16 And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the
captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,
17 And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams,
four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the
number of the tribes of Israel.
18 And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service
of God, which isat Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.
19 And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth dayof the first
month.
20 For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them werepure, and killed the
passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for
themselves.
21 And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had
separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD
God of Israel, did eat,
22 And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them
joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the
work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
1 Now after these things, in 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 wasa ready 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 up someof the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the
singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes
the king.
8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which wasin the seventh year of the king.
9 For upon the first dayof the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day
of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.
10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in
Israel statutes and judgments.
11 Now this isthe copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the
scribe, evena scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to
Israel.
12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven,
perfect peace, and at such a time.
13 I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and ofhis priests and Levites, in my
realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.
14 Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning
Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which isin thine hand;
15 And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto
the God of Israel, whose habitation isin Jerusalem,
16 And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the
freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God
which isin Jerusalem:

17 That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat
offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which
isin Jerusalem.
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 your God.
19 The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, thosedeliver
thou before the God of Jerusalem.
20 And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have
occasion to bestow, bestow itout of the king's treasure house.
21 And I, evenI Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which arebeyond
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 hundred 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 wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
24 Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters,
Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or
custom, upon them.
25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that isin thine hand, set magistrates and
judges, which may judge all the people that arebeyond the river, all such as know the laws of
thy God; and teach ye them that know themnot.
26 And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be
executed speedily upon him, whether it beunto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of
goods, or to imprisonment.
27 Blessed bethe LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thingas this in the king's
heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which isin Jerusalem:
28 And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the
king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God wasupon me, and
I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.
1 These arenow the chief of their fathers, and this isthe genealogy of them that went up with
me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.
2 Of the sons of Phinehas; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David;
Hattush.
3 Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by
genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.
4 Of the sons of Pahathmoab; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.
5 Of the sons of Shechaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.
6 Of the sons also of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.
7 And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.
8 And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males.
9 Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
10 And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore
males.
11 And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males.
12 And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten
males.
13 And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names arethese, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah,
and with them threescore males.

14 Of the sons also of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.
15 And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents
three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.
16 Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for
Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and
for Elnathan, men of understanding.
17 And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told
them what they should say unto Iddo, andto his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia,
that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.
18 And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons
of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren,
eighteen;
19 And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons,
twenty;
20 Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the
Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before
our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
22 For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against
the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God isupon
all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath isagainst all them that forsake
him.
23 So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.
24 Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their
brethren with them,
25 And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, eventhe offering of the
house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel therepresent,
had offered:
26 I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an
hundred talents, andof gold an hundred talents;
27 Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious
as gold.
28 And I said unto them, Ye areholy unto the LORD; the vessels areholy also; and the silver and
the gold area freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers.
29 Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh thembefore the chief of the priests and the
Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the
LORD.
30 So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to
bring themto Jerusalem unto the house of our God.
31 Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth dayof the first month, to go unto
Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy,
and of such as lay in wait by the way.
32 And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
33 Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of
our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him wasEleazar the son
of Phinehas; and with them wasJozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui,
Levites;
34 By number andby weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.
35 Alsothe children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the