Ezra Chapters

Cyrus Helps the Jews Return to Jerusalem

1 | •  ¹In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord willed to fulfill the word he had said through the prophet Jeremiah. So he moved the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his kingdom: ²“Thus speaks Cyrus, king of Persia: the Lord, the God of heavens, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has ordered me to build him a temple in Jerusalem, in the land of Judah. ³To everyone belonging to his people, may his God be with him! Let them go up to Jerusalem with the help of their God and, there, build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴In every place where the rest of the people of the Lord live, let the people of those places help them for their journey with silver, gold and all kinds of goods and livestock. Let them also give them voluntary offerings for the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.”

⁵Then they rose—the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, and all those whose spirit God had stirred up—and they decided to go and build the house of the Lord. ⁶And all their neighbors gave them all kinds of help: gold, silver, livestock and precious objects in great quantity, besides every kind of voluntary offering.

⁷King Cyrus also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. ⁸ Cyrus, the king, gave them to Mithredath, the treasurer, who counted them and turned them over to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.

⁹This is the list: golden cups for the offering, 30; silver cups for the offering, 1,000; knives, 29; ¹⁰other cups of gold, 30; of silver, 410; other vessels, 1,000.

¹¹The total number of golden and silver vessels is 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all this out when the exiles were allowed to return to Jerusalem from Babylon.

The List of the Returning Exiles

2 | ¹These were the province's people who returned from captivity and exile. After being deported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. ²They arrived with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The list of the clans of the people of Israel: ³the clan of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two; ⁴the clan of Sehphatiah, three hundred and seventy-two; ⁵the clan of Arah, seven hundred and seventy-five; ⁶the clan of Pahath-moab, that is to say the sons of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve; ⁷the clan of Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four; ⁸the clan of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five; ⁹the clan of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty; ¹⁰the clan of Bani, six hundred and forty-two; ¹¹the clan of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-three; ¹²the clan of Azgad, one thousand two hundred and twenty-two; ¹³the clan of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-six; ¹⁴the clan of Bigvai, two thousand and fifty-six; ¹⁵the clan of Adin, four hundred and fifty-four; ¹⁶the clan of Ater, that is to say of Hezekiah, ninety-eight; ¹⁷the clan of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-three; ¹⁸the clan of Jorah, one hundred and twelve; ¹⁹the clan of Hashum, two hundred and twenty-three; ²⁰the clan of Gibeon, ninety-five; ²¹people of Bethlehem, one hundred and twenty-three; ²²people of Netophah, fifty-six; ²³people of Anathoth, one hundred and twenty-eight; ²⁴the clan of Azmaveth, forty-two; ²⁵people of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three; ²⁶people of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one; ²⁷people of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two; ²⁸people of Bethel and Ai, two hundred twenty-three; ²⁹people of Nebo, fifty-two; ³⁰people of Magbish, one hundred and fifty-six; ³¹people of another Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four; ³²people of Harim, three hundred and twenty; ³³people of Lod, Hadid and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five; ³⁴people of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five; ³⁵people of Senaah, three thousand six hundred and thirty.

³⁶The priests: the clan of Jedaiah, that is to say, the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three; ³⁷the clan of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two; ³⁸the clan of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven; ³⁹the clan of Harim, one thousand and seventeen.

⁴⁰The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the descendants of Hodaviah, seventy-four.

⁴¹The temple musicians: the clan of Asaph, one hundred and twenty-eight.

⁴²The gatekeepers are the clans of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai, for one hundred thirty-nine.

⁴³The helpers: the clans of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, ⁴⁴Keros, Siaha, Padon, ⁴⁵Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub, ⁴⁶Hagab, Shamlai, Hanan, ⁴⁷Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, ⁴⁸Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, ⁴⁹Uzza, Paseah, Besai, ⁵⁰Asnah, the Meunites, the Nephusites, ⁵¹Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, ⁵²Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha, ⁵³Barkos, Sisera, Temah, ⁵⁴Neziah, Hatipha.

⁵⁵The clans of Solomon’s slaves: Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda, ⁵⁶Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel, ⁵⁷Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth-hazzebaim, Ami. ⁵⁸The total number of helpers and the sons of Solomon’s slaves was three hundred and ninety-two.

⁵⁹The following, which came from Tel-me lah, Tel-Harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, could not prove that their families and ancestry were of Israelite origin: ⁶⁰the clans of Delaiah, Tobiah, Nekoda: six hundred and fifty-two. ⁶¹And among the priests: the clans of Habaiah, Hakkoz, Barzillai, who had married one of the daughters of Barzillai, the Gileadite, whose name he adopted. ⁶²These people searched in their ancestral registers but could not be located in them, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean, ⁶³and His Excellency forbade them to eat the sacred foods until a priest could be found for the Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁴The whole assembly numbered forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty people, ⁶⁵not counting their slaves and maidservants, to seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. They also had two hundred male and female singers. ⁶⁶Their horses numbered seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules two hundred and forty-five, ⁶⁷their camels four hundred and thirty-five, and their donkeys six thousand seven hundred and twenty.

⁶⁸When they arrived at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, some clan leaders made voluntary offerings for the temple of God's rebuilding on its old site. ⁶⁹By their means, they gave the building fund sixty-one thousand darics of gold, five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priestly robes.

⁷⁰The priests, Levites, and part of the people settled in Jerusalem; the gatekeepers, temple musicians, workers, and other Israelites were in their towns.

Rebuilding the Altar

3 | •  ¹By the seventh month, the Israelites were already settled in their cities. Then, all the people gathered in Jerusalem.

²Joshua, son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, with his brothers, began rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel to offer the sacrifices upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

³They built the altar in the same place, despite the fear they had of the people of the land, and they offered burnt offerings upon it, as well as the morning and evening sacrifices. ⁴They celebrated the Feast of the Tabernacles as written and offered burnt offerings daily according to the established ritual. ⁵Then they continued offering the perpetual sacrifice and the sacrifices on the Sabbaths, the New Moon, and all the solemnities of the Lord, besides what everyone would offer voluntarily to the Lord.

⁶They began offering burnt offerings on the first day of the seventh month, although the foundation of the house of the Lord had not yet been laid.

⁷They gave money to the masons and the carpenters. They also gave food, wine, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar lumber from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, according to the authorization of Cyrus, king of Persia. ⁸In the second year, after they arrived at the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, son of Jozadak, with the rest of their brothers, the priests, the Levites and all who had returned to Jerusalem from exile, began the work: they appointed the Levites who were twenty years old and upward to supervise the work in the house of the Lord.

⁹Joshua, his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, and the sons of Hodaviah all together agreed to supervise those who worked in the house of God. ¹⁰When the workers had laid the foundation for the Sanctuary of the Lord, the priests, clothed in fine linen, came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals. They sang to the Lord according to the ordinance of David, king of Israel.

¹¹They thanked the Lord, singing and praising: “For he is good, for his love for Israel is eternal.”

All the people shouted aloud the praises of the Lord, for the foundation of the house of the Lord had now been laid. Many priests, Levites, and older heads of the families who had seen the first house wept with great lamentation as the foundation was laid. ¹²But others raised their voices with shouts of joy; ¹³and the people could not distinguish the shouts of rejoicing from the cries of weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the noise was heard afar.

The Rebuilding Is Interrupted

4 | •  ¹When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that those who had returned from exile were building the Sanctuary of the Lord, the God of Israel, ²they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families. They said, “Allow us to help you in the work of reconstruction, for we are also concerned about your God. We have offered him sacrifices from the time of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

³Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the heads of the Israelite families answered them, “We cannot let you join us, for we alone must rebuild it, as Cyrus, king of Persia, has commanded.”

⁴Then, the people of the land set about discouraging the workers of Judah and frightening them to keep them from building. ⁵They hired some counselors of the royal court to make the project fail, and they did this all during the time of Cyrus, king of Persia, until the reign of Darius, king of Persia.

An Unrelated Document

•  ⁶At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they complained to the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷Again, in the time of King Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic with translation. So it began this way:

⁸“From Rehum, the governor, and Shimshai, the secretary, ⁹and the rest of their colleagues, the judges and the legates, and all Persian officials, the people of Urukian, Babylon, and Susa, that is, the Elamites, ¹⁰and from the rest of the nations whom the great Assurbanipal deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and the rest of the province at the other side of the River…”

¹¹This is a copy of the letter they sent to King Artaxerxes:

“Your servants, the people beyond the River, send greetings.

¹²It should be made known to the king that the Jews who came up from your side to ours and have gone to Jerusalem are now building this rebellious and wicked city. They are now rebuilding the walls and have laid the foundation. ¹³Be it known, then, to the king, that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, they will no longer pay taxes, tributes, or toll duties and, in the end, this city shall bring harm to the kings. ¹⁴Now, as we eat the salt of the palace and do not wish to see the king dishonored, we are sending this information to the king. ¹⁵If you look into the records of your fathers, you will find that this city is rebellious. It has disturbed the kings and the provinces and has fostered sedition from the old. It is precisely because of this that it was destroyed. ¹⁶We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls restored, you will soon lose your territories on that side of the River.”

¹⁷The king wrote this in reply:

“To Rehum, the governor; to Shimshai, the secretary; and to the rest of their colleagues who are in Samaria and the other places at the other side of the River: Greetings: ¹⁸The letter you sent to me has been read word for word in my presence. ¹⁹I gave orders to inquire into these things, and it has been found that from ancient times, the city has rebelled against the kings and that sedition and rebellions have happened there.

²⁰There were powerful kings in Jerusalem, masters of all the land on the other side of the River, to whom tribute taxes and toll duties were paid.

²¹Therefore, order the people to stop work. They shall not rebuild that city without my authorization. ²²Do not neglect this grave concern, lest further harm be done to the kingdom.”

²³When the copy of this letter of King Artaxerxes was read before Rehum, the governor, Shimshai, the secretary, and their colleagues, they went hurriedly to Jerusalem, and they used force and violence to make the Jews suspend their work.

²⁴So the work on the house of God in Jerusalem was interrupted and did not begin until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia.

Work Resumes

5 | ¹The prophets Haggai and Zechariah, son of Iddo, addressed the Jews who lived in Judea and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was with them. ²Upon hearing them, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, son of Jozadak, began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, supporting them. ³Then Tattenai, the governor of the province on the other side of the River, and Shethar-bozenai came with their counselors and said, “Who has ordered you to build this house and its walls?” ⁴They also asked, “Who are the men working on constructing this building?”

⁵But the favor of God was with the leaders of the Jews, for these people did not oblige the Jews to stop the work while the matter was being referred to King Darius, and a letter could be sent back concerning this.

⁶This is a copy of the joint letter to King Darius from Tattenai, governor of the province of the other side of the River, Shethar-bozenai and his counselors, the Persians at the other bank of the River:

⁷“To King Darius: Peace. ⁸We wish to inform the king that we went to the province of Judea, to the house of the great God. They are now building the temple with hewn stones and timber to reinforce the walls; the work is done with great care and progresses quickly at their hands. ⁹We questioned the Elders and asked them: Who has ordered you to build this house and finish this Sanctuary? ¹⁰We also asked them their names and wrote down the names of their leaders for your information.

¹¹They gave us this answer: We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house built many years ago. A great king of Israel built and finished it. ¹²But then, our ancestors angered the God of heaven, so he gave the children to the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed this house and carried the people to Babylonia.

¹³However, in the first year of his reign, Cyrus, king of Babylon, issued a decree that the house of God should be rebuilt. ¹⁴The gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple of Jerusalem and placed in the temple of Babylon, were taken from there by King Cyrus and turned over to Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. ¹⁵He said to him: Take these vessels, bring them to the temple of Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in the same place. ¹⁶Then Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem. From that time until now, it has gradually been rebuilt but is still not finished.

¹⁷Now, if it seems reasonable to the king, inquiries be made into the royal archives there in Babylon to verify whether King Cyrus indeed issued a decree for rebuilding the house of God in Jerusalem; then may the king inform us of his will in this matter.

Darius Helps Build the Temple

6 | ¹Then King Darius commanded that inquiries be made in the house of the archives in Babylon, where the records were kept. ²And in Ecbatana, a fortress in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which the following was written:

³“In the first year of his reign, King Cyrus issued this decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the foundation of that house be laid, and the house be rebuilt so that sacrifices be offered. The house shall be thirty meters high and thirty meters wide, ⁴with three layers of hewn stones and one of wood. The house of the king shall pay for the expenses. ⁵Moreover, the gold and silver vessels Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple of Jerusalem are to be returned to where they used to be kept in the house of God.

⁶Now, therefore, I say this to you: Tattenai, governor of the province on the other side of the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their Persian counselors living on the other side of the River, do not interfere. ⁷Let the governor of the Jews and their leaders build the house of God on its former site.

⁸This is the command I give as to what you should do to help those Jewish leaders rebuild the house of God: pay the expenses in full and without delay, with the income from taxes of the province at the other side of the River, which is allotted to the king. ⁹Then, upon the request of the priests of Jerusalem, give them daily and without fail what is needed for the sacrifices to the God of Heaven: young bulls, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine, and oil. ¹⁰With these, they shall offer sacrifices acceptable to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹Moreover, I command the following: if anyone opposes these ordinances, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be hung on it, and his house reduced to a heap of ruin as punishment for his rebellion. ¹²And may the God who makes his Name dwell there crush every rebel, king, or people who go against this and tries to destroy the house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, give this command. Let it be carried out at once.”

¹³Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and his counselors acted in conformity with the order of King Darius. ¹⁴And the leaders of the Jews continued to make progress in building, encouraged by what Haggai, the prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, had said; and they finished the work according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus and Darius. ¹⁵The house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of the reign of Darius.

¹⁶The children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of those who had returned from exile celebrated the consecration of this house of God with rejoicing, ¹⁷offering on this solemnity one hundred young bulls, two hundred rams and four hundred lambs, and twelve he-goats as a sin offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁸Then they installed the priests according to their ranks, and the Levites according to their classes, for the service of the house of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.

¹⁹Those who had returned from exile celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, ²⁰for the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together, and all of them were clean. So, they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all who had returned from exile, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.

²¹The Israelites who had returned from exile ate the Passover lamb with all those who had separated themselves from the people of the land and joined the returned exiles to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. ²²They celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread joyfully for seven days. The reason for their joy was that the Lord had turned the king of Assyria to look favorably on them so that they could continue rebuilding the house of the God of Israel.

Ezra Comes to Jerusalem

7 | •  ¹After this, in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra, the son of Seraiah, came from Babylon. He was a descendant of Azariah, Hilkiah, ²Shallum, Zadok, Ahitub, ³Amariah, Azariah, Meraioth, ⁴Zerahiah, Uzzi, Bukki, ⁵Abishua, Phinehas, Eleazar, and Aaron, the high priest.

⁶This Ezra, well-educated in the law given to Moses by the Lord, the God of Israel, went up from Babylon, and as the hand of the Lord, his God, was upon him, the king granted him all he asked. ⁷Many children of Israel, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants, also came to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.

⁸Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month of the king's seventh year. ⁹ He had left Babylon on the first day of the first month and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the good hand of his God was upon him. ¹⁰ Ezra had dedicated himself with all his heart to putting into action the law of the Lord and teaching his commandments and precepts to Israel.

¹¹Here is a copy of King Artaxerxes's letter to Ezra, a priest, and scribe who had learned the commandments and laws the Lord had given to Israel.

¹²“Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra, priest, and teacher, learned peace in the law of the God of heaven.

¹³I have given orders so that all the Israelites in my kingdom who are ready to go with you to Jerusalem may leave with their priests and Levites. ¹⁴As for you, you shall go as the representative of the king and of his seven counselors to see to it that the law of God which is in your hands is observed in Judah and Jerusalem, ¹⁵and to bring there the gold and silver which the king and his counselors have generously offered to the God of Israel, whose house is in Jerusalem. ¹⁶You shall also bring all the silver and gold you can gather in Babylon with the voluntary offerings of the people and the priests for the house of God in Jerusalem.

¹⁷With this money, buy young bulls, rams, lambs, and everything needed for the grain offerings and the libations, which you shall offer upon the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. ¹⁸Do whatever seems best to you and your brothers with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God.

¹⁹Place before God in Jerusalem the vessels given to you for the service of the house of your God, ²⁰and take from the treasuries of the king whatever is needed to pay for other expenses for the house of your God.

²¹I, King Artaxerxes, command all the treasurers in the region at the other side of the River to do exactly all that Ezra, priest, and scribe, learned in the law of the God of heaven, may ask of them, ²²giving him up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred sacks of wheat, a hundred measures of wine, and a hundred measures of oil; salt shall be given him without measure. ²³Everything commanded by the God of heaven should be done with great care for the house of the God of heaven so that his wrath may not come upon the kingdom, the king, and his sons.

²⁴We also declare that taxes, contributions, or toll duties cannot be collected from any priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, ministers, and servants of this house of God.

²⁵And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God, appoint judges and magistrates to administer justice to all the people at the other side of the River, to all who know the law of your God; and teach it to those who do not know it.

²⁶Whoever does not fulfill the law of your God and the law of the king shall be severely punished with death, banishment, fine, or imprisonment.

²⁷Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who inspired the king with this will to exalt and glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, ²⁸and who let me win the favor of the king, his counselors, and all his important officers. For my part, I took courage since the hand of the Lord my God was with me, and I gathered together the leaders of Israel to go up with me.

List of the Jews Returning with Ezra

8 | ¹These are the heads of clans who set out from Babylon with me in the reign of King Artaxerxes—their predecessors are named:

²Of the clan of Phinehas: Gershom; of the clan of Ithamar: Daniel; of the clan of David: Hattush ³son of Shecaniah; of the clan of Parosh: Zechariah, with whom one hundred and fifty males were registered; ⁴of the clan of Pahath-moab: Eliehoenai, son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males; ⁵of the clan of Zattu: Shecaniah, son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males; ⁶of the clan of Adin: Ebed, son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males; ⁷of the clan of Elam: Jeshaiah, son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males; ⁸of the clan of Shephatiah: Zebadiah, son of Michael, and with him eighty males; ⁹of the clan of Joab: Obadiah, son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males; ¹⁰of the clan of Bani: Shelomoth, son of Josiphiah, and with him a hundred and sixty males; ¹¹of the clan of Bebai: Zechariah, son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males; ¹²of the clan of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him a hundred and ten males; ¹³of the clan of Adonikam: the younger sons, whose names are: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males; ¹⁴and of the clan of Bigvai: Uthai, son of Zabud, and with him seventy males.

¹⁵I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we encamped for three days; having searched among these people, I did not find anyone from the tribe of Levi. ¹⁶Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise. ¹⁷I gave them orders concerning Iddo, the leader in Casiphia; I gave them a message to relay to Iddo and his brothers, the helpers, in Casiphia, to send us ministers for the house of our God.

¹⁸As the good hand of God was with us, they brought us Sherebiah, a very sensible man, of the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, and with him were his sons and his brothers, numbering eighteen; ¹⁹Hashabiah and with him Isaiah of the sons of Merari, their brothers and their sons, twenty; ²⁰and of the helpers whom David and the leaders had placed at the service of the Levites, two hundred twenty-two men, all written down by name.

•  ²¹There at the banks of the river Ahava, I proclaimed a fast so we might humble ourselves before our God, to implore him for a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and our goods. ²²I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on the way, for we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is for good, upon all who seek him; and the power of his wrath upon all who abandon him.” ²³So we fasted and prayed to God for this intention, and he listened.

²⁴I chose twelve of the leaders of the priests, besides Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their brothers. ²⁵I weighed out before them the silver and gold, the consecrated vessels given by the king, his counselors, and his leaders, and by all the Israelites who were there, for the house of our God. ²⁶I entrusted into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, silver vessels worth a hundred talents, ²⁷twenty bowls of gold worth a thousand darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as vessels of gold. ²⁸Then I said to them, “You are consecrated to the Lord; these vessels are sacred objects, and the silver and gold are voluntary offerings made to the Lord, the God of our ancestors. ²⁹Take care of them and keep them until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and the families of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.”

³⁰Then, the priests and the Levites received all that we had weighed: the silver and gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

³¹We left the banks of the river Ahava to go to Jerusalem on the twelfth day of the first month. The hand of God was with us, and he kept us from all attacks and ambushes from enemies throughout our journey. ³²We arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested for three days. ³³On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver, the gold, and the vessels were weighed into the hands of the priest Meremoth, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar, son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad, son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, son of Binnui. ³⁴After counting and weighing everything again, the total weight was written down.

³⁵The Jews who had returned from exile offered sacrifices to the God of Israel: twelve young bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve he-goats as a sin offering. All these were burnt offerings to the Lord. ³⁶ The king's decrees were delivered to his governors and officials of the province beyond the River, who helped the people and the house of God.

About Intermarriages

9 | •  ¹After all this was finished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests and the Levites have not departed from the pagan people and are now serving the idols of the Canaanites, the Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites; ²for they took women from among these people for themselves and their sons, and mixed their holy race with that of the pagans. The leaders and magistrates were the first to commit this sin.”

³When I heard this, I tore my garments and mantle, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down very much grieved. ⁴All who remembered the words of the God of Israel gathered around me. They were afraid because of this sin committed by those who had returned from exile. ⁵I remained seated and dismayed until the evening sacrifice; then, at the time for the evening offering, I rose from my fasting, and with my clothes and mantle torn, I knelt, spreading out my hands to the Lord, my God.

⁶I said, “My God! I am ashamed and confused, my God; I do not dare raise my eyes to you, for our sins have increased over our heads, and our crimes reach up to the heavens.

⁷From the days of our ancestors to this day, our guilt has been great. We, our kings and priests, have been given into the hands of foreign kings because of our crimes; we have been delivered to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and put to shame as on this day. ⁸However, for a brief moment, the mercy of the Lord, our God, has been shown to us. He made a remnant of our people survive and allowed the survivors to settle once again in his Holy Place. He has given us joy and life, though we are in bondage. ⁹We are no more than slaves, but amid our slavery, God has not abandoned us; he has extended a merciful hand over us to support us before the kings of Persia. He has revived our lives, enabled us to rebuild the house of our God, and has walls in Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah.

¹⁰But now, our God, what shall we say when, despite all this, we have abandoned your commandments? ¹¹You have said through your servants, the prophets: The land you are entering to take possession of was defiled by the impurities of its inhabitants. Their idolatry made it entirely unclean from one end to the other. ¹²Therefore, do not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor take their daughters as wives for your sons. Do not work with them for their prosperity and well-being forever. Be strong, eat the best fruits of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.

¹³After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and sins, you, our God, have pardoned our wickedness since you allowed everyone here to survive. ¹⁴How could we despise your commandments once more and intermarry with these wretched people? Will you not be angry with us and destroy us without leaving any remnant or survivors?

¹⁵The Lord, God of Israel, you are just; see that we are a remnant of survivors. We are in your presence with our sins but cannot remain so.

The Foreign Wives Are Cast Out

10 | ¹While Ezra bowed before the house of God, weeping, praying, and making this confession, a great crowd of men, women, and children of Israel gathered around him, and these people wept bitterly.

²Then Shecaniah, son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, said to Ezra: “We have mistreated our God by marrying foreign women taken from the people of this land, but Israel is not without hope because of this. ³Let us make a Covenant with our God and send these women away with their children according to the statement of my lord and all of us who respect the commandment of our God. ⁴Let the law be obeyed. You command, and we are with you. Have courage and command.”

⁵So Ezra arose and made the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel swear that they would do what had just been said. So they swore. ⁶Then, Ezra withdrew from where he stood, in front of the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan, son of Eliashib, but he did not eat bread or drink water there, for he was much afflicted by the sin of those who had returned from exile. ⁷A proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all who had returned from exile should assemble in Jerusalem, ⁸and if anyone would not come within three days, according to the decision of the leaders and the local elders, all his property would be confiscated. He banned those who had returned from exile from the assembly.

⁹Judah and Benjamin’s men assembled in Jerusalem within three days. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month, and all the people were in the open square of the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because it was raining.

¹⁰Then the priest Ezra stood up and said, “You have been rebels in marrying foreign women and have increased the offense of Israel. ¹¹Now then, acknowledge your sin before the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and carry out his will. Separate yourselves from the people of this land and your foreign wives.” ¹²The assembly answered loudly, “Yes, we shall do as you say. ¹³But the people are so numerous, and we are now in the rainy season. We cannot endure the inclement weather; this matter cannot be settled in a day or two, for many have committed this sin. ¹⁴Our leaders can represent the whole assembly: those in our cities who have married foreign women shall come at appointed times, accompanied by the local leaders and judges of every city, until we have turned aside from us the anger of our God because of this matter.”

¹⁵The only ones who opposed this option were Jonathan, son of Asahel, and Jahzeiah, son of Tikvah, supported by the Levites Meshullam and Shabbethai. ¹⁶But those who had returned from exile complied. Per what the priest Ezra ordered, they selected a family head for every family group, each designated personally, and they sat down to resolve the matter on the first day of the tenth month.

¹⁷On the first day of the first month, they finished attending to all the cases of Jews who had been married to foreign women.

The List of the Guilty

¹⁸From the descendants of the priests, these are the names of those who were found to have married foreign women: among the clan of Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. ¹⁹They pledged their word to put their wives away and, for their sin, offered a ram as a sacrifice of reparation.

²⁰In the clan of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah;

²¹In the clan of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah;

²²In the clan of Pashhur: Elioenia, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

²³Among the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah—that is, Kelita—Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

²⁴Among the temple musicians: Eliashib and Zaccur.

Among the gatekeepers are Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

²⁵And among the Israelites:

of the clan of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah;

²⁶of the clan of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Meremoth, and Elijah;

²⁷of the clan of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza;

²⁸of the clan of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai;

²⁹of the clan of Bigvai: Meshullam, Malluch, Jedaiah, Jashub, Sheal, Jeremoth;

³⁰of the clan of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh;

³¹of the clan of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, ³²Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah;

³³of the clan of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei;

³⁴of the clan of Bani: Maadai, Amran, Uel, ³⁵Benaiah, Bediah, Cheluhi, ³⁶Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, ³⁷Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu; ³⁸of the clan Binnui; Shimei, ³⁹Shelemiah, Nathan, and Adaiah. ⁴⁰of the clan of Zaccai: Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, ⁴¹Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, ⁴²Shallum, Amariah, Joseph;

⁴³of the clan of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.

⁴⁴All these had married foreign wives. They put them away, both women and children.