Translation:Ezra

For other English-language translations of this work, see Ezra (Bible).

Chapter 1

¹In the 1st year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfil the word of Yahweh spoken by Jeremiah, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and put it in writing saying:

²"Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia:

" 'Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a house in Jerusalem which is in Judah. ³Anyone from all his people among you—may his God be with him—let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴Let every survivor, wherever he lives, be helped by the people there with silver, gold, goods and livestock, as well as voluntary offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.' "

⁵Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites—all those whose spirit God had stirred—arose to go up and build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem. ⁶All their neighbours strengthened their hands with silver vessels, gold, goods, livestock and valuables as well as the voluntary offerings.

⁷Also King Cyrus brought out the vessels of the house of Yahweh which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. ⁸Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by Mithredath the treasurer who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

⁹This is their number: 30 gold basins, 1000 silver basins, 29 silver utensils, ¹⁰30 gold bowls, 410 other silver bowls, and 1000 other vessels.

¹¹All the articles of gold and silver totalled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Chapter 2

¹Now these are the people who were going up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken away to Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own city. ²They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the men of the Israelites were:

³The sons of Parosh, 2,172;

⁴The sons of Shefatiah, 372;

⁵The sons of Arah, 775;

⁶The sons of Pahath-Moab (thru the sons of Jeshua and Joab), 2,812;

⁷The sons of Elam, 1,254;

⁸The sons of Zattu, 945;

⁹the sons of Zaccai, 760;

¹⁰the sons of Bani, 642;

¹¹the sons of Bebai, 623;

¹²the sons of Azgad, 1,222;

¹³the sons of Adonikam, 666;

¹⁴the sons of Bigvai, 2,056;

¹⁵the sons of Adin, 454;

¹⁶the sons of Ater (thru Hezekiah), 98;

¹⁷the sons of Bezai, 323;

¹⁸the sons of Jorah, 112;

¹⁹the sons of Hashum, 223;

²⁰the sons of Gibbar, 95;

²¹the men of Bethlehem, 123;

²²the men of Netofah, 56;

²³the men of Anathoth, 128;

²⁴the men of the house of Azmaveth, 42;

²⁵the men of Kiriath Jearim, Kefirah and Beeroth, 743;

²⁶the men of Ramah and Geba, 621;

²⁷the men of Micmash, 122;

²⁸the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;

²⁹the sons of Nebo, 52;

³⁰the sons of Magbish, 156;

³¹the sons of the other Elam, 1,254;

³²the sons of Harim, 320;

³³the men of Lod, Hadid and Ono, 725;

³⁴the men of Jericho, 345;

³⁵the sons of Senaah, 3,630.

³⁶The priests:

the sons of Jedaiah (thru the house of Jeshua), 973;

³⁷the sons of Immer, 1,052;

³⁸the sons of Pashhur, 1,247;

³⁹the sons of Harim, 1,017.

⁴⁰The Levites:

the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel (thru the sons of Hodaviah), 74

⁴¹The singers:

the sons of Asaf, 128.

⁴²The sons of the gatekeepers:

the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, 139.

⁴³The temple servants:

the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasufa, the sons of Tabbaoth, ⁴⁴the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, ⁴⁵the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, ⁴⁶the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shalmai, the sons of Hanan, ⁴⁷the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, ⁴⁸the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, ⁴⁹the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, ⁵⁰the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nefisim, ⁵¹the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakufa, the sons of Harhur, ⁵²the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, ⁵³the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, ⁵⁴the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatifa.

⁵⁵The sons of Solomon's servants:

the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassofereth, the sons of Peruda, ⁵⁶the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, ⁵⁷the sons of Shefatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Ami.

⁵⁸All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants, 392.

⁵⁹Now these are the ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha,Kerub, Addon and Immer; however they were unable to show whether their fathers’ houses and their descendants were from Israel:

⁶⁰the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 652.

⁶¹From the priests:

the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and he was called by their name). ⁶²Their records were searched for among the genealogical records, but were not found; so they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood. ⁶³The governor told them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁴The entire group numbered 42,360, ⁶⁵besides their male and female servants who numbered 7,337. They also had 200 male and female singers, ⁶⁶736 horses, 245 mules, ⁶⁷435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.

⁶⁸When they arrived at the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the fathers’ households offered voluntary offerings for the house of God in order to rebuild it on its site. ⁶⁹According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 gold drachmas 5,000 silver minas and 100 priestly garments.

⁷⁰The priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants lived in their cities; and the rest of Israel in their cities.

Chapter 3

¹When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites were in their cities, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. ²Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues commensed building the altar of the God of Israel in order to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. ³They set up the altar on its foundations, even though they feared the local people; and they sacrificed burnt offerings to Yahweh, both in the morning and the evening. ⁴And in accordance with what is written they observed the Festival of Booths and offered the required number of daily burnt offerings;as the duty of every day required. ⁵After that they offered the regular burnt offerings, those for the new moons, those for Yahweh’s holy festivals and all those that were brought as voluntary offerring to Yahweh. ⁶From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh, however the foundation of Yahweh’s temple had not been laid.

⁷Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters; and food, drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre so that they would bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, in accordance to the edict of Cyrus king of Persia. ⁸In the second year after they had come to the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month; Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers—the priests, the Levites and all those who came from the exile to Jerusalem—began the work. They appointed Levites who were 20 years and older to supervise the work on the house of Yahweh. ⁹Jeshua appointed his sons and brothers, Kadmiel and his sons (sons of Judah), and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers, the Levites, to supervise the workers in the house of God. ¹⁰When the builders laid the foundation of Yahweh’s temple, the priests in their robes with their trumpets, and the Levites (sons of Asaf) with their cymbals stood to praise Yahweh according to the instructions of David king of Israel. ¹¹Praising and glorifying Yahweh they sang:

"For he is good;

His loving kindness toward Israel is forever."

All the people gave a great shout as they praised Yahweh because the foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid. ¹²Many of the priests, Levites and family heads—the older men who had seen the former temple—wept loudly when they saw the foundation being laid; and many others shouted for joy. ¹³The people were unable to distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping because the people were shouting so loudly, and the sound was heard far away.

Chapter 4

¹When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for Yahweh the God of Israel ²they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ households and said to them, "Let us help you build for we, like you, seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here." ³But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel said to them, "You have no part with with us in building a house to our God. We will build it ourselves to Yahweh God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, king of Persia has commanded us."

⁴Then the local people began to discourage the people of Judah and dishearten them from building. ⁵They hired advisors to oppose them and frustrate their plans throughout all the days of Cyrus king of Persia until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁶During the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated.

Aramaic.^[1]

⁸Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:

⁹Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe, and the the rest of their associates: the judges, the rulers, the secretaries, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa—that is the Elamites, ¹⁰and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Esarhaddon deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere beyond the River.

¹¹This is a copy of the letter they sent to him.

To Artaxerxes the king. From your servants, men beyond the River. ¹²May the king be aware that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are completing its walls and repairing its foundations. ¹³May the king also be aware that if this city is built and the walls are completed then they will no longer pay tribute, tax or custom and the treasury of the kings will suffer. ¹⁴Since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not fit for us to see the king’s dishonour, we are sending this information to the king ¹⁵so that a search can be made in the records of your fathers. You will discover in those records that this city is a rebellious city, injurious to both kings and provinces, inciting revolt since ancient times. This is the reason the city was destroyed. ¹⁶We are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will be left with nothing beyond the River.

¹⁷The king sent a response:

To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and elsewhere beyond the River.

Greetings. ¹⁸The letter you sent to us has been translated and read in my presence. ¹⁹I issued a decree, a search was made and it was discovered that this city has revolted against kings since ancient times and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. ²⁰Powerful kings have ruled over Jerusalem and provinces beyond the River. Tribute, taxes and custom were paid to them. ²¹Now issue a decree that these men are to stop working and this city is not to be rebuilt until I issue a decree. ²²Be careful not to neglect this matter, why should danger increase to the detriment of the king?

²³As soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went quickly to the Jews in Jerusalem and stopped them with threat of armed force.

²⁴So the work on the house of God stopped. It remained halted until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Chapter 5

¹ And the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Yehud and in Jerusalem in the name of the god of Israel.

² Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God, which is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, helping them.

³ At that time Tattenai, governor of Beyond-the-River, and Shethar Boznai came with their colleagued, and said this to them: Who gave you the order to build this house, and to finish this establishment?^[2]

⁴ Then we said to them as follows: What are the names of those who are building this building? ⁵ And the eye of God was upon the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them, until the issue should be referred to Darius, and then they would send back a decision concerning this.

⁶ A copy of the letter which Tattenai governor of Beyond-the-River and Shethar Boznai, and his colleagues the Apharsachites who were in Beyond-the-River sent to Darius the king. ⁷ They sent a message to him, and this was written in it:

To Darius the king, all peace.

⁸ Let it be known to the king that we went to Yehud Medinata, to the house of the great god, which is built of hewn stones, and timber is being laid in the walls. And the work is being carried out diligently, and is succeeding their hand.

⁹ Then we asked those elders, and said thus to them, Who gave you the order to build this house and finish this establishment? ¹⁰ And we also asked them their names, to inform you, to write down the names of the men who were leading them.

¹¹ And they replied to us thusly, saying, We are the servants of the god of sky and land, and we are building the house that was build in years long past, which a great king of Israel built and finished. ¹² But because our fathers offended the god of the sky, he delivered them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon of the Kassites, and he destroyed this house, and exiled the people to Babylon.

¹³ But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king gave the command to build this house of God. ¹⁴ And also the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had removed from the temple in Jerusalem, and brought to the temple in Babylon, Cyrus took them out of the temple in Babylon, and gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he made governor. ¹⁵ And he said to him, Take these vessels. Go put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the temple of God be built in its place.

¹⁶ Then then this Seshbazzar went and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem, and since then to the present the building has been going on, but is not finished. ¹⁷ And now, if it pleases the king, let there be a search of the king's storehouse, there in Babylon, to see whether there Cyrus the king decreed for this house of God to be built in Jerusalem. And may the king send us his ruling on this matter.

Chapter 6

¹ Then Darius the king sent a decree, and they searched in the archive building where the treasures were stored in Babylon. ² At there was found in Achmetha, in the fortress of the province of Media, a certain scroll, and this was written in the record.

³ In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree:

As for the house of God in Jerusalem, let the house be built, the place where they offer sacrifices, ve-ashohi mesovlin:^[3] its height sixty cubits, its breadth sixty cubits; ⁴ three layers of hewn stone, a layer of new timber, and expenses paid from the royal house. ⁵ And also, the vessels of the house of God, of gold and silver, which Nebuchadnezzar removed from the temple in Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, let them be returned, and brought to the temple in Jerusalem, to that place, and deposit them in the house of God.

⁶ Therefore, Tattenai, governor of Beyond-the-River; Shethar Boznai; and their companions the Apharsachites who are in Beyond-the-River, stay far away from there. ⁷ Leave alone the work of this house of god alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of god in its place. ⁸ Moreover, I order what you are to do for these elders of the Jews for building this house of God; that of the king's property, that is, the taxation of Beyond-the-River, expenses must be paid out diligently for these men, so that they are not hindered. ⁹ And what they need: young bullocks, and rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the god of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil as the priests who are in Jerusalem direct, are to be given them daily without fail; ¹⁰ so that they cannot offer a sweet scent to the god of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹ Moreover, I order that whatever man should violate this decree, let a beam be pulled from his house, and let him be impaled on it, and let his house become a dunghill for this. ¹² And may the god who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who reach out their hand to violate it, to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, make this decree. Let it be carried out diligently.

¹³ Then Tattenai, governor of Beyond-the-River; Shethar Boznai; and their colleagues, because of Darius the king's message, obeyed it diligently. ¹⁴ And the elders of the Jews continued building successfully in accord with the prophecies of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo, and they built and finished it, as the god of Israel commanded, and as decreed by Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia. ¹⁵ And this house was finished on third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

¹⁶ And the Israelites, the priests, and the Levites, and the remnant of the sons of the captivity, observed the dedication of this house of God with joy. ¹⁷ And they offered for the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred rams, and for a sin offering on behalf of all Israel twelve he-goats, according to the number of the sons of Israel. ¹⁸ And the priests arose by their divisions, and the Levites by their courses,

¹⁹ And the sons of the exile kept the passover on the fourteenth of the first month, for the service of God, which is in Jerusalem, as written in the law of Moses.

²⁰ because the priests and the Levites were purifed together. All of them were pure, and slaughtered the passover for all the sons of the exile, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. ²¹ And the Israelites, who had returned from the exile, and all who had separated themselves with them from all the impurity of the people of the land, to seek Yahweh, the god of Israel, ate. ²² And they kept the festival of unleavened bread seven days with rejoicing, because Yahweh made them rejoice, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the god of Israel.

Chapter 7

¹ And after these things, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah son of Azariah son of Hilkiah ² son of Shallum son of Zadok son of Ahitub ³ son of Amariah son of Azariah son of Meraioth ⁴ son of Zerahiah son of Uzzi son of Bukki ⁵ son of Abishua son of Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the high priest —

⁶ This Ezra went up from Babylon. Now, he was a skillful scribe in the law of Moses, which Yahweh, God of Israel, had given. The king gave him everything he requested, according to the hand of Yahweh his god upon him. ⁷ Then some of the Israelites went up, and some of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. ⁸ He arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. ⁹ It was on the first [day] of the first month that he departed from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived in Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his god upon him, ¹⁰ because Ezra had made up his mind to search the law of Yahweh and to practice it, and to teach the statute and custom in Israel.

¹¹ And this is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commandments of Yahweh, and his statutes concerning Israel. ¹²"Artaxerxes king of kings to Ezra priest scribe learned in the laws of God of Heaven, greeting. ¹³A decree is from me, that whoever it pleases in my realm of the people of Israel, and of their priests, and of the Levites, to go in Jerusalem, he will go with you. ¹⁴From the face of the king, and his seven councilors, you are sent, to supervise Judea and Jerusalem in the law of your God: it is in your hands: ¹⁵and to bear silver and gold that the king, and his councilors, freely gave to the God of Israel, whose tabernacle is in Jerusalem.

¹⁶And all the silver and gold, whatever you find in all the Babylonian provinces, and the people's voluntary offerings, and of priests that freely give to the house of their God, that is in Jerusalem, ¹⁷freely take, and diligently buy with that money bull calves, rams, lambs, and sacrifices, and their offerings, and offer them on the altar of the temple of your God, that is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸But also if any thing pleases you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, do it according to the will of your God. ¹⁹The vessels also, that are given in the ministry of the house of your God, take in the sight of God in Jerusalem. ²⁰But the rest, that is needed in the house of your God, how much is necessary to spend, take it from the treasury, and from the royal money,

²¹and from me. I Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the keepers of the public treasury, that are across the river, that whatever you ask, Ezra priest, scribe of the law of God of heaven, give you without delay, ²²up to a hundred talents of silver, and up to a hundred cors of grain, and up to a hundred demijohns^[4] of wine, and up to a hundred demijons^[4] of oil, salt truly without measure.^{[5] 23}All that is relevant to the rite of God of heaven, let it be given diligently to the house of God of heaven, lest at any time he becomes irate with the realm of the king and of his sons. ²⁴To you also we make known about all the priests, and Levites, and singers, and gatekeepers, Nathinites, and ministers of the house of God, to impose tax, and tribute, and provisions, it is not lawful to impose upon them the power of these. ²⁵You however Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God, that is in your hand, establish judges and governors to judge all the people, that is across the river all such as that know the laws of your God, [and the law of the king;]^[6] but also freely teach the ignorant.

²⁶And all that do not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, diligently, judgement will be on him or to death, or to exile, or to confiscation of his goods, or certainly incarceration." ²⁷[And Ezra, scribe, said,]^[7] "Blessed the Lord God of our fathers, that gave this in the heart of you king to glorify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, ²⁸and in me has inclined his mercy before the king and his counselors, and all the powerful officials of the king: and I comforted by the hand of the Lord my God, that was in me, I gathered of [the sons of]^[8] Israel captains, that go up with me."

Chapter 8

¹ Now these are the heads of the ancestral houses, and the genealogy of those who went up with me from during the reign of Artaxerxes the king from Babylon.

² Of the bnei^[9] Phinehas, Gershom; of the bnei Ithamar, Daniel; of the bnei David, Hattush; ³ of the bnei Shechaniah; of the bnei Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were reckoned by genealogy, of males, 150. ⁴ Of the bnei Pahath Moab, Elioenai ben Zerahiah, and with him 200 males. ⁵ Of the bnei Shechaniah, ben Jahaziel, and with him 300 males. ⁶ Of the bnei Adin, Ebed ben Jonathan, and with him 50 males. ⁷ Of the bnei Elam, Jeshaiah ben Athaliah, and with him 70 males. ⁸ Of the bnei Shephatiah, Zebadiah ben Michael, and with him 80 males. ⁹ Of the bnei Joab, Obadiah ben Jehiel, and with him 218 males. ¹⁰ Of the bnei Shelomith, ben Josiphiah, and with him 160 males. ¹¹ Of the bnei Bebai, Zechariah ben Bebai, and with him 28 males. ¹² Of the bnei Azgad, Johanan ben Hakkatan, and with him 110 males. ¹³ Of the last bnei Adonikam, the last ones,^[10] whose names are these: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 males. ¹⁴ Of the bnei Bigvai, Uttai and Zabbud, and with them 70 males.

¹⁵ I assembled them at the river which runs to Ahava, and there we stayed in tents three days. And I examined the people and the priests, and found that there were no Levites. ¹⁶ So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, intelligent men. ¹⁷ I sent them to Iddo the leader at the place [called] Casiphia, and I instructed them what to say to Iddo [and] his relatives the Nethinim, and the place [called] Casiphia, to bring us ministers for the house of our god. ¹⁸ And they brought to us, with the good hand of our god upon us, a skillful man, one of the descendants of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and relatives, 18; ¹⁹ and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah from among the descendants of Merari, 20; ²⁰ and from among the Nethinim, who David and the nobles of Israel had appointed to serve the Levites, 220 Nethinim. All of them were registered by name.

²¹ Then I proclaimed a fast there, by the river Ahava, to humble ourselves before our god, to seek of him a right path for us, and for all our little ones, and for all our property. ²² For I was ashamed to request of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy along the way, because we had said to the king, "The hand of our god is upon all who seek him, for their benefit, but his power and his wrath are upon all who abandon him." ²³ So we fasted and sought our god for this, and he answered our prayer.

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the chief priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their relatives along with them. ²⁵ I weighed out silver for them, and gold, and implements as an offering for the house of our god, which were offered by the king, and his advisers, and his officers, and all of Israel who were present. ²⁶ I weighed into their hand 650 talents of silver, and 100 talents of silver implements, [and] 100 talents of gold, ²⁷ and twenty cups of gold weighing a thousand drachmas, and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold. ²⁸ And I said to them, "You are consecrated to Yahweh, and the implements are consecrated, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh the god of your ancestors. ²⁹ Pay close attention and guard them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of the ancestral families of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Yahweh. ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites took the weight of the silver and the gold and the implements, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our god.

³¹ Then we left from the river Ahava on the twelfth [day] of the first month to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our god was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and from bandits along the way. ³² Then we arrived in Jerusalem and stayed there three days.

³³ Now on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the implements were weighed in the house of our god by Meramoth ben Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar ben Phinehas, and with him were Jozabad ben Jeshua, and Noadiah ben Binnui, Levites. ³⁴ By number and by weight each of them [were weighed], and all the weight was written at that time. ³⁵ Those who came from the captivity, of the exiled people, offered burnt offerings to the god of Israel: twelve young bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve male goats for a sin-offering. All this was a burnt offering to Yahweh. ³⁶ They delivered the king's orders to the king's satraps, and to the provincial governors beyond the Euphrates, and they supported the people and the house of God.

Chapter 9

¹ And after these things, the leaders came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with their abominations, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. ² For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and the holy seed have mixed themselves with the peoples of the lands, and the hand of the leaders and officials have been first in this transgression. ³ And when I heard this thing, I tore my clothing and my tunic, and tore out some of the hair from my head and beard, and sat down appalled. ⁴ And then were assembled to me all who trembled at the words of the god of Israel, because of the transgression of the exile, and I sat appalled until the evening offering.

⁵ And at the evening offering I rose from my fasting, with my clothing and my tunic torn, and I fell on my knees. And I spread out my hands to Yahweh my god. ⁶ And I said, My god, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to you, my god, because our evils have increased over our head, and our wrongdoing has grown up to the sky. ⁷ From the days of our fathers until now we have been in great wrongdoing until this day, and for our evildoing we and our kings, our priests, have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to sword, and captivity, and plundering, and shame-facedness, as it is today. ⁸ And at this small moment, grace has been shown to us from Yahweh our god, leaving us a remnant, and giving us a tent-peg in his holy place, so that our god may enlighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving from our slavery. ⁹ For we are slaves, yet in our slavery our god has not forsaken us, but has extended mercy to us in the eyes of the kings of Persia, giving us a revival, to set up the house of our god, and to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁰ And now, our god, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, ¹¹ which you commanded by the hand of your servants the prophets, saying, The land which you are going to occupy is an unclean land, by the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end with their impurity. ¹² Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters for your sons, and do not seek their peace or their well-being forever, so that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever. ¹³ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great wrongdoing, although our god has refrainded to punishing us as much as we deserve, and has given us a deliverance like this; ¹⁴ should we again break your commandments and intermarry with the people of these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you have finished us, so that there are not to remain or escape? ¹⁵ Yahweh, god of Israel, you are righteous, because we remain, surviving as at this day. Here we are before you in our trespass, because we cannot stand before you because of this.

Chapter 10

¹ And when Ezra had prayed, and confessed, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, some of Israel assembled before him, an immense assembly of men and women and children, as the people wept with great weeping. ² And Shechaniah son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam,^[11] replied and said to Ezra, We have transgressed against our god, and taken foreign wives from the peoples of the land. Yet there is still hope for Israel concerning this. ³ Now let us make a covenant with our god to send away all the wives, and their children, according to the counsel of My Lord, and of those who tremble at the commandment of our god, and let it be done according to the torah. ⁴ Arise, for you must do this thing. We will also be with you. Be courageous and do it.

⁵ And Ezra arose, and enjoined the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel to do as he said. And they swore. ⁶ And Ezra arose from before the house of God, and went to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, and arrived there. He ate no food and drank no water, because he was mourning over the transgression of the exiles.

⁷ And they made a proclamation among Judah and Jerusalem to all the sons of the exile, to gather together at Jerusalem, ⁸ and that whoever would not come within three days as advised by the nobles and elders, would forfeit all his property to the temple, and he himself would be assembled from the assembly of exiles.

⁹ And all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem by the third day. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day, and all the people sat in the court of the house of God, trembling because of this matter and the rains. ¹⁰ And Ezra the priest arose, and said to them, You have transgressed, and taken foreign wives, to increase the guilt of Israel. ¹¹ Therefore confess to Yahweh, the god of your father, and do his will, and separate from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign wives.

¹² And all the assembly replied and said with a loud voice, We must do as you have said. ¹³ But the people are many, and it is a time of rains, and we do not have the strength to stand outside, and this is not the work of just a day or two, because there are many of us who have committed this wrong. ¹⁴ Please, let the leaders of all the assembly stand, and let all those in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders of the city, and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our god over this matter is turned away from us. ¹⁵ Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah stood over this matter, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite assisted them.^[12]

¹⁶ And the sons of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest [and] the paternal heads of the paternal houses, and all of them by name, were set apart, and sat down on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter. ¹⁷ And they were finished with all the men who had taken foreign wives by the one day of the first month.

¹⁸ And there were found some among the sons of the priests who had taken foreign wives, of the sons of Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brethren: Maaseiah and Eliezer and Jarib and Gedaliah. ¹⁹ And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives, and being guilty they offered a ram for their guilt.

²⁰ And of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah. ²¹ And of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah and Elijah and Shemaiah and Jehiel and Uzziah. ²² And of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

²³ And of the Levites: Jozabad and Shimei and Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

²⁴ And of the singers: Shallum and Telem and Uri.

²⁵ And of Israel, of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah and Jeziah and Malkiah and Miamin and Eleazar and Malkiah and Benaiah. ²⁶ And of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah. ²⁷ And of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza. ²⁸ And of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai. ²⁹ And of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Abadiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth.^{[13] 30} And of the sons of Pahath Moab: Adna, and Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh. ³¹ And the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Ishiah, Malkiah, Shemaiah, Simeon, ³² Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah. ³³ Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattathah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei. ³⁴ Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel, ³⁵ Benaiah, Bedaiah, Chelluhai,^{[14] 36} Vaniah,^[15] Meremoth,^[16] Eliashib, ³⁷ Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu,^{[17] 38} and Bani, and Binnui,^[18] Shimei,^{[19] 39} and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah, ⁴⁰ Maknadbai, Shashai, Sharai,^{[20] 41} Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah, ⁴² Shallum, Amariah, Joseph. ⁴³ Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad,^[21] Zebina, Jaddai,^[22] and Joel, Benaiah.

⁴⁴ All these had taken foreign wives, and by some of these wives they had children.

Footnotes

1. The text from Ezra 4:8 to Ezra 6:18 is in Aramaic
2. (5:3) "establishment". Following a suggestion found in Batten (Ezra-Nehemiah, ICC, ad loc.). The meaning of the Aramaic term usharn is uncertain.
3. (6:3) ve-ashohi mesovlin. I am unable to make sense of this phrase. He who is able to translate, let him translate.
4. "demijohns"; the Hebrew unit is "baths", not related to the English word "bath". A standard demijon is the same size(about 8 gallons).
5. Wycliffe's translation puts the provisions in the order: silver, wine, wheat(for grain), oil, salt
6. "and the law of the king;" added from the Wycliffe translation, a witness to the state of the vulgate in the late 1300s
7. "And Ezra, scribe, said," is added from the Wycliffe Translation, a textual witness of the state of the Vulgate in the late 1300s
8. "the sons of" is added from the Wycliffe Bible, a textual witness to the state of the Vulgate in the late 1300s
9. In Hebrew, bnei literally means "sons of," but the word is used in a wider sense to refer to the descendants of a person, or even simply to members of a given group.
10. (8:13) the last ones. Hebrew, aharonim. It is unclear what the word means in this context. It is possible that something has gone wrong here in the copying of the list.
11. (10:2) Elam. Following the Qere and Septuagint. The Kethib reads Olam or Ulam.
12. (10:25). This verse has puzzled interpreters. One reading has these four persons taken a leadership role in the process of divorces. The Septuagint has it that only these four figures were on Ezra's side in this issue. Either option is puzzling -- the previous text both states that all the Israelites were on Ezra's side in this matter, and that each city's elders watched over the process.
13. (10:29) Ramoth. Following the Qere and Septuagint. The Kethib reads Jeremoth.
14. (10:35) Chelluhai. Following the Kethib. The Qere reads Chelluhu, and the Septuagint Chelia.
15. (10:36) Vaniah. Following the Masoretic Text. The Septuagint reads, Ouiechoa.
16. (10:36) Meremoth. Following the Masoretic Text. The Septuagint reads Ieramoth.
17. (10:37) Jaasu. Following the Kethib and, indirectly, the Septuagint. The Qere reads, Jaasai.
18. (10:38) and Bani, and Binnui. Following the Masoretic Text. The Septuagint, as though based on a Hebrew text missing a single letter currently found in the Masoretic text, reads, and the sons of Banoui.
19. (10:38) Shimei. Following the Masoretic Text. The Septuagint reads, and the sons of Shimei.
20. (10:40) Maknadbai, Shashai, Sharai. Following the Masoretic Text. The Septuagint reads Machnadabou, Sesi, Sarou.
21. (10:43) Zabad. Following the Masoretic Text. The Septuagint reads Sedem.
22. (10:43) Jaddai. Following the Qere and Septuagint. The Kethib reads something like Jaddo.