seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. 8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh 9 year of the king. For upon the first day of the first month 1began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good 10 hand of his God upon him. For

11

Ezra had 'set his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judge

ments.

Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his stat(12 utes to Israel. 02 Artaxerxes, king

of kings, unto Ezra the priest, 'the scribe of the law of the God of (13 heaven, perfect and so forth'. °I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own free will to (14 go to Jerusalem, go with thee. For

asmuch as thou art sent of the king and his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which 15 is in thine hand; and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habita16 tion is in Jerusalem, and all the silver and gold that thou shalt find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is 17 in Jerusalem; therefore' thou shalt

with all diligencel buy with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their 'meal' offerings and their drink offerings, and shalt offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which 18 is in Jerusalem. And whatsoever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do yel (19 after the will of your God. And the vessels that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, deliver thou before the God of Jeru20 salem. And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's

1 Heb. that was the foundation of. the going up.

21 treasure house. And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, 22 it be done with all diligence', unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt 23 without prescribing how much. °Whatsoever 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? 24) Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim', or 'servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, cus25 tom, or toll, upon them. And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thine hand, 'appoint magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye him' that 26 knoweth them not. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgement be executed upon him with all diligence', whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

27

Blessed be the LORD, 'the God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which 28 is in Jerusalem; and hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD my God upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me. 81) Now these are the 'heads of their Ifathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Ar2 taxerxes the king. Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel: of the sons of 3 David, Hattush. "Of the sons of Shecaniah; of the sons of 'Parosh', Zechariah and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an

13 of his.. (up); speedily; 23 dili

- VIII. 1 chief

4 hundred and fifty. Of the sons of Pahath-moab, 'Eliehoenai' the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred 5 males. Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him 6 three hundred males. And of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jona7 than; and with him fifty males. And

of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy 8 males. And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; 9 and with him fourscore males.

°Of

the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred 10 and eighteen males. And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him an hundred and three11 score males. And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty and eight males. 12 And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan

the son of Hakkatan; and with him 13) an hundred and ten males. And of the sons of Adonikam, that were the last; and these are their names, Eliphelet, 'Jeuel', and Shemaiah, and 14 with them threescore males. And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and 'Zabbud; and with them seventy males.

15

And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there we lencamped three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of 16 Levi. Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, which (17 were teachers. And I sent them 'forth unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and his brethren the 'Nethinim', at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God. 18 And 'according to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of 'discretion', of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and 19 his brethren, eighteen; and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their

1 Another reading is, Zaccur. 2 Or, which had understanding 3 Another reading is, I gave them commandment.

20 sons, twenty; land' of the 'Nethinim', whom David and the princes had Igiven for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim': all of them were expressed by name. 21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might 'humble' ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our sub22) stance. For I was ashamed to 'ask' of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all them that 23 forsake him. So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was 24 intreated of us. "Then I separated twelve of the 'chiefs of the priests, leven Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and 25 ten of their brethren with them, and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his 'princes', and all Israel there present, (26 had offered: I even weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents; of gold an hundred 27 talents; and twenty bowls of gold,

of a thousand 'darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass', precious as 28 gold. And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD, 'and' the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD, 29 the God of your fathers. "Watch

ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and 'the princes of the 'fathers' houses of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house 30 of the LORD. So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

of the enemy and 'the lier' in wait by 32 the way. And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days. 33 And on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of 34 Binnui, the Levites; the whole' by

number and by weight: and all the (35) weight was written at that time. The

children of the captivity which were come out of exile, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD. 36 And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's 'satraps, and to the governors beyond the river: and they furthered the people and the house of God.

91

Now when these things were done, the princes 'drew near unto me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the 'peoples of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the 2 Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons; so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the 'peoples' of 'the' lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been 3 chief in this trespass. And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, 4 and sat down astonied. Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trespass of them of the captivity; and I sat astonied until the evening oblation'. *5) And at the evening 'oblation' I arose up from my humiliation, even with' my garment and my mantle rent; and I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God;

6 and I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness is grown up unto the heavens. 7) Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to spoiling, and to confusion of 8 face, as it is this day. And now for a little moment grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bond9 age. For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah 10 and in Jerusalem. And now, O our

God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, 11) which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the 'peoples' of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another 12 with their filthiness. Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your 13 children for ever. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast 14) given us such a remnant', shall we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the 'peoples that dol these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be 15 no remnant, nor lany to escape!? °0 LORD, the God of Israel, thou art righteous; for we are left a remnant

Or, waste places 8 Or, I fencel

that is escaped, as it is this day : behold, we are before thee in our guiltiness; for none can stand before thee because of this.

101 Now while! Ezra prayed, and 'made confession', weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there was gathered together unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: 2 for the people wept very sore. And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married' strange Iwomen of the 'peoples' of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel con3 cerning this thing. Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to 4 the law. Arise; for the matter belongeth unto thee, 'and' we are with thee: be of good courage, and do it. 5 °Then arose Ezra, and made the 'chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would' do according to this word. So they 6 sware. 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 thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the 'tres7 pass' of them of the captivity!'.

And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jeru8 salem; and that whosoever camel not within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be sforfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of the captivity'. 9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within the three days; it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month: and all the people sat in the 'broad place before! the house of God, trembling because

of this matter, and for the great rain. 10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have trespassed', and have married strange women', 11 to increase the 'guilt of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the 'peoples of the land, 12 and from the strange women'. Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, "As thou hast said concerning us, so must we do. 13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we have

greatly transgressed in this 'matter'. 14)°Let now our princes be appointed for all the congregation, and let all them that are in our cities which have married' strange 'women' come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this 15 matter be despatched. Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and 'Jahzeiah' the son of Tikvah stood up against this matter: and Meshullam and Shab16 bethai the Levite helped them. And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain 'heads' of 'fathers' houses, after their Ifathers' houses', and all of them by their names, were separated; and 'they' sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. 17 And they made an end with all the men that had 'married' strange women by the first day of the first month. 18 And among the sons of the priests there were found that had married" strange women': namely, of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and 19 Jarib, and Gedaliah. And they gave their hand' that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their 20 guilt. And of the sons of Immer; 21 Hanani and Zebadiah. And of the sons of Harim; Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah. 22 °And of the sons of 'Pashhur1; Elioenai,

7 Heb. stand.

8 Or, las touching this matter Or, were lappointed over this

Maaseiah, Ishmael, 'Nethanel', Joza23 bad, and Elasah. And of the Levites; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (the same is Kelita), Petha24 hiah, Judah, and Eliezer. And of the singers; Eliashib: and of the porters; 25 Shallum, and Telem, and Uri. Andi

of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; Ramiah, and 'Izziah', and 'Malchijah', and 'Mijamin', and Eleazar, and Mal26 chijah, and Benaiah. And of the sons of Elam; Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, 27 and Elijah'. And of the sons of Zattu; Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza. (28 And of the sons of Bebai; Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai. 29 And of the sons of Bani; Meshullam,

Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and 30 Sheal, Jeremoth'. And of the sons of Pahath-moab; Adna, and Chelal,

Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, 'Bezalel', and Binnui, and Manasseh. 31 And of the sons of Harim; Eliezer, 'Isshijah, Malchijah', Shemaiah, Shim(32 eon; Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah. (33 °Of the sons of Hashum; Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, 34 Manasseh, Shimei. Of the sons of Bani; Maadai, Amram, and Uel; 35, 36 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi; Va37 niah, Meremoth, Eliashib; Mattaniah, 38 Mattenai, and Jaasu; and Bani, 39 and Binnui, Shimei; and Shelemiah, 40 and Nathan, and Adaiah; Machna41 debai, Shashai, Sharai: "Azarel', and (42 Shelemiah, Shemariah; °Shallum, Am43 ariah, Joseph. Of the sons of Ne

о

bo; Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, 44 Iddo', and Joel, Benaiah. ° All these had taken strange wives: and "some of them had wives by whom they had children.

11

THE words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it came to pass in the month Chislev', 'in the twentieth year, as 2 I was in Shushan the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are 'burned' 3 with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed be5 fore the God of heaven, and said, I beseech thee, O LORD, the God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy

'with them that love him and 'keep 6 his commandments: let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest 'hearken untol the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee at this time', day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: yeal, I and my father's house have sinned. 1 °We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgements, which thou commandedst thy 8 servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye trespass', I will scatter you 9 abroad among the 'peoples': but if ye return' unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though 'your outcasts were lin' the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather