The children of Zattu, nine hundred forty and five.

The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Hassophereth, the children of Peruda,

And the governor said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till a priest could consult with Urim and with Thummim.

And some of the heads of the fathers' houses, when they came to the house of the LORD which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in its place:

And they set the altar upon its bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.

And afterward offered the continual burnt offerings, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.

And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel.

Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of the fathers' houses, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as you do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel, said unto them, You have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.

And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in Aramaic, and set forth in the Aramaic language.

And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over, and settled in the cities of Samaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, and so forth .

This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Your servants the men on this side the river, send greetings.

Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city is built, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so you shall impair the revenue of the kings.

We inform the king that, if this city is built again, and its walls finished, by this means you shall have no dominion on this side of the river.

At the same time came to them Tattenai, governor on this side of the river, and Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who has commanded you to build this house, and to restore this wall?

Then said we unto them after this manner, These are the names of the men that make this building.

The copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor on this side of the river, and Shethar-bozenai, and his companions the governors, who were on this side the river, sent unto Darius the king:

Then asked we those elders, and said unto them, Who commanded you to build this house, and to complete these walls?

And said unto him, Take these articles, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its place.

That they may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.

Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be impaled thereon; and let his house be made a pile of rubble because of this.

Then Tattenai, governor on this side of the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.

And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.

And you, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God, that is in your hand, set magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach them that know them not.

And I said unto them, You are holy unto the LORD; the articles are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers.

And they delivered the king's orders unto the king's satraps, and to the governors on this side the river: and they aided the people, and the house of God.

And when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down appalled.

Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice.

And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God: for our iniquities have risen higher than our head, and our trespass has grown up unto the heavens.

For we were slaves; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to rebuild the house of our God, and to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.

Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and because of the heavy rain.

And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, You have transgressed, and have taken foreign wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.

Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As you has said, so must we do.

And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of the fathers' houses, according to their fathers' houses, and each of them by name, were set apart, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

And of the sons of Zattu; Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.