Ezra 7
1 Now after these things, when Artaxerxes was 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; and he was a scribe, expert in the law of Moses which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given: and the king, moved by the Lord his God, gave him whatever he made request for.
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 And some of the children of Israel went up, with some of the priests and the Levites and the music-makers and the door-keepers and the Nethinim, 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 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king's rule.
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, starting his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, he came to Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, by the good help of his God.
10 For Ezra had given his mind to learning the law of the Lord and doing it, and to teaching his rules and decisions 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 a copy of the letter which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra, the priest and the scribe, who put into writing the words of the orders of the Lord, and of his rules for 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, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, all peace;
[“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 And now it is my order that all those of the people of Israel, and their priests and Levites in my kingdom, who are ready and have a desire to go to Jerusalem, are to 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 wise men, to get knowledge about Judah and Jerusalem, as you are ordered by 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 take with you the silver and gold freely offered by the king and his wise men to the God of Israel, whose Temple 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 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:
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 So with this money get with care oxen, sheep, and lambs, with their meal offerings and their drink offerings, to be offered 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 And whatever seems right to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, that do, as may be pleasing to 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 And the vessels which have been given to you for the uses of the house of your God, you are to give to 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 And whatever more is needed for the house of your God, and which you may have to give, take it from the king's store-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 And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, now give orders to all keepers of the king's money across the river, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may have need of from you, is to be done with all care,
“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 a hundred talents of silver, a hundred measures of grain, a hundred measures of wine, and a hundred measures of oil, and salt without measure.
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 ordered by the God of heaven, let it be done completely for the house of the God of heaven; so that there may not be wrath against the kingdom 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 In addition, we make it clear to you, that it will be against the law to put any tax or payment in goods or forced payment on any of the priests or Levites, the music-makers, door-keepers, Nethinim, or any servants 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 And you, Ezra, by the wisdom of your God which is in you, are to put rulers and judges to have authority over all the people across the river who have knowledge of the laws of your God; and you are to give teaching to him who has no knowledge of 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 And if anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, take care that punishment is given to him, by death or by driving him from his country or by taking away his goods or by putting him in prison.
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 Praise be to the Lord, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing into the heart of the king, to make fair the house of the Lord 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 given mercy to me before the king and his government and before all the king's great captains. And I was made strong by the hand of the Lord my God which was on me, and I got together out of Israel chief men 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.”
