1And after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, 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 chief priest, 6this Ezra went up from Babylon. And he [was] a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given. And the king granted him all he asked, according to the hand of the LORD his God on him. 7And there went up [some] of the sons of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the temple slaves, to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. 8And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king. 9For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon, and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God on him. 10For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do [it], and to teach statutes and judgments in Israel. 11And this [is] the copy of the letter which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of His statutes to Israel. 12Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of Heaven, perfect [peace], and now: 13From me was made a decree that everyone of the people of Israel, and their priests and Levites in my kingdom, who desire of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem, go with you; 14since you have been sent by the king, and by his seven counselors to ask about Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God in your hand; 15and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose house [is] in Jerusalem, 16and all the silver and gold which you can find in all the province of Babylon, with the free will offering of the people and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God in Jerusalem. 17Before all of this, you shall diligently buy with this money, bulls, rams, lambs, with their food offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. 18And whatever shall seem good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do that after the will of your God. 19Also the vessels which are given you for the service of the house of your God, deliver them before the God of Jerusalem. 20And whatever more shall be needful for the house of God, which you shall have need to give, give [it] out of the king's treasure house. 21And I, Artaxerxes the king, 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, it shall be done exactly, 22to a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without saying. 23Whatever is commanded by the God of Heaven, let it be carefully done for the house of the God of Heaven for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? 24Also, we notify you, that in regard to any of the priests and the Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple slaves, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, taxes, or custom on them. 25And now, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God that [is] in your hand, set officers and judges who may judge all the people who [are] Beyond the River, all who know the laws of your God; and teach them who do not know. 26And whoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily on him, whether [it is] to death, or to exile, or to confiscation of goods, or imprisonment. 27Blessed [be] the LORD God of our fathers, who has put this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, 28and has extended mercy before the king and his counselors and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was made strong as the hand of the LORD my God [was] on me, and I gathered out of Israel chief men to go up with me.