The Book of Ezra, chapters 7 -10
7 NOW AFTER THESE EVENTS, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia,
there came up from Babylon one Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah,
Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi,
son of Bukki, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron
the chief priest. He was a scribe learned in the law of Moses which the
LORD the God of Israel had given them; and the king granted him all that
he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him. In the seventh
year of King Artaxerxes, other Israelites, priests, Levites, singers, door-
keepers, and temple-servitors went up with him to Jerusalem; and they
reached Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king. On
the first day of the first month Ezra fixed the day for departure from Bab-
ylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived at Jerusalem, for the
gracious hand of his God was upon him. For Ezra had devoted himself to
the study and observance of the law of the LORD and to teaching statute and
ordinance in Israel.
This is a copy of the royal letter which King Artaxerxes had given to
Ezra the priest and scribe, a scribe versed on questions concerning the
commandments and the statutes of the LORD laid upon Israel:
Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest and scribe learned in the
law of the God of heaven:
This is my decision. I hereby issue a decree that any of the people of
Israel or of its priests or Levites in my kingdom who volunteer to go to
Jerusalem may go with you. You are sent by the king and his seven
counsellors to find out how things stand in Judah and Jerusalem with
regard to the law of your God with which you are entrusted. You are
also to convey the silver and gold which the king and his counsellors
have freely offered to the God of Israel whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,
together with any silver and gold that you may find throughout the
province of Babylon, and the voluntary offerings of the people and of the
priests which they freely offer for the house of their God in Jerusalem.
In pursuance of this decree you shall use the money solely for the
purchase of bulls, rams, and lambs, and the proper grain-offerings and
drink-offerings, to be offered on the altar in the house of your God in
Jerusalem. Further, should any silver and gold be left over, you and your
colleagues may use it at your discretion according to the will of your
God. The vessels which have been given you for the service of the house
of your God you shall hand over to the God of Jerusalem; and if any-
thing else should be required for the house of your God, which it may
fall to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king's treasury.
And I, King Artaxerxes, issue an order to all treasurers in the province
of Beyond-Euphrates that whatever is demanded of you by Ezra the
priest, a scribe learned in the law of the God of heaven, is to be supplied
exactly, up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred kor of wheat, a
hundred bath of wine, a hundred bath of oil, and salt without reckoning.
Whatever is demanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently carried
out for the house of the God of heaven; otherwise wrath may fall upon
the realm of the king and his sons. We also make known to you that you
have no authority to impose general levy, poll-tax, or land-tax on any of
the priests, Levites, musicians, door-keepers, temple-servitors, or other
servants of this house of God.
And you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom of your God with
which you are entrusted, are to appoint arbitrators and judges to judge
all your people in the province of Beyond-Euphrates, all who acknow-
ledge the laws of your God; and you and they are to instruct those who
do not acknowledge them. Whoever will not obey the law of your God
and the law of the king, let judgement be rigorously executed upon him,
be it death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.
Then Ezra said, 'Blessed be the LORD the God of our fathers who has
prompted the king thus to add glory to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem,
and has made the king and his counsellors and all his high officers well
disposed towards me!'
So, knowing that the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, I took
courage and assembled leading me out of Israel to go up with me.
8 These are the heads of families, as registered, family by family, of those
who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes: of
the family of Phinehas, Gershom; of the family of Ithamar, Daniel; of the
family of Pahath-moab, Elihoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him two
hundred males; of the family of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and
with him three hundred males; of the family Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan,
and with him fifty males; of the family of Elam, Isaiah of Athaliah,
and with him seventy males; of the family of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of
Michael, and with him eighty males; of the family of Joab, Obadiah son
of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males; of the families of
Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him a hundred and sixty males;
of the family of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and wit him twenty-eight
males; of the family of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him a hun-
dred and ten males. The last were the family of Adonikam, and these were
their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males.
I assembled them by the river which flows toward Ahava; and we en-
camped there three days. When I reviewed the people and the priests, I
found no Levite there. So I sent Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib,
Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, prominent men, and
Joiarib and Elnathan, men of discretion, with instructions to go to Iddo,
the chief man of the settlement at Casiphia; and I gave them a message for
him and his kinsmen, the temple-servitors there, asking for servitors for
the house of our God to be sent to us. And, because the gracious hand of
our God was upon us, they let us have Sherebiah, a man of discretion, of
the family of Mahli son of Levi, son of Israel, together with his sons and
kinsmen, eighteen men; also Hashabiah, together with Isaiah of the family
of Merari, his kinsmen and their sons, twenty men; besides two hundred
and twenty temple-servitors (this was an order instituted by David and his
officers to assist the Levites). These were all indicated by name.
Then I proclaimed a fast there by the river Ahava, so that we might
mortify ourselves before our God and ask from him a safe journey for our-
selves, our dependants, and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to ask
the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against enemies
on the way, because we had said to the king, 'The hand of God is upon
all who seek him, working their good; but his fierce anger is on all who
forsake him.' So we fasted and asked our God for a safe journey, and he
answered our prayer.
Then I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, together with
Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their kinsmen, and handed over to
them the silver and gold and the vessels which had been set aside by the
king, his counsellors and his officers and all the Israelites who were present,
as their contribution to the house of our God. I handed over to them six
hundred and fifty talents of silver, a hundred silver vessels weighing two
drachmas, and two vessels of fine red copper, precious as gold. And I
said to the men, 'You are dedicated to the LORD, and the vessels too are
sacred; the silver and gold are a voluntary offering to the LORD the God of
your fathers. Watch over them and guard them, until you hand them over
in the presence of the chiefs to the priests and the Levites and the heads
of families of Israel in Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of the LORD.'
So the priests and Levites received the consignment of silver and gold
and vessels, to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem; and on the
twelfth day of the first month we left the river Ahava bound for Jerusalem.
The hand of our God was upon us, and he saved us from enemy attack and
from ambush on the way. When we arrived at Jerusalem, we rested for
three days. And on the fourth day the silver and gold and vessels were
deposited in the house of our God in the charge of Meremoth son of Uriah
the priest, who had with him Eleazar son of Phinehas, and they had with
them the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.
Everything was checked as it was handed over, and at the same time a
written record was made of the whole consignment. Then those who had
come home from captivity, the exiles who had returned, offered as a whole-
offering to the God of Israel twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams
and seventy-two lambs, with twelve he-goats as a sin-offering; all these
were offered as whole-offerings to the LORD. They also delivered the king's
commission to the royal satraps and governors in the province of Beyond-
Euphrates; and these gave support to the people and the house of God.
9 When all this had been done, some of the leaders approached me and
said, 'The people of Israel , including priests and Levites, have not kept
themselves apart from the foreign population and from the abominable
practices of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the
Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. They have
taken women of these nations as wives for themselves and their sons, so
that the holy race has become mixed with the foreign population; and the
leaders and magistrates have been their chief offenders.' When I heard this
news, I rent my robe and mantle, and tore my hair and my beard, and I sat
dumbfounded; and all who went in fear of the words of the God of Israel
rallied to me because of the offence of these exiles. I sat there dumbfounded
till the evening sacrifice.
Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my humiliation and, in my
rent robe and mantle, I knelt down and spread out my hands to the LORD
my God and said, 'O my God, I am humiliated, I am ashamed to lift my
face to thee, my God; for we are sunk in our iniquities, and our guilt is so
great that it reaches high heaven. From the days of our fathers down to this
present day our guilt has been great. For our iniquities we, our kings, and
our priests have been subject to death, captivity, pillage, and shameful
humiliation at the hands of foreign kings, and such is our present plight.
But now, for a brief moment, the LORD our God has been gracious to us,
leaving us some survivors and giving us a foothold in his holy place. He
has brought light to our eyes again and given us some chance to renew our
lives in our slavery. For slaves we are; nevertheless, our God has not for-
saken us in our slavery, but has made the kings of Persia so well disposed
towards us as to give us the means of renewal, so that we may repair
the house of our God and rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall of defence
in Judah and Jerusalem. Now, O our God, what are we to say after this?
For we have neglected the commands which thou gavest through thy
servants the prophets, when thou saidst, "The land which you are entering
and will possess is a polluted land, polluted by the foreign population with
their abominable practices, which have made it unclean from end to end.
Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, and do not
marry your sons to their daughters, and never seek their welfare or pros-
perity. Thus you will be strong and enjoy the good things of the land, and
pass it on to your children as an everlasting possession." Now, after all
that we have suffered for our evil deeds and for our great guilt——although
thou, our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserved and hast
allowed us to survive as now we do——shall we again disobey thy commands
and join in marriage with peoples who indulge in such abominable prac-
tices? Would not thy anger against us be unrelenting, until no remnant,
no survivor was left? O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous; now as
before, we are only a remnant that has survived. Look upon us, guilty as
we are in thy sight; for because of our guilt none of us can stand in thy
presence.'
10 While Ezra was praying and making confession, prostrate in tears before
the house of God, a very great crowd of Israelites assembled round him,
men, women, and children, and they all wept bitterly. Then Shecaniah son
of Jehiel, one of the family of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, 'We have
committed an offence against our God in marrying foreign wives, daughters
of the foreign population. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel.
Now, therefore, let us pledge ourselves to our God to dismiss al these
women and their blood, according to your advice, my lord, and the
advice of those who go in fear of the command of our God; and let us act as
the law prescribes. Up now, the task is yours, and we will support you.
Take courage and act.'
Ezra stood up and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all the
Israelites swear to do as had been said; and they took the oath. Then Ezra
left his place in front of the house of God and went to the room of Jehohanan
grandson of Eliashib and lodged there; he neither ate bread nor drank
water, for he was mourning for the offence committed by the exiles who
had returned. Next, there was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem a
proclamation that all the exiles should assemble in Jerusalem, and that if
anyone did not arrive within three days, it should be within the discretion
of the chief officers and the elders to confiscate all his property and to
exclude him from the community of the exiles. So all the men of Judah and
Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem within the three days; and on the twen-
tieth day of the ninth month the people all sat in the forecourt of the house
of God, trembling with apprehension and shivering in the heavy rain.
Ezra the priest stood up and said, 'You have committed an offence in
marrying foreign wives and have added to Israel's guilt. Make your con-
fession now to the LORD the God of your fathers and do his will, and
separate yourselves from the foreign population and from your foreign
wives.' Then all the assembled people shouted in reply, 'Yes; we must do
what you say. But there is a great crowd of us here, and it is the rainy
season; we cannot go on standing out here in the open. Besides, this busi-
ness will not be finished in one day or even two, because we have committed
so grave an offence in this matter. Let our leading men act for the whole
assembly, and let all in our cities who have married foreign women present
themselves at appointed times, each man with the elders and judges of his
own city, until God's anger against us on this account is averted.' Only
Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, supported by Meshul-
lam and Shabbethai the Levite, opposed to this.
So the exiles acted as agreed, and Ezra the priest selected certain men,
heads of households representing their families, all of them designated by
name. They began their formal inquiry into the matter on the first day of
the tenth month, and by the first day of the first month they had finished
their inquiry into all the marriages with foreign women.
Among the members of the priestly families who had married foreign
women were found Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah of the family of
Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers. They pledged themselves to dis-
miss their wives, and they brought a ram from the flock as a guilt-offering
for their sins. Of the family of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah. Of the family
of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel and Uzziah. Of the family
of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nathaneel, Jozabad and Elasah.
Of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is Kelita), Pethahiah,
Judah and Eliezer. Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the door-keepers: Shallum,
Telem and Uri.
And of Israel: of the family of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchiah,
Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchiah and Benaiah. Of the family of Elam: Mat-
taniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, Zabad, Aziza. Of the
family of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai and Athlai. Of the family
of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal and Jeremoth. Of
the family of Phahath-moab: Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah,
Bezalel, Binnui and Manasseh. Of the family of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah,
Malchiah, Shemaiah, Simeon, Benjamin, Malluch and Shemariah. Of the
family of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai,
Manasseh and Shimei. Of the family of Bani: Maadai, Amram and Uel,
Benaiah, Bedeiahh and Keluhi, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah,
Mattenai and Jaasau. Of the family of Binnui: Shimei, Shelemiah,
Nathan, Adaiah, Maknadebai, Shashai and Sharai, Azareel, Shelemiah
Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah and Joseph. Of the family of Nebo:
Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel and Benaiah. All these had
married foreign women, and they dismissed them, together with their
children.
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Posted Jul 27, 2019, 1:13 PM UTC · edited
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