Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.

And whosoever remains in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with animals, besides the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

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.

And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

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.

They sent a letter unto him, in which was written thus; Unto Darius the king, all peace.

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.

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.

This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.

For upon the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

And whosoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh; Zechariah: and with him were registered by genealogy of the men a hundred and fifty.

Of the sons of Pahath-moab; Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred men.

Of the sons of Shecaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred men.

Of the sons also of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty men.

And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy men.

And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore men.

Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen men.

And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him a hundred and threescore men.

And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight men.

And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him a hundred and ten men.

And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our possessions.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

Now on the fourth day were the silver and the gold and the articles weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites;

Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept bitterly.