Now because we receive support from the king's palace, and it was not proper for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore have we sent and informed the king;

That search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers: so shall you find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and harmful unto kings and provinces, and that they have incited sedition within the city from of old: for which cause was this city destroyed.

And I commanded, and search has been made, and it is found that this city from of old has made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it.

Give you now command to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not built, until another command shall be given from me.

And be ye warned from doing wrong upon this: wherefore shall harm overtake to endamage the kings?

Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem and stopped them with threat of armed force.

Also, the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took away from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylonia, King Cyrus removed them from the temple in Babylonia and they were given to Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor.

Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem. And from that [time] until now it is being built, but not yet finished.'

And now, if it seems good for the king, let it be investigated in the house of the treasury of the king in Babylonia [to see] if a decree was issued forth from King Cyrus to build this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send to us his desire on this matter."

DATE: First year of Cyrus the King FROM: King Cyrus SUBJECT: The Temple of God in Jerusalem

with three layers of great stones and a layer of timber. Let the new expenses be paid from the house of the king.

Also, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylonia, be returned and brought to the temple in Jerusalem to its place. Put them in the house of God."

Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-bozenai, and your companions the governors, who are beyond the river, keep yourselves far from there:

And I issue forth a decree for what you should do for these elders of the Jews to build this house of God. The full expense will be paid to these men from the riches of the king from the taxes of [the province] Beyond the River, without delay.

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.

And so the Jewish leaders continued their building, and prospered because of the prophecies of Haggai the prophet and Iddo's son Zechariah. They completed the rebuilding in accordance with the commandment from the God of Israel and the edicts of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia.

The Israelis the priests, the descendants of Levi, and the other related descendants who had returned from captivity celebrated with joy at the dedication of the Temple of God.

And the children of Israel, who had come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,

Now after these things had happened, during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Ezra came up from Babylon. Ezra was the son of Seraiah, who was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Hilkiah,

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.

And there will go up from the sons of Israel, and from the priests and the Levites, and those singing, and they watching the gates, and the Nethinims, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year to Arthasatha the king.

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.

From: Artaxerxes, King of Kings To: Ezra, the Priest, a scholar in matters concerning the laws of the God of Heaven Greetings!

I have now issued a decree that anyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel -- even the priests and Levites -- who wishes to do so may go up with you to Jerusalem.

For you are sent from the king and his seven counselors to enquire about Judah and Jerusalem concerning the law of your God, which is in your hand.

As well as all the silver and gold which you get from the land of Babylon, together with the offering of the people and of the priests, freely given for the house of their God, which is in Jerusalem:

And the remainder of the needs for the house of your God that falls to you to provide, you may provide from the house of the king's treasury."

And, from me myself, Artaxerxes the king, issueth an edict, to all the treasurers who are Beyond the River, - that, whatsoever Ezra the priest the scribe of the law of the God of the heavens shall ask of you, with diligence, shall it be done:

All that from the decree of the God of the heavens shall be done diligently for the house of the God of the heavens: for why to be wrath upon the kingdom of the king and his sons?

But, whosoever shall not do the law of thy God and the law of the king, speedily, let, penalty, be exacted from him, - whether to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

and who extended to me loyal love before the king and his counselors, and before all of the mighty officials of the king. I took courage, for the hand of Yahweh my God was upon me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

These are now the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.

From the descendants of Phinehas: Gershom. From the descendants of Ithamar: Daniel. From the descendants of David: Hattush.

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 Adonikam, those who came last, these were their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, Shemaiah, and with them sixty males.

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

I gathered them by the river that goes to Ahava and we camped there for three days. And I looked at the people and the priests, I found no one there from the sons of Levi.

With the good hand of our God before us, they brought us a man of understanding from the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel--Sherebiah and his sons and brothers, eighteen [in total].

plus Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, 20 men.

And from the temple servants, whom David and [his] officials had set up to serve the Levites, two hundred and twenty [in total]. All of them were registered by name.

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."

And we fast, and seek from our God for this, and He is entreated of us.

Then I separated, from among the rulers of the priests, twelve, - even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and, with them, from among their brethren, ten;

Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.

The exiles that returned from captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel; twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve goats as a sin offering. All was a burnt offering to Yahweh.

Now when these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, in regard to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

For they have taken from their daughters for themselves and their sons. So the holy seed has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands, and the hand of the officials and prefects were foremost in this sin.

When I heard this I tore my garment and my robe, and I pulled the hair out from my head and beard, and I sat appalled.

And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having torn my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,

I said, O my God, shame keeps me from lifting up my face to you, my God: for our sins are increased higher than our heads and our evil-doing has come up to heaven.

From the days of our ancestors until this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our sins we ourselves, our kings, and our priests have been handed into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to utter shame, as it is this day.

And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us security in his holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

For we are servants; but our God has not been turned away from us in our prison, but has had mercy on us before the eyes of the kings of Persia, to give us new strength to put up again the house of our God and to make fair its waste places, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

Which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which you go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.

"The land you are entering to possess is a morally unclean land due to the moral uncleanness of the nations of the lands along with their abominations that has filled it from one end to the other with their impurities. So, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor marry their daughters to your sons, and under no circumstances are you to seek their well-being or their wealth, so that you may remain strong, enjoying the best things the land has to give, and so that you may establish an inheritance for your children forever.'

'And after all that hath come upon us for our evil works, and for our great guilt (for Thou, O our God, hast kept back of the rod from our iniquities, and hast given to us an escape like this),

Are we again to go against your orders, taking wives from among the people who do these disgusting things? would you not be angry with us till our destruction was complete, till there was not one who got away safe?

O Lord God of Israel, righteousness is yours; we are only a small band which has been kept from death, as at this day: see, we are before you in our sin; for no one may keep his place before you because of this.

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.

Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, "We ourselves have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, and even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came there, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

Then they sent word throughout Judah and Jerusalem to everyone who had returned from the exile, to gather together in Jerusalem.

And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the order of the leaders and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and he himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.

Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth day of the month. All the people sat in the public square of the house of God trembling because of this matter and from the rains.

Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the foreign wives.

Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them who have taken foreign wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter is turned from us.

So those who had returned from exile did this. Ezra the priest and leaders of certain ancestral groups listed by name devoted themselves to examine the situation on the first day of the tenth month.

There was found from the sons of the priests those who had married foreign women, from the sons of Jeshua son of Jehozadak and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

They pledged to send their wives away, and being guilty, they offered a ram from the flock for their guilt;

From the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.

From the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.

From the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Eleasah.

From the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

From the singers: Eliashib. From the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

And from Israel, the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malkijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malkijah, and Benaiah.

From the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.

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

From the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.

From the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.

From the sons of Pahath-Moab: Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.

From the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshiah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Simeon,

From the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.

From the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel,

From the descendants of Binnui: Shimei,

From the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Iddo, Joel, and Benaiah.

All of these had married foreign wives, and some from among the wives bore children.

Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah, and I questioned them about Jerusalem and the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile.

They said to me, “The remnant in the province, who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned down.”

But if you turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though some of you were cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

"And now, Lord, I ask you to listen to the prayer of your servant and to the prayers of your servants who delight in revering your Name. I ask you, please prosper your servant today by granting him to receive favor from this man." Now I was the king's senior security advisor.