Ezra 7
7
Ezra’s Arrival
1After these events, during the reign of King Artaxerxes#Ezr 4:7; 6:14; Neh 2:1 of Persia, Ezra —
Seraiah’s#2Kg 25:18–21; Jr 52:24–27 son, Azariah’s son,
Hilkiah’s#2Kg 22:4; 23:4 son, 2Shallum’s son,
Zadok’s#1Sm 8:17; 1Kg 1:7–8; 2:35 son, Ahitub’s son,
3Amariah’s son, Azariah’s son,
Meraioth’s son, 4Zerahiah’s son,
Uzzi’s son, Bukki’s son,
5Abishua’s son, Phinehas’s son,
Eleazar’s son, the chief priest Aaron’s son#1Ch 6:3–15
6— came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses,#Ezr 7:11–12,21 which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he requested#Neh 2:4–8 because the hand of the Lord his God was on him.#Ezr 7:28; 8:22; Neh 2:8,18 7Some of the Israelites, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants#Ezr 2:1–58; Neh 7:6–60 accompanied him to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.
8Ezra#7:8 LXX, Syr, Vg read They came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, during the seventh year of the king. 9He began the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month#Ezr 8:15,21,31 and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month#Ezr 8:32 since the gracious hand of his God was on him.#Ezr 7:28; 8:18,31; Neh 2:8,18 10Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach#Neh 8:1–8 its statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Letter from Artaxerxes
11This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in matters of the Lord’s commands and statutes for Israel:#7:11 Ezr 7:12–26 is written in Aramaic.
12Artaxerxes, king of kings,#Ezk 26:7; Dn 2:37 to Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of the heavens:
Greetings.
13I issue a decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who want to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.#Ezr 1:3 14You are sent by the king and his seven counselors#Est 1:14 to evaluate Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your possession. 15You are also to bring the silver and gold the king and his counselors have willingly given to the God of Israel,#Hg 2:8 whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,#Dt 12:5–6; 2Ch 6:2 16and all the silver and gold you receive throughout the province of Babylon, together with the freewill offerings given by the people and the priests to the house of their God in Jerusalem.#Ex 3:22; Ezr 1:6 17Then you are to be diligent to buy with this money bulls, rams, and lambs, along with their grain and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar at the house of your God in Jerusalem.#Nm 15:1–14; Ezr 6:9 18You may do whatever seems best to you and your brothers with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God. 19Deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles given to you for the service of the house of your God.#Ezr 8:33 20You may use the royal treasury#7:20 Lit the king’s house to pay for anything else needed for the house of your God.#Ezr 6:4,8; 7:22–23
21I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers in the region west of the Euphrates River:#Ezr 4:10; 7:25
Whatever Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of the heavens, asks of you must be provided in full,#Ezr 6:8 22up to 7,500 pounds#7:22 Lit 100 talents of silver, 500 bushels#7:22 Lit 100 cors of wheat, 550 gallons#7:22 Lit 100 baths of wine, 550 gallons of oil, and salt without limit.#7:22 Lit without instruction 23Whatever is commanded by the God of the heavens must be done diligently for the house of the God of the heavens, so that wrath will not fall on the realm of the king and his sons.#Ezr 6:10 24Be advised that you do not have authority to impose tribute, duty, and land tax on any priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
25And you, Ezra, according to#7:25 Lit to your God’s wisdom that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the region west of the Euphrates who know the laws of your God and to teach anyone who does not know them.#Ezr 7:10; Neh 8:1–3,8 26Anyone who does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let the appropriate judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.#Ezr 6:11
27Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s mind#Ezr 6:22 to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem,#Is 60:7,13 28and who has shown favor to me before the king,#Ezr 9:9 his counselors, and all his powerful officers. So I took courage because I was strengthened by the hand of the Lord my God,#7:28 Lit because the hand of the Lord my God was on me#Ezr 7:6; 8:18 and I gathered Israelite leaders to return with me.#Ezr 8:1–14,16
Currently Selected:
Ezra 7: CSB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Ezra 7
7
1 Now after these things, during the reign of Artaxerxes, the king of the Persians, 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, priest from the beginning,
6 this same Ezra, ascended from Babylon; and he was a proficient scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God gave to Israel. And the king granted to him his every petition. For the hand of the Lord, his God, was over him.
7 And some from the sons of Israel, and from the sons of the priests, and from the sons of the Levites, and from the singing men, and from the gatekeepers, and from the temple servants ascended to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of king Artaxerxes.
8 And they arrived at Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the same seventh year of the king.
9 For on the first day of the first month, he began to ascend from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month, he arrived at Jerusalem. For the good hand of his God was over him.
10 For Ezra prepared his heart, so that he might search the law of the Lord, and so that he might keep and teach precept and judgment in Israel.
11 Now this is a copy of the letter of the edict, which king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra, the priest, a scribe well-taught in the words and precepts of the Lord and in his ceremonies in Israel:
12 "Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra, the priest, a very learned scribe of the law of the God of heaven: a greeting.
13 It has been decreed by me, that whosoever wishes, among the people of Israel and their priests and Levites within my kingdom, to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.
14 For you have been sent from the face of the king and his seven counselors, so that you may visit Judea and Jerusalem by the law of your God, which is in your hand,
15 and so that you may carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose tabernacle is in Jerusalem.
16 And all the silver and gold, as much as you will find in the entire province of Babylon, and which the people will wish to offer, and which some of the priests will offer freely to the house of their God, which is in Jerusalem,
17 accept it freely. And with this money, carefully purchase calves, rams, lambs, and their sacrifices and libations, and offer these upon the altar of the temple of your God, which is in Jerusalem.
18 But also, whatever it will please you and your brothers to do with the remainder of the silver and gold, do so in accord with the will of your God.
19 Likewise, the vessels that have been given to you for the ministry of the house of your God, deliver these to the sight of God in Jerusalem.
20 Then, whatever more will be needed for the house of your God, as much as is necessary for you to spend, it shall be given from the treasury, and from the king's finances,
21 and by me. I, king Artaxerxes, have appointed and decreed to all the keepers of the public treasury, those who are beyond the river, that whatever Ezra, the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall ask of you, you shall provide it without delay,
22 even up 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 truly salt without measure.
23 All that pertains to the rite of the God of heaven, let it be distributed scrupulously to the house of the God of heaven, lest perhaps he may become angry against the kingdom of the king and his sons.
24 Likewise, we would make known to you, about all the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the temple servants, and the ministers of the house of this God, that you have no authority to impose tax, or tribute, or duty upon them.
25 But as for you, Ezra, in accord with the wisdom of your God, which is in your hand, appoint judges and magistrates, so that they may judge the entire people, which is beyond the river, especially so that they may know the law of your God, but also so as to teach the ignorant freely.
26 And any one who will not diligently keep the law of your God, and the law of the king, judgment shall be upon him, either to death, or to exile, or to the confiscation of his goods, or certainly to prison."
27 Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who has put this into the heart of the king, so that he may glorify the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem.
28 For he has turned his mercy toward me in the sight of the king, and his counselors, and all the powerful leaders of the king. And so, having been strengthened by the hand of the Lord, my God, which was upon me, I gathered together some of the leaders of Israel, those who were to go up with me.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in