Esdras 7

¹ Now after these things, in the reign ofThe Hebrews write that many of the kings of Persia were called by this name, as Pharaoh was a common name to the kings of Egypt and Caesar to the Romans emperors.Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

² The sonne of Shallum, the sonne of Zadok, the sonne of Ahitub,

³ The sonne of Amariah, the sonne of Azariah, the sonne of Meraioth,

⁴ The sonne of Zeraiah, the sonne of Vzzi, the sonne of Bukki,

⁵ The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son ofEzra traces his family till he comes to Aaron, to prove that he came from him.Aaron the chief priest:

⁶ This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he [was] a readyHe shows here what a scribe is, who had charge to write the law and to expound it. Whom Mark calls a scribe, (Mar_12:28), Matthew and Luke called a lawyer or doctor of the law, (Mat_22:35; Luk_10:25).scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.

⁷ And there went vp certaine of the children of Israel, and of the Priests, and the Leuites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims vnto Ierusalem, in the seuenth yere of King Artahshashte.

⁸ And he came to Jerusalem in theThat contained part of July and part of August.fifth month, which [was] in the seventh yearOf king Darius.of the king.

⁹ For vpon the first day of the first moneth began he to goe vp from Babel, and on the first day of the fift moneth came he to Ierusalem, according to the good hande of his God that was vpon him.

¹⁰ For Ezra had prepared his heart to seeke the Lawe of the Lord, and to doe it, and to teach the precepts and iudgements in Israel.

¹¹ And this is the copie of the letter that King Artahshashte gaue vnto Ezra the Priest & scribe, euen a writer of the words of the commadements of ye Lord, & of his statutes ouer Israel.

¹² Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect [peace], andSome take this for the name of a people, some for time or continuance, meaning that the king wished him long life.at such a time.

¹³ I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and [of] his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewillWho still remained in Babylon and had not returned with Zerubbabel.to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.

¹⁴ Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, toTo examine who lived according to the law.enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which [is] inOf which you are an expert.thine hand;

¹⁵ And to carry the siluer and the gold, which the King & his cousellers willingly offer vnto the God of Israel (whose habitation is in Ierusalem)

¹⁶ And all the siluer and gold that thou canst finde in all the prouince of Babel, with the free offring of the people, and that which the Priestes offer willingly to the house of their God which is in Ierusalem,

¹⁷ That thou mayest bye speedily with this siluer, bullocks, rammes, lambes, with their meate offrings and their drinke offrings: and thou shalt offer them vpon the altar of the house of your God, which is in Ierusalem.

¹⁸ And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of yourAs you know best may serve to God's glory.God.

¹⁹ And the vessels that are giuen thee for the seruice of the house of thy God, those deliuer thou before God in Ierusalem.

²⁰ And the residue that shall be needeful for the house of thy God, which shall be meete for thee to bestowe, thou shalt bestowe it out of the Kings treasure house,

²¹ And I, [even] I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which [are] beyondWhich was the Euphrates river and they were beyond it in respect to Babylon.the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,

²² Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundredRead (1Ki_7:26; 2Ch_2:10).baths of oil, and salt without prescribing [how much].

²³ Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrathThis declares that the fear of God's judgment causes him to use this liberality, and not the love that he bore for God's glory or affection for his people.against the realm of the king and his sons?

²⁴ And we certifie you, that vpon any of the Priestes, Leuites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or Ministers in this house of God, there shall no gouernour laye vpon them tolle, tribute nor custome.

²⁵ And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that [is] in thine hand,He gave Ezra full authority to restore all things according to the word of God, and to punish them who resisted and would not obey.set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that [are] beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know [them] not.

²⁶ And whosoeuer will not doe the Lawe of thy God, and the Kings lawe, let him haue iudgement without delay, whether it be vnto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

²⁷ Thus Ezra gave thanks to God for giving him success in his business with the king.Blessed [be] the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put [such a thing] as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which [is] in Jerusalem:

²⁸ And hath enclined mercy toward me, before the King and his counsellers, and before all the Kings mightie Princes: and I was comforted by the hand of the Lord my God which was vpon me, and I gathered the chiefe of Israel to goe vp with me.