1 ¶ Now after these things, during 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 scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.

7 And some of the children of Israel who went up with him to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, were, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple attendants.

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

9 For he had begun his trip 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 good hand of his God was upon him.

10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach its statutes and judgments in Israel.

11 ¶ Now this is a copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, well versed in the words of the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes to Israel.

12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and now.

13 I make a decree, that all of the people of Israel, and his priests and Levites, in my realm, who chose of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with you.

14 For you are being sent by the king, and by his seven counselors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your hand;

15 And to carry the silver and gold, that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,

16 And all the silver and gold that you receive throughout the province of Babylon, with the freewill offerings of your people, and priests, offered willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem:

17 That you may quickly purchase with this money bulls, rams, and lambs, with their cereal offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

18 And with the rest of the silver and the gold, do whatever seems right to you, and to your brethren, according to the will of your God.

19 You must deliver the vessels that have been given to you for the service of the house of your God, to the God of Jerusalem.

20 And whatever more is needed for the house of your God, which you have to supply, you may supply out of the king’s treasury.

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

22 Up to a hundred talents of silver, and a hundred measures of wheat, and a hundred baths of wine, and a hundred baths of oil, and as much salt as needed.

23 Whatever is required by the God of heaven, let it be done diligently for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

24 We also inform you, that it will not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple attendants, or servants of this house of God.

25 And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom your God has given you, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of your God; and you shall teach those who do not know them.

26 And let whoever will not obey the law of your God, and the law of the king, receive swift judgment, whether it is death, or banishment, or confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.

27 ¶ Blessed is the LORD God of our fathers, who has put this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem:

28 And who has given me favor with the king, and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. And I took courage for the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered together leading men from Israel to go up with me.