silver and gold that you find throughout the province of Babylon, together with the freewill offerings that the people and the priests will give for the House of their God, which is in Jerusalem. 17You shall, therefore, with dispatch acquire with this money bulls, rams, and lambs, with their meal offerings and libations, and offer them on the altar of the House of your God in Jerusalem. 18And whatever you wish to do with the leftover silver and gold, you and your kinsmen may do, in accord with the will of your God. 19The vessels for the service of the House of your God that are given to you, deliver to God in Jerusalem, 20and any other needs of the House of your God that it falls to you to supply, do so from the royal treasury. 21I, King Artaxerxes, for my part, hereby issue an order to all the treasurers in the province of Beyond the River that whatever request Ezra the priest, scholar in the law of the God of Heaven, makes of you is to be fulfilled with dispatch 22up to the sum of one hundred talents of silver, one hundred kor of wheat, one hundred bath of wine, one hundred bath of oil, and salt without limit. 23Whatever is by order of the God of Heaven must be carried out diligently for the House of the God of Heaven, else wrath will come upon the king and his sons. 24We further advise you that it is not permissible to impose tribute, poll tax, or land tax on any priest, Levite, singer, gatekeeper, temple servant, or other servant of this House of God. 25And you, Ezra, by the divine wisdom you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the province of Beyond the River who know the laws of your God, and to teach those who do not know them. 26Let anyone who does not obey the law of your God and the law of the king be punished with dispatch, whether by death, corporal punishment, confiscation of possessions, or imprisonment.”

27cBlessed is the LORD God of our fathers, who put it into the mind of the king to glorify the House of the LORD in Jerusalem, 28and who inclined the king and his counselors and the king’s military officers to be favorably disposed toward me. For my part, thanks to the care of the LORD for me, I summoned up courage and assembled leading men in Israel to go with me.
8 These are the chiefs of the clans and the register of the genealogy of those who came up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes: 2Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush. 3Of the sons of Shecaniah: of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; through him the genealogy of 150 males was registered. 4Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, of the sons of Pahath-moab, and with him 200 males. 5Of the sons of Shecaniah son of Jahaziel; and with him 300 males. 6And of the sons of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan; and with him 50 males. 7And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah; and with him 70 males. 8And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael; and with him 80 males. 9Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel; and with him 218 males. 10And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him 160 males. 11And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai; and with him 28 males. 12And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan; and with him 110 males. 13And of the sons of Adonikam, who were the last; and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah; and with them 60 males. 14And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur; and with them 70 males.

15These I assembled by the river that enters Ahava, and we encamped there for three days. I reviewed the people and the priests, but I did not find any Levites there. 16I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, the leading men, and also for Joiarib and Elnathan, the instructors, 17and I gave them an order for Iddo, the leader at the place [called] Casiphia. I gave them a message to convey to Iddo [and] his brother, temple-servants at the place [called] Casiphia, that they should bring us attendants for the House of our God. 18Thanks to the benevolent care of our God for us, they brought us a capable man of the family of Mahli son of Levi son of Israel, and Sherebiah and his sons and brothers, 18 in all, 19and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the family of Merari, his brothers and their sons, 20 in all; 20and of the temple servants whom David and the officers had appointed for the service of the Levites—220 temple servants, all of them listed by name.

21I proclaimed a fast there by the Ahava River to afflict ourselves before our God to beseech Him for a smooth journey for us and for our children and for all our possessions; 22for I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us against any enemy on the way, since we had told the king, “The benevolent care of our God is for all who seek Him, while His fierce anger is against all who forsake Him.” 23So we fasted and besought our God for this, and He responded to our plea. 24Then I selected twelve of the chiefs of the priests, namely Sherebiah and Hashabiah with ten of their brothers, 25and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels, the contribution to the House of our God which the king, his counselors and officers, and all Israel who were present had made. 26I entrusted to their safekeeping the weight of six hundred and fifty talents of silver, one hundred silver vessels of one talent each, one hundred talents of gold; 27also, twenty gold bowls worth one thousand darics and two vessels of good, shining bronze, as precious as gold. 28I said to them, “You are consecrated to the LORD, and the vessels are consecrated, and the silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD God of your fathers. 29Guard them diligently until such time as you weigh them out in the presence of the officers of the priests and the Levites and the officers of the clans of Israel in Jerusalem in the chambers of the House of the LORD.”
30So the priests and the Levites received the cargo of silver and gold and vessels by weight, to bring them to Jerusalem to the House of our God. 31We set out for Jerusalem from the Ahava River on the twelfth of the first month. We enjoyed the care of our God, who saved us from enemy ambush on the journey.

32We arrived in Jerusalem and stayed there three days. 33On the fourth day the silver, gold, and vessels were weighed out in the House of our God into the keeping of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest, with whom was Eleazar son of Phinehas. Jozabad son of Jeshua, and Noadiah son of Binnui, the Levites, were with them. 34Everything accorded as to number and weight, the entire cargo being recorded at that time.

35The returning exiles who arrived from captivity made burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs and twelve he-goats as a purification offering, all this a burnt offering to the LORD. 36They handed the royal orders to the king’s satraps and the governors of the province of Beyond the River who gave support to the people and the House of God.

9 When this was over, the officers approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the land whose abhorrent practices are like those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2They have taken their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed has become intermingled with the peoples of the land; and it is the officers and prefects who have taken the lead in this trespass.”

3When I heard this, I rent my garment and robe, I tore hair out of my head and beard, and I sat desolate. 4Around me gathered all who were concerned over the words of the God of Israel because of the returning exiles’ trespass, while I sat desolate until the evening offering. 5At the time of the evening offering I ended my self-affliction; still in my torn garment and robe, I got down on my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God, 6and said, “O my God, I am too ashamed and mortified to lift my face to You, O my God, for our iniquities a-are overwhelming-a and our guilt has grown high as heaven. 7From the time of our fathers to this very day we have been deep in guilt. Because of our iniquities, we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to foreign kings, to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, and to humiliation, as is now the case.

8“But now, for a short while, there has been a reprieve from the LORD our God, who has granted us a surviving remnant and given us a stake in His holy place; our God has restored the