1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order

that the word of the Lord given by the mouth of Jeremiah might

come true, the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, was moved by

the Lord, so that he made a public statement through all his

kingdom, and put it in writing, saying,

1:2 These are the words of Cyrus, king of Persia: The Lord God

of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he

has made me responsible for building a house for him in

Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

1:3 Whoever there is among you of his people, may his God be

with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah,

and take in hand the building of the house of the Lord, the God

of Israel; he is the God who is in Jerusalem.

1:4 And whoever there may be of the rest of Israel, living in

any place, let the men of that place give him help with

offerings of silver and gold and goods and beasts, in addition

to the offering freely given for the house of God in Jerusalem.

1:5 Then the heads of families of Judah and Benjamin, with the

priests and the Levites, got ready, even all those whose

spirits were moved by God to go up and take in hand the

building of the Lord's house in Jerusalem.

1:6 And all their neighbours gave them help with offerings of

vessels of silver and gold and goods and beasts and things of

great value, in addition to what was freely offered.

1:7 And Cyrus the king got out the vessels of the house of the

Lord which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in

the house of his gods;

1:8 Even these Cyrus made Mithredath, the keeper of his wealth,

get out, and he gave them, after numbering them, to

Sheshbazzar, the ruler of Judah.

1:9 And this is the number of them: there were thirty gold

plates, a thousand silver plates, twenty-nine knives,

1:10 Thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins, and

a thousand other vessels.

1:11 There were five thousand, four hundred gold and silver

vessels. All these were taken back by Sheshbazzar, when those

who had been taken prisoner went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

2:1 Now these are the people of the divisions of the kingdom,

among those who had been made prisoners by Nebuchadnezzar, king

of Babylon, and taken away to Babylon, who went back to

Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his town;

2:2 Who went with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah,

Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah, The

number of the men of the people of Israel:

2:3 The children of Parosh, two thousand, one hundred and

seventy-two.

2:4 The children of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two.

2:5 The children of Arah, seven hundred and seventy-five.

2:6 The children of Pahath-moab, of the children of Jeshua and

Joab, two thousand, eight hundred and twelve.

2:7 The children of Elam, a thousand, two hundred and

fifty-four.

2:8 The children of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five.

2:9 The children of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty.

2:10 The children of Bani, six hundred and forty-two.

2:11 The children of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-three.

2:12 The children of Azgad, a thousand, two hundred and

twenty-two.

2:13 The children of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-six.

2:14 The children of Bigvai, two thousand and fifty-six.

2:15 The children of Adin, four hundred and fifty-four.

2:16 The children of Ater, of Hezekiah, ninety-eight.

2:17 The children of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-three.

2:18 The children of Jorah, a hundred and twelve.

2:19 The children of Hashum, two hundred and twenty-three.

2:20 The children of Gibbar, ninety-five.

2:21 The children of Beth-lehem, a hundred and twenty-three.

2:22 The men of Netophah, fifty-six.

2:23 The men of Anathoth, a hundred and twenty-eight.

2:24 The children of Azmaveth, forty-two.

2:25 The children of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven

hundred and forty-three.

2:26 The children of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one.

2:27 The men of Michmas, a hundred and twenty-two.

2:28 The men of Beth-el and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three.

2:29 The children of Nebo, fifty-two.

2:30 The children of Magbish, a hundred and fifty-six.

2:31 The children of the other Elam, a thousand, two hundred and

fifty-four.

2:32 The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty.

2:33 The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and

twenty-five.

2:34 The children of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five.

2:35 The children of Senaah, three thousand, six hundred and

thirty.

2:36 The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of

Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three.

2:37 The children of Immer, a thousand and fifty-two.

2:38 The children of Pashhur, a thousand, two hundred and

forty-seven.

2:39 The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen.

2:40 The Levites: the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the

children of Hodaviah, seventy-four.

2:41 The music-makers: the children of Asaph, a hundred and

twenty-eight

2:42 The children of the door-keepers: the children of Shallum,

the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of

Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, a

hundred and thirty-nine.

2:43 The Nethinim: the children of Ziha, the children of

Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,

2:44 The children of Keros, the children of Siaha, the children

of Padon,

2:45 The children of Lebanah, the children of Hagabah, the

children of Akkub,

2:46 The children of Hagab, the children of Shamlai, the

children of Hanan,

2:47 The children of Giddel, the children of Gahar, the children

of Reaiah,

2:48 The children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda, the children

of Gazzam,

2:49 The children of Uzza, the children of Paseah, the children

of Besai,

2:50 The children of Asnah, the children of Meunim, the children

of Nephisim,

2:51 The children of Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the

children of Harhur,

2:52 The children of Bazluth, the children of Mehida, the

children of Harsha,

2:53 The children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the

children of Temah,

2:54 The children of Neziah, the children of Hatipha.

2:55 The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai,

the children of Hassophereth, the children of Peruda,

2:56 The children of Jaalah, the children of Darkon, the

children of Giddel,

2:57 The children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the

children of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the children of Ami.

2:58 All the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon's servants,

were three hundred and ninety-two.

2:59 And these were the people who went up from Tel-melah,

Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer. But having no knowledge

of their fathers' families or offspring, it was not certain

that they were Israelites;

2:60 The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the

children of Nekoda, six hundred and fifty-two.

2:61 And of the children of the priests: the children of

Habaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai, who

was married to one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite,

and took their name.

2:62 They made search for their record among the lists of

families, but their names were nowhere to be seen; so they were

looked on as unclean and no longer priests.

2:63 And the Tirshatha said that they were not to have the most

holy things for their food, till a priest came to give decision

by Urim and Thummim.

2:64 The number of all the people together was forty-two

thousand, three hundred and sixty,

2:65 As well as their men-servants and their women-servants, of

whom there were seven thousand, three hundred and thirty-seven:

and they had two hundred men and women to make music.

2:66 They had seven hundred and thirty-six horses, two hundred

and forty-five transport beasts,

2:67 Four hundred and thirty-five camels, six thousand, seven

hundred and twenty asses.

2:68 And some of the heads of families, when they came to the

house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, gave freely of their

wealth for the building up of the house of God in its place:

2:69 Every one, as he was able, gave for the work sixty-one

thousand darics of gold, five thousand pounds of silver and a

hundred priests' robes.

2:70 So the priests and the Levites and the people and the

music-makers and the door-keepers and the Nethinim, took up

their places in their towns; even all Israel in their towns.

3:1 And when the seventh month came, and the children of Israel

were in the towns, the people came together like one man to

Jerusalem.

3:2 Then Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers the

priests, and Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, with his

brothers, got up and made the altar of the God of Israel for

burned offerings as is recorded in the law of Moses, the man of

God.

3:3 They put the altar on its base; for fear was on them because

of the people of the countries: and they made burned offerings

on it to the Lord, even burned offerings morning and evening.

3:4 And they kept the feast of tents, as it is recorded, making

the regular burned offerings every day by number, as it is

ordered; for every day what was needed.

3:5 And after that, the regular burned offering and the

offerings for the new moons and all the fixed feasts of the

Lord which had been made holy, and the offering of everyone who

freely gave his offering to the Lord.

3:6 From the first day of the seventh month they made a start

with the burned offerings, but the base of the Temple of the

Lord had still not been put in its place.

3:7 And they gave money to the stoneworkers and woodworkers; and

meat and drink and oil to the people of Zidon and of Tyre, for

the transport of cedar-trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa,

as Cyrus, king of Persia, had given them authority to do.

3:8 Now in the second year of their coming into the house of God

in Jerusalem, in the second month, the work was taken in hand

by Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of

Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the

Levites, and all those who had come from the land where they

were prisoners to Jerusalem: and they made the Levites, of

twenty years old and over, responsible for overseeing the work

of the house of the Lord.

3:9 Then Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel with his

sons, the sons of Hodaviah, together took up the work of

overseeing the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad

with their sons and their brothers, the Levites.

3:10 And when the builders put in position the base of the

Temple of the Lord, the priests, dressed in their robes, took

their places with horns, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph,

with brass instruments, to give praise to the Lord in the way

ordered by David, king of Israel.

3:11 And they gave praise to the Lord, answering one another in

their songs and saying, For he is good, for his mercy to Israel

is eternal. And all the people gave a great cry of joy, when

they gave praise to the Lord, because the base of the Lord's

house was put in place.

3:12 But a number of the priests and Levites and the heads of

families, old men who had seen the first house, when the base

of this house was put down before their eyes, were overcome

with weeping; and a number were crying out with joy:

3:13 So that in the ears of the people the cry of joy was mixed

with the sound of weeping; for the cries of the people were

loud and came to the ears of those who were a long way off.

4:1 Now news came to the haters of Judah and Benjamin that the

people who had come back were building a Temple to the Lord,

the God of Israel;

4:2 Then they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of families,

and said to them, Let us take part in the building with you;

for we are servants of your God, even as you are; and we have

been making offerings to him from the days of Esar-haddon, king

of Assyria, who put us here.

4:3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of

families in Israel said to them, You have no part with us in

the building of a house for our God; we ourselves will do the

work together for the Lord, the God of Israel, as Cyrus, king

of Persia, has given us orders.

4:4 Then the people of the land made the hands of the people of

Judah feeble, troubling them with fear in their building;

4:5 And they gave payment to men who made designs against them

and kept them from effecting their purpose, all through the

time of Cyrus, king of Persia, till Darius became king.

4:6 And in the time of Ahasuerus, when he first became king,

they put on record a statement against the people of Judah and

Jerusalem.

4:7 And in the time of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel,

and the rest of his friends, sent a letter to Artaxerxes, king

of Persia, writing it in the Aramaean writing and language.

4:8 Rehum, the chief ruler, and Shimshai the scribe, sent a

letter against Jerusalem, to Artaxerxes the king;

4:9 The letter was sent by Rehum, the chief ruler, and Shimshai

the scribe and their friends; the Dinaites and the

Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the

Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites, the Dehaites,

the Elamites,

4:10 And the rest of the nations which the great and noble

Osnappar took over and put in Samaria and the rest of the

country over the river:

4:11 This is a copy of the letter which they sent to Artaxerxes

the king: Your servants living across the river send these

words:

4:12 We give news to the king that the Jews who came from you

have come to us at Jerusalem; they are building up again that

uncontrolled and evil town; the walls are complete and they are

joining up the bases.

4:13 The king may be certain that when the building of this town

and its walls is complete, they will give no tax or payment in

goods or forced payments, and in the end it will be a cause of

loss to the kings.

4:14 Now because we are responsible to the king, and it is not

right for us to see the king's honour damaged, we have sent to

give the king word of these things,

4:15 So that search may be made in the book of the records of

your fathers: and you will see in the book of the records that

this town has been uncontrolled, and a cause of trouble to

kings and countries, and that there were outbursts against

authority there in the past: for which reason the town was made

waste.

4:16 We give you word, that if the building of this town and its

walls is made complete, there will be an end of your power in

the country across the river.

4:17 Then the king sent an answer to Rehum, the chief ruler, and

Shimshai the scribe, and their friends living in Samaria, and

to the rest of those across the river, saying, Peace to you:

4:18 And now the sense of the letter which you sent to us has

been made clear to me,

4:19 And I gave orders for a search to be made, and it is

certain that in the past this town has made trouble for kings,

and that outbursts against authority have taken place there.

4:20 Further, there have been great kings in Jerusalem, ruling

over all the country across the river, to whom they gave taxes

and payments in goods and forced payments.

4:21 Give an order now, that these men are to do nothing more,

and that the building of the town is to be stopped, till I give

an order.

4:22 Be certain to do this with all care: do not let trouble be

increased to the king's damage.

4:23 Then, after reading the king's letter, Rehum and Shimshai

the scribe and their friends went quickly to Jerusalem, to the

Jews, and had them stopped by force.

4:24 So the work of the house of God at Jerusalem came to an

end; so it was stopped, till the second year of the rule of

Darius, king of Persia.

5:1 Now the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, were

preaching to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the

God of Israel.

5:2 Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son

of Jozadak, got up and made a start at building the house of

God at Jerusalem: and the prophets of God were with them,

helping them.

5:3 At the same time, Tattenai, ruler of the land across the

river, and Shethar-bozenai, and their men, came to them and

said, Who gave you orders to go on building this house and this

wall?

5:4 Then they said these words to them: What are the names of

the men who are at work on this building?

5:5 But the eye of their God was on the chiefs of the Jews, and

they did not make them give up working till the question had

been put before Darius and an answer had come by letter about

it.

5:6 This is a copy of the letter which Tattenai, the ruler of

the land across the river, and Shethar-bozenai and his friends

the Apharsachites, living across the river, sent to Darius the

king:

5:7 They sent him a letter saying, To Darius the king, all

peace:

5:8 This is to give the king word that we went into the land of

Judah, to the house of the great God, which is made of great

stones, and has its walls supported with wood, and the work is

going on with industry, and they are doing it well.

5:9 Then we said to the men responsible, who gave you authority

for the building of this house and these walls?

5:10 And we made request for their names, so that we might send

you word, and give you the names of the men at the head of

them.

5:11 And they made answer to us, saying, We are the servants of

the God of heaven and earth, and we are building the house

which was put up in times long past and was designed and made

complete by a great king of Israel.

5:12 But when the God of heaven was moved to wrath by our

fathers, he gave them up into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king

of Babylon, the Chaldaean, who sent destruction on this house

and took the people away into Babylon.

5:13 But in the first year of Cyrus, king of Babylon, Cyrus the

king gave an order for the building of this house of God;

5:14 And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which

Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple which was in Jerusalem, and

put into the house of his god in Babylon, these Cyrus the king

took from the house of his god in Babylon, and gave to one

named Sheshbazzar, whom he had made ruler;

5:15 And he said to him, Go, take these vessels, and put them in

the Temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be put up

again in its place.

5:16 Then this same Sheshbazzar came and put the house of God in

Jerusalem on its bases: and from that time till now the

building has been going on, but it is still not complete.

5:17 So now, if it seems good to the king, let search be made in

the king's store-house at Babylon, to see if it is true that an

order was given by Cyrus the king for the building of this

house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send us word of his

pleasure in connection with this business.

6:1 Then Darius the king gave an order and a search was made in

the house of the records, where the things of value were stored

up in Babylon.

6:2 And at Achmetha, in the great house of the king in the land

of Media, they came across a roll, in which this statement was

put on record:

6:3 In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made an

order: In connection with the house of God at Jerusalem, let

the house be put up, the place where they make offerings, and

let the earth for the bases be put in place; let it be sixty

cubits high and sixty cubits wide;

6:4 With three lines of great stones and one line of new wood

supports; and let the necessary money be given out of the

king's store-house;

6:5 And let the gold and silver vessels from the house of God,

which Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple at Jerusalem to

Babylon, be given back and taken again to the Temple at

Jerusalem, every one in its place, and put them in the house of

God.

6:6 So now, Tattenai, ruler of the land across the river, and

Shethar-bozenai and your people the Apharsachites across the

river, keep far from that place:

6:7 Let the work of this house of God go on; let the ruler of

the Jews and their responsible men put up this house of God in

its place.

6:8 Further, I give orders as to what you are to do for the

responsible men of the Jews in connection with the building of

this house of God: that from the king's wealth, that is, from

the taxes got together in the land over the river, the money

needed is to be given to these men readily, so that their work

may not be stopped.

6:9 And whatever they have need of, young oxen and sheep and

lambs, for burned offerings to the God of heaven, grain, salt,

wine, and oil, whatever the priests in Jerusalem say is

necessary, is to be given to them day by day regularly:

6:10 So that they may make offerings of a sweet smell to the God

of heaven, with prayers for the life of the king and of his

sons.

6:11 And I have given orders that if anyone makes any change in

this word, one of the supports is to be pulled out of his

house, and he is to be lifted up and fixed to it; and his house

is to be made waste for this;

6:12 And may the God who has made it a resting-place for his

name send destruction on all kings and peoples whose hands are

outstretched to make any change in this or to do damage to this

house of God at Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given this order,

let it be done with all care.

6:13 Then Tattenai, the ruler across the river, and

Shethar-bozenai and their people, because of the order given by

King Darius, did as he had said with all care.

6:14 And the responsible men of the Jews went on with their

building, and did well, helped by the teaching of Haggai the

prophet and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. They went on building

till it was complete, in keeping with the word of the God of

Israel, and the orders given by Cyrus, and Darius, and

Artaxerxes, king of Persia.

6:15 And the building of this house was complete on the third

day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the rule of Darius

the king.

6:16 And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites,

and the rest of those who had come back, kept the feast of the

opening of this house of God with joy.

6:17 And they gave as offerings at the opening of this house of

God a hundred oxen, two hundred sheep, four hundred lambs; and

for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, being the

number of the tribes of Israel.

6:18 And they put the priests in their divisions and the Levites

in their order, for the worship of God at Jerusalem; as it is

recorded in the book of Moses.

6:19 And the children of Israel who had come back kept the

Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

6:20 For the priests and the Levites had made themselves clean

together; they were all clean: and they put the Passover lamb

to death for all those who had come back, and for their

brothers the priests and for themselves.

6:21 And the children of Israel, who had come back, and all

those who were joined to them, after separating themselves from

the evil ways of the people of the land to become the servants

of the Lord, the God of Israel, took food together,

6:22 And kept the feast of unleavened bread for seven days with

joy: for the Lord had made them full of joy, by turning the

heart of the king of Assyria to them to give them help in the

work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

7:1 Now after these things, when Artaxerxes was king of Persia,

Ezra, the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of

Hilkiah,

7:2 The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,

7:3 The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,

7:4 The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,

7:5 The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar,

the son of Aaron the chief priest:

7:6 This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a scribe, expert

in the law of Moses which the Lord, the God of Israel, had

given: and the king, moved by the Lord his God, gave him

whatever he made request for.

7:7 And some of the children of Israel went up, with some of the

priests and the Levites and the music-makers and the

door-keepers and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh

year of Artaxerxes the king.

7:8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh

year of the king's rule.

7:9 For, starting his journey from Babylon on the first day of

the first month, he came to Jerusalem on the first day of the

fifth month, by the good help of his God.

7:10 For Ezra had given his mind to learning the law of the Lord

and doing it, and to teaching his rules and decisions in

Israel.

7:11 Now this is a copy of the letter which King Artaxerxes gave

to Ezra, the priest and the scribe, who put into writing the

words of the orders of the Lord, and of his rules for Israel:

7:12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, scribe of

the law of the God of heaven, all peace;

7:13 And now it is my order that all those of the people of

Israel, and their priests and Levites in my kingdom, who are

ready and have a desire to go to Jerusalem, are to go with you.

7:14 Because you are sent by the king and his seven wise men, to

get knowledge about Judah and Jerusalem, as you are ordered by

the law of your God which is in your hand;

7:15 And to take with you the silver and gold freely offered by

the king and his wise men to the God of Israel, whose Temple is

in Jerusalem,

7:16 As well as all the silver and gold which you get from the

land of Babylon, together with the offering of the people and

of the priests, freely given for the house of their God, which

is in Jerusalem:

7:17 So with this money get with care oxen, sheep, and lambs,

with their meal offerings and their drink offerings, to be

offered on the altar of the house of your God, which is in

Jerusalem.

7:18 And whatever seems right to you and to your brothers to do

with the rest of the silver and gold, that do, as may be

pleasing to your God.

7:19 And the vessels which have been given to you for the uses

of the house of your God, you are to give to the God of

Jerusalem.

7:20 And whatever more is needed for the house of your God, and

which you may have to give, take it from the king's

store-house.

7:21 And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, now give orders to all

keepers of the king's money across the river, that whatever

Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven,

may have need of from you, is to be done with all care,

7:22 Up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred measures of

grain, a hundred measures of wine, and a hundred measures of

oil, and salt without measure.

7:23 Whatever is ordered by the God of heaven, let it be done

completely for the house of the God of heaven; so that there

may not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons.

7:24 In addition, we make it clear to you, that it will be

against the law to put any tax or payment in goods or forced

payment on any of the priests or Levites, the music-makers,

door-keepers, Nethinim, or any servants of this house of God.

7:25 And you, Ezra, by the wisdom of your God which is in you,

are to put rulers and judges to have authority over all the

people across the river who have knowledge of the laws of your

God; and you are to give teaching to him who has no knowledge

of them.

7:26 And if anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law

of the king, take care that punishment is given to him, by

death or by driving him from his country or by taking away his

goods or by putting him in prison.

7:27 Praise be to the Lord, the God of our fathers, who has put

such a thing into the heart of the king, to make fair the house

of the Lord which is in Jerusalem;

7:28 And has given mercy to me before the king and his

government and before all the king's great captains. And I was

made strong by the hand of the Lord my God which was on me, and

I got together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

8:1 Now these are the heads of families who were listed of those

who went up with me from Babylon, when Artaxerxes was king.

8:2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar,

Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush;

8:3 Of the sons of Shecaniah; of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah;

and with him were listed a hundred and fifty males.

8:4 Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, the son of Zerahiah;

and with him two hundred males.

8:5 Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him

three hundred males.

8:6 And of the sons of Adin, Ebed, the son of Jonathan; and with

him fifty males.

8:7 And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah; the son of Athaliah; and

with him seventy males.

8:8 And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, the son of Michael;

and with him eighty males.

8:9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah, the son of Jehiel; and with

him two hundred and eighteen males.

8:10 And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and

with him a hundred and sixty males.

8:11 And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai; and

with him twenty-eight males.

8:12 And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan, the son of Hakkatan; and

with him a hundred and ten males.

8:13 And of the sons of Adonikam, the last, whose names were

Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males.

8:14 And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them

seventy males.

8:15 And I made them come together by the river flowing to

Ahava; and we were there in tents for three days: and after

viewing the people and the priests I saw that no sons of Levi

were there.

8:16 Then I sent for Eliezer and Ariel and Shemaiah and Elnathan

Jarib and Elnathan and Nathan and Zechariah and Meshullam, all

responsible men; and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise

men.

8:17 And I sent them to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia,

and gave them orders what to say to Iddo and his brothers the

Nethinim at the place Casiphia, so that they might come back to

us with men to do the work of the house of our God.

8:18 And by the help of our God they got for us Ish-sechel, one

of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and

Sherebiah with his sons and brothers, eighteen;

8:19 And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari,

his brothers and their sons, twenty;

8:20 And of the Nethinim, to whom David and the captains had

given the work of helping the Levites, two hundred and twenty

Nethinim, all of them specially named.

8:21 Then I gave orders for a time of going without food, there

by the river Ahava, so that we might make ourselves low before

our God in prayer, requesting from him a straight way for us

and for our little ones and for all our substance.

8:22 For I would not, for shame, make request to the king for a

band of armed men and horsemen to give us help against those

who might make attacks on us on the way: for we had said to the

king, The hand of our God is on his servants for good, but his

power and his wrath are against all those who are turned away

from him.

8:23 So we went without food, requesting our God for this: and

his ear was open to our prayer.

8:24 So I put on one side twelve of the chiefs of the priests,

Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,

8:25 And gave to them by weight the silver and the gold and the

vessels, all the offering for the house of our God which the

king and his wise men and his captains and all Israel there

present had given:

8:26 Measuring into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of

silver, and silver vessels, a hundred talents' weight, and a

hundred talents of gold,

8:27 And twenty gold basins, of a thousand darics, and two

vessels of the best bright brass, equal in value to gold.

8:28 And I said to them, You are holy to the Lord and the

vessels are holy: and the silver and the gold are an offering

freely given to the Lord, the God of your fathers.

8:29 Take care of them and keep them, till you put them on the

scales before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and the

chiefs of the families of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the rooms of

the house of the Lord.

8:30 So the priests and the Levites took the weight of silver

and gold and the vessels, to take them to Jerusalem into the

house of our God.

8:31 Then we went away from the river of Ahava on the twelfth

day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our

God was on us, and he gave us salvation from our haters and

those who were waiting to make an attack on us by the way.

8:32 And we came to Jerusalem and were there for three days.

8:33 And on the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the

vessels were measured out by weight in the house of our God

into the hands of Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the priest; and

with him was Eleazar, the son of Phinehas; and with them were

Jozabad, the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, the son of Binnui, the

Levites;

8:34 All was handed over by number and by weight: and the weight

was put on record at that time.

8:35 And those who had been prisoners, who had come back from a

strange land, made burned offerings to the God of Israel,

twelve oxen for all Israel, ninety-six male sheep,

seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all

this was a burned offering to the Lord.

8:36 And they gave the king's orders to the king's captains and

the rulers across the river, and they gave the people and the

house of God the help which was needed.

9:1 Now after these things were done, the captains came to me

and said, The people of Israel and the priests and Levites have

not kept themselves separate from the people of the lands, but

have taken part in the disgusting ways of the Canaanites, the

Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the

Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

9:2 For they have taken their daughters for themselves and for

their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the

peoples of the lands; and in fact the captains and rulers have

been the first to do this evil.

9:3 And hearing this, with signs of grief and pulling out the

hair of my head and my chin, I took my seat on the earth deeply

troubled.

9:4 Then everyone who went in fear of the words of the God of

Israel, because of the sin of those who had come back, came

together to me; and I kept where I was, overcome with grief,

till the evening offering.

9:5 And at the evening offering, having made myself low before

God, I got up, and with signs of grief, falling down on my

knees, with my hands stretched out to the Lord my God,

9:6 I said, O my God, shame keeps me from lifting up my face to

you, my God: for our sins are increased higher than our heads

and our evil-doing has come up to heaven.

9:7 From the days of our fathers till this day we have been

great sinners; and for our sins, we and our kings and our

priests have been given up into the hands of the kings of the

lands, to the sword and to prison and to loss of goods and to

shame of face, as it is this day.

9:8 And now for a little time grace has come to us from the Lord

our God, to let a small band of us get free and to give us a

nail in his holy place, so that our God may give light to our

eyes and a measure of new life in our prison chains.

9:9 For we are servants; but our God has not been turned away

from us in our prison, but has had mercy on us before the eyes

of the kings of Persia, to give us new strength to put up again

the house of our God and to make fair its waste places, and to

give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

9:10 And now, O our God, what are we to say after this? for we

have not kept your laws,

9:11 Which you gave to your servants the prophets, saying, The

land into which you are going, to take it for a heritage, is an

unclean land, because of the evil lives of the peoples of the

land and their disgusting ways, which have made the land

unclean from end to end.

9:12 So now do not give your daughters to their sons or take

their daughters for your sons or do anything for their peace or

well-being for ever; so that you may be strong, living on the

good of the land, and handing it on to your children for a

heritage for ever.

9:13 And after everything which has come on us because of our

evil-doing and our great sin, and seeing that the punishment

which you, O God, have given us, is less than the measure of

our sins, and that you have kept from death those of us who are

here;

9:14 Are we again to go against your orders, taking wives from

among the people who do these disgusting things? would you not

be angry with us till our destruction was complete, till there

was not one who got away safe?

9:15 O Lord God of Israel, righteousness is yours; we are only a

small band which has been kept from death, as at this day: see,

we are before you in our sin; for no one may keep his place

before you because of this.

10:1 Now while Ezra was making his prayer and his statement of

wrongdoing, weeping and falling down before the house of God, a

very great number of men and women and children out of Israel

came together round him: for the people were weeping bitterly.

10:2 And Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam,

answering, said to Ezra, We have done evil against our God, and

have taken as our wives strange women of the peoples of the

land: but still there is hope for Israel in this question.

10:3 Let us now make an agreement with our God to put away all

the wives and all their children, if it seems right to my lord

and to those who go in fear of the words of our God; and let it

be done in keeping with the law.

10:4 Up, now! for this is your business, and we are with you;

take heart and do it.

10:5 Then Ezra got up, and made the chiefs of the priests and

the Levites and all Israel take an oath that they would do

this. So they took an oath.

10:6 Then Ezra got up from before the house of God and went into

the room of Jehohanan, the son of Eliashib; but when he came

there, he took no food or drink, for he was sorrowing for the

sin of those who had come back.

10:7 And they made a public statement through all Judah and

Jerusalem, to all those who had come back, that they were to

come together to Jerusalem;

10:8 And that if anyone did not come before three days were

past, as ordered by the rulers and the responsible men, all his

goods would be put under the curse, and he himself would be cut

off from the meeting of the people who had come back.

10:9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin came together to

Jerusalem before three days were past; it was the ninth month,

on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people were

seated in the wide square in front of the house of God, shaking

with fear because of this business and because of the great

rain.

10:10 And Ezra the priest got to his feet and said to them, You

have done wrong and taken strange women for your wives, so

increasing the sin of Israel.

10:11 So now, give praise to the Lord, the God of your fathers,

and do his pleasure; and make yourselves separate from the

peoples of the land and from the strange women.

10:12 Then all the people, answering, said with a loud voice, As

you have said, so it is right for us to do.

10:13 But the number of people is great, and it is a time of

much rain; it is not possible for us to go on waiting outside,

and this is not a thing which may be done in one day or even

two: for our sin in this business is great.

10:14 So now let our rulers be representatives for all the

people, and let all those in our towns who are married to

strange women come at fixed times, and with them the

responsible men and the judges of every town, till the burning

wrath of our God is turned away from us, and this has been

done.

10:15 Only Jonathan, the son of Asahel, and Jahzeiah, the son of

Tikvah, were against this, Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite

supporting them.

10:16 So those who had come back did so. And Ezra the priest,

with certain heads of families, by their fathers' families, all

of them by their names, were marked out; and on the first day

of the tenth month they took their places to go into the

question with care.

10:17 And they got to the end of all the men who were married to

strange women by the first day of the first month.

10:18 And among the sons of the priests who were married to

strange women were these: of the sons of Jeshua, the son of

Jozadak and his brothers, Maaseiah and Eliezer and Jarib and

Gedaliah.

10:19 And they gave their word that they would put away their

wives; and for their sin, they gave an offering of a male sheep

of the flock.

10:20 And of the sons of Immer, Hanani and Zebadiah.

10:21 And of the sons of Harim, Maaseiah and Elijah and Shemaiah

and Jehiel and Uzziah.

10:22 And of the sons of Pashhur, Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael,

Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

10:23 And of the Levites, Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (that

is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

10:24 And of the music-makers, Eliashib; and of the

door-keepers, Shallum and Telem and Uri.

10:25 And of Israel, the sons of Parosh, Ramiah and Izziah and

Malchijah and Mijamin and Eleazar and Malchijah and Benaiah.

10:26 And of the sons of Elam, Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel

and Abdi and Jeremoth and Elijah.

10:27 And of the sons of Zattu, Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah,

and Jeremoth and Zabad and Aziza.

10:28 And of the sons of Bebai, Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai,

Athlai.

10:29 And of the sons of Bani, Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah,

Jashub and Sheal, Jeremoth.

10:30 And of the sons of Pahath-moab, Adna and Chelal, Benaiah,

Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel and Binnui and Manasseh.

10:31 And of the sons of Harim, Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah,

Shemaiah, Shimeon,

10:32 Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.

10:33 Of the sons of Hashum, Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad,

Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei.

10:34 Of the sons of Bani, Maadai, Amram, and Uel,

10:35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,

10:36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

10:37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu,

10:38 And Bani and Binnui, Shimei;

10:39 And Shelemiah and Nathan and Adaiah,

10:40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

10:41 Azarel and Shelemiah, Shemariah,

10:42 Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.

10:43 Of the sons of Nebo, Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina,

Iddo, and Joel, Benaiah.

10:44 All these had taken strange wives; and some of them had

wives by whom they had offspring.