The sons of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five.

The sons of Solomon's servants: The sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Peruda,

And these were they who went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but they could not show their father's house and their seed, whether they were of Israel:

And the governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things until there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.

And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in its place.

And they set the altar on its bases, for fear was on them because of the people of those countries. And they offered burnt offerings on it to Jehovah, burnt offerings both morning and evening.

And afterward they offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons and of all the set feasts of Jehovah that were set apart, and of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to Jehovah.

And in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all they who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began. And they chose the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of Jehovah.

And Jeshua stood up together with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, to set forward the workmen in the house of God the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers the Levites.

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

then they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief of the fathers, and said to them, Let us build with you, for we seek your God, even as you. And we have sacrificed to him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said to them, You have nothing to do with us to build a house to our God. But we ourselves together will build to Jehovah, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.

and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest of the province Beyond the River, and now,

let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have come to Jerusalem, and are building the rebellious and the evil city, and have set up its walls, and have joined the foundations.

And let it be known to the king that if this city is built and the walls set up, then they will not pay toll, taxes, or custom, and you shall endanger the revenue of the kings.

We notify the king that if this city is built and the walls of it set up, then you shall have no portion Beyond the River.

At the same time Tatnai, governor of the province Beyond the River, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions, came to them and said this to them Who has commanded you to build this house and to make this wall?

So then we said to them: What are the names of the men who are building this building?

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

And they returned this answer to us, saying, We are the servants of the God of Heaven and earth. And we build the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and set up.

And he said to him, Take these vessels and go. Carry them into the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in His place.

so that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savors to the God of Heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons.

Also I have made a decree that whoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house and be set up, and let him be hanged on it. And let his house be made a dunghill for this.

And they set the priests in their sections, 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 now, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, set officers and judges who may judge all the people who are Beyond the River, all who know the Laws of your God; and teach them who do not know.

And I said to them, You are holy to Jehovah, and the vessels are holy. And the silver and the gold are a free-will offering to Jehovah, the God of your fathers.

For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons. So the holy seed has mixed themselves with the people of those lands. Yes, the hand of the leaders and overseers has been chief in this sin.

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 stricken dumb.

And I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to You, my God. For our iniquities have increased over our heads, and our guiltiness has grown up to the heavens.

For we were slaves, yet our God has not left us in our bondage, but has given mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us some life, to set up the house of our God, and to repair its waste, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have sinned against our God and have taken strange women from 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 to Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month. And all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.

And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, You have sinned, and have taken strange women to increase the sin of Israel.

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

And let our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all those who have taken strange women in our cities, come at a set time, and with them the elders of every city and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter has turned from us.

And the sons of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by names, were separated. And they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

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