Ezra 7
1 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
[Many/Fifty years] later, while Artaxerxes was the king of Persia, I, Ezra came from Babylon here to Jerusalem. I am the son of Seraiah and the grandson of Azariah, and the great-grandson of Hilkiah.
2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
Hilkiah was the son of Shallum, who was the son of Zadok, who was the son of Ahitub,
3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
who was the son of Amariah, who was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Meraioth,
4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
who was the son of Zerahiah, who was the son of Uzzi, who was the son of Bukki,
5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest—
who was the son of Abishua, who was the son of Phinehas, who was the son of Eleazar, who was the son of Aaron, the [first] Supreme Priest.
6 this Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a skilled scribe in the Torah of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the LORD his God’s hand on him.
I am a man who knows very well the laws that Moses [wrote]. Those were the laws that Yahweh, the God whom we Israeli people ([worship/belong to]), had given to us Israeli people. When I arrived in Jerusalem, Yahweh my God was kind to me, and as a result the [people] gave me everything that I had requested the king to [tell them to] give to me.
7 Some of the children of Israel, including some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
Some of the priests, some [other] descendants of Levi, [some] singers, [some] (gatekeepers/men who guarded the gates of the temple), and [some] men who worked in the temple, and some other [Israeli] people came up with me here to Jerusalem. That was during the seventh year that Artaxerxes was the king [of Persia].
8 He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
We left Babylon on April 8, which was the first day of the Jewish year. Because God was very kind to us, we arrived [safely] in Jerusalem on August 4 of that year.
9 For on 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 on him.
10 For Ezra had set his heart to seek the LORD’s law, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
During my entire life, I devoted myself to studying the laws of Yahweh, and how to obey those laws. I had also taught those laws and all their regulations to the Israeli people [for many years].
11 Now this is the copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the LORD’s commandments, and of his statutes to Israel:
King Artaxerxes [knew that] I am a priest who knows the Jewish laws very well. [He knew that for many years] I had studied those laws and had taught all the rules and regulations of those laws to the Israeli people. [So before I left Babylon to come to Jerusalem, ] he wrote a letter, and gave a copy to me. [This is what he wrote]:
12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the perfect God of heaven. Now
[“This letter is] from me, Artaxerxes, the greatest of the kings. [I am giving it] to Ezra the priest, who has studied very well all the rules and regulations that the God [who is/rules] in heaven [gave to the Israeli people].
13 I make a decree that all those of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my realm, who intend of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with you.
“Ezra, I command that when you return to Jerusalem, any of the Israeli people in my kingdom who want to are allowed to go with you. That includes any priests and [other] descendants of Levi [who will work in the temple] who want to go.
14 Because you are sent by the king and his seven counsellors to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your hand,
I, along with my seven counselors/advisors, am sending you to Jerusalem, in order that you can determine what is happening there and in [other towns in] Judah. You are taking with you [MTY] a copy of God’s laws; make sure that the people are doing everything that is written in those laws.
15 and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,
[We are also saying that] you should take with you the silver and gold that I and my advisors are wanting to give to you, in order that you will present it to be an offering to the God who [rules] the Israeli people and who lives in Jerusalem.
16 and all the silver and gold that you will find in all the province of Babylon, with the free will offering of the people and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem.
You should also take any silver and gold that the people in the entire Babylonia province give to you, and the money that the priests and [other] Israeli people have happily said that they would give to you to be offerings for building the temple of their God in Jerusalem.
17 Therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bulls, rams, and lambs with their meal offerings and their drink offerings, and shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.
With this money, you should buy the bulls, rams, lambs, and the grain and wine that the priests will burn on the altar [outside] the temple of your God in Jerusalem.
18 Whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do that according to the will of your God.
“If there is any silver or gold that remains [you have bought all those things], you and your companions/colleagues are permitted to use it to [buy] whatever you desire, but buy only things that [you know that] God wants you to buy.
19 The vessels that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem.
We have given to you some valuable items to be used in the temple of your God. Take them also to Jerusalem.
20 Whatever more will be needed for the house of your God, which you may have occasion to give, give it out of the king’s treasure house.
If you need any other things for the temple, you are permitted to get the money for those things from the building here where my government’s money is kept/stored.
21 I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers who are beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, it shall be done with all diligence,
“And I, King Artaxerxes, command this to all the treasurers in the province west of the [Euphrates] River: 'Give to Ezra, the priest who has studied very well the laws of the God [who is/rules] in heaven, everything that he requests, and give it to him quickly.
22 up to one hundred talents of silver, and to one hundred cors of wheat, and to one hundred baths of wine, and to one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
The most that you should give to him is (7,500 pounds/3,400 kg.) of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, and 550 gallons of [olive] oil, but give to him all the salt that they need.
23 Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
Be sure that you provide whatever their God requires for his temple, because we certainly do not [RHQ] want him to be angry with me or with my descendants who will later be kings.
24 Also we inform you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, or labourers of this house of God.
We are also commanding that none of the priests, descendants of Levi, musicians, temple guards, or other men who work in the temple, will be required to pay any kind of taxes.'
25 You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people who are beyond the River, who all know the laws of your God; and teach him who doesn’t know them.
“Ezra, your God has enabled you to become very wise. Using that wisdom, appoint men in the province west of the [Euphrates] River who will judge cases involving the people, and men who will judge cases involving the government. You must appoint men who know the laws of your God. All of you must teach God’s laws to others who do not know them.
26 Whoever will not do the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgement be executed on him with all diligence, whether it is to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
Everyone who does not obey God’s laws or the laws of my government must be punished severely. Some of them will be executed, some will be put in prison, some will be sent out of the country or have all their property taken away from them.”
27 Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the LORD’s house which is in Jerusalem;
[Because King Artaxerxes was very kind like that, I said], “Praise Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors [worshiped/belonged to]! He has caused the king to want to honor the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem.
28 and has extended loving kindness to me before the king and his counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. I was strengthened according to the LORD my God’s hand on me, and I gathered together chief men out of Israel to go up with me.
Because God was very kind to me, the king and all his advisors and all his powerful officials have also been kind to me. So, because God has helped me, I have become encouraged, and I have [been able to] persuade some of the Israeli leaders to go up to Jerusalem with me.”
