"Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: Yahweh, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. And he himself has appointed me to build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Whoever among you [who is] from all of his people, may his God be with him and may he go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may he build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel. He is the God who [is] in Jerusalem.

And they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the {families}, and they said to them, "Let us build with you. Like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing [to him] from the days of Esarhaddon the king of Assyria who brought us up here.

this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him: "To King Artaxerxes [from] your servants, the men of [the province] Beyond the River. And now,

They sent to him the report {in which was written as follows}: "To Darius the king, all peace.

He said to him, 'Take these vessels. Go put them in the temple in Jerusalem and let the house of God be built on its site.'

Furthermore, I issue forth a decree that if any person violates this decree, let a beam be pulled out from his house and let him be impaled on it. And let his house be made a pile of rubble on [account of] this.

this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which Yahweh the God of Israel gave. The king granted him all his requests, for the hand of Yahweh was upon him.

For on the first day of the first month he began the journey from Babylonia; and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God [was] on him.

All who do not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with diligence, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods and for imprisonment."

From the descendants of Shecaniah, from the descendants of Parosh: Zechariah and with him one hundred and fifty registered males.

From the descendants of Pahath-Moab: Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah and with him two hundred males.

From the descendants of [Zattu]: Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.

From the descendants of Adin: Ebed son of Jehonathan, and with him fifty males.

From the descendants of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.

From the descendants of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him eighty males.

From the descendants of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

From the descendants of [Bani]: Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him one hundred and sixty males.

From the descendants of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males.

From the descendants of Azgad: Jehohanan son of Haqqatan, and with him one hundred and ten males.

From the descendants of Bigvai: Uthai son of Zabud, and with him seventy males.

Also Hashabiah and with him Jeshaiah, the sons of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, twenty [in total].

I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava to humble ourselves before our God in order to seek from him a safe journey for us, our children, and our possessions.

For I was ashamed to ask the king for troops and horses to protect us from enemies on the way because we said to the king, "the hand of our God is favorable to all who seek him, but his strength and anger are against all who forsake them."

On the fourth day, the silver, gold, and vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of priest Meremoth, the son of Uriah, and with him Eleazar son of Phinehas. With them were the Levites, Jehozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.

While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children from Israel gathered to him. And the people wept bitterly.