The governor said to them that they could not eat from the holy food of the sanctuary until there was present a priest for the Urim and Thummim.

son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest--

This is the copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the scroll of the words of the commands of Yahweh and his statutes for Israel:

"Artaxerxes, the king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of the heavens. Peace. And now

"I, even I, King Artaxerxes, issue forth a decree to all the treasurers who are in [the province] Beyond the River. Whatever the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may ask of you, let it be done with diligence,

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.

Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "You have broke faith and married foreign women, increasing the guilt of Israel.

The {returned exiles} did so. Ezra the priest selected men, the heads of the {families} according to the house of their fathers, all of them by name. They sat down to examine the matter on the first day of the tenth month.