Now, after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra, - son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah; son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub; read more. son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth; son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki; son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eliazar, son of Aaron the first priest; -

Artaxerxes, king of kings, Unto Ezra the priest, scribe of the law of the God of the heavens - To despatch and so forth. From me, is issued an edict, that, every one in my kingdom, of the people of Israel, and of their priests and the Levites, who is minded of his own freewill to go to Jerusalem, with thee, let him go. read more. Forasmuch as, from before the king and his seven counselors, thou art sent, to enquire concerning Judah and as to Jerusalem, - by the law of thy God which is in thy hand; and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, who, in Jerusalem, hath his habitation; and all the silver and the gold, which thou shalt find, in all the province of Babylon, - with the freewill offering of the people and of the priests offered willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem, therefore, with all diligence, shalt thou buy - with this silver - bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meal-offerings, and their drink-offerings, - and shalt offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem; and, whatsoever, unto thee and unto thy brethren, shall seem good, with the rest of the silver and the gold, to do, according to the pleasure of your God, shall ye do. And, the utensils which are freely given to thee for the service of the house of thy God, put thou back, before the God of Jerusalem. And, the rest of the need of the house of thy God, which it shall fall to thee to give, thou shalt give, out of the treasure-house of the king. And, from me myself, Artaxerxes the king, issueth an edict, to all the treasurers who are Beyond the River, - that, whatsoever Ezra the priest the scribe of the law of the God of the heavens shall ask of you, with diligence, shall it be done: unto a hundred talents of silver, and unto a hundred measures of wheat, and unto a hundred baths of wine, and unto a hundred baths of oil, - and salt without limit. Whatsoever is due to an edict of the God of the heavens, let it be done diligently, for the house of the God of the heavens, - for wherefore should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? And, you, we do certify, that, as touching any of the priests or the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the Nethinim, or the servitors of this house of God, tribute, excise or toll, shall it not be competent to impose upon them. And, thou, Ezra, according to the wisdom of thy God that is in thy hand, appoint thou judges and magistrates, who shall administer justice to all the people that are Beyond the River, to all who know the law of thy God, - and, whoso knoweth not, ye shall teach. But, whosoever shall not do the law of thy God and the law of the king, speedily, let, penalty, be exacted from him, - whether to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

Now, these, are their ancestral heads, and their genealogical register, - even of those who came up with me, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king, out of Babylon: - Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom, of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel, - of the sons of David, Hattush; read more. Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, - and, with him - by genealogical registry of males, a hundred and fifty: Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, son of Zerahiah, - and, with him, two hundred males; Of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, the son of Jehaziel, - and, with him, three hundred males; And, of the sons of Adin, Ebed, son of Jonathan, - and, with him, fifty males; And, of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah, son of Athaliah, - and, with him, seventy males; And, of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, son of Michael, - and, with him, eighty males; Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah, son of Jehiel, and, with him, two hundred and eighteen males; And, of the sons of Bani, Shelomith, son of Josiphiah, - and, with him, a hundred and sixty males; And, of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, son of Bebai, and, with him, twenty-eight males; And, of the sons of Azgad, Johanan, son of Hakkatan, - and, with him, a hundred and ten males; And, of the later sons of Adonikam, these being their names, Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, - and, with them, sixty males; And, of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, - and, with him, seventy males.

for they have taken of their daughters, for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed have intermingled themselves among the peoples of the lands, - and, the hand of the rulers and the deputies, hath, in this unfaithfulness, been, foremost.

And, on the second day, were gathered together - the ancestral heads of all the people, the priests and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, - even to give attention unto the words of the law. And they found written in the law, - that Yahweh gave command through Moses, that the sons of Israel should dwell in booths, during the festival of the seventh month; read more. and that they should publish and send along a proclamation throughout all their cities and throughout Jerusalem, saying, Forth to the mountain, and bring in branches of olive, and branches of oleaster, and branches of myrtle, and branches of palms, and branches of thick trees, - to make booths, as it is written. So the people went forth, and brought in, and made themselves booths, every one upon his roof, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the broad place of the water-gate, and in the broad place of the gate of Ephraim. And all the convocation of them who had returned out of the captivity made booths, and dwelt in booths, for, since the days of Jeshua son of Nun, had not the sons of Israel done so, unto that day, - and there was very great rejoicing. So he read in the book of the law of God, day by day, from the first day unto the last day, and they kept the festival seven days, and, on the eighth day, a closing feast, according to the regulation.

Now, these, are the priests and the Levites, who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, - Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra;

of Ezra, Meshullam, - of Amariah, Jehohanan;

then Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam;