persians, so that they have given us food 81and glorified the temple of our Lord, and raised Zion from desolation, to give us a stronghold in Judea and Jerusalem.

82“And now, O Lord, what shall we say, when we have these things? For we have transgressed thy commandments, which thou didst give by thy servants the prophets, saying, 83‘The land which you are entering to take possession of it is a land polluted with the pollution of the aliens of the land, and they have filled it with their uncleanness. 84Therefore do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, and do not take their daughters for your sons; 85and do not seek ever to have peace with them, in order that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.’ 86And all that has happened to us has come about because of our evil deeds and our great sins. For thou, O Lord, didst lift the burden of our sins 87and give us such a root as this; but we turned back again to transgress thy law by mixing with the uncleanness of the peoples of the land. 88Wast thou not angry enough with us to destroy us without leaving a root or seed or name? 89O Lord of Israel, thou art true; for we are left as a root this day. 90Behold, we are now before thee in our iniquities; for we can no longer stand in thy presence because of these things.”

91While Ezra was praying and making his confession, weeping and lying upon the ground before the temple, there gathered about him a very great throng from Jerusalem, men and women and youths; for there was great weeping among the multitude. 92Then Shecani'ah the son of Jehi'el, one of the men of Israel, called out, and said to Ezra, “We have sinned against the Lord, and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; but even now there is hope for Israel. 93Let us take an oath to the Lord about this, that we will put away all our foreign wives, with their children, 94as seems good to you and to all who obey the law of the Lord. 95Arise8.95 Other authorities read as seems good to you.” And all who obeyed the law of the Lord rose and said to Ezra, “Arise and take action, for it is your task, and we are with you to take strong measures.” 96Then Ezra arose and had the leaders of the priests and Levites of all Israel take oath that they would do this. And they took the oath.