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Ezra Comes to Jerusalem
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,
7:2 The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
7:3 The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of
Meraioth,
7:4 The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
7:5 The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of
Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest:
7:6 This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready
scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had
given: and the king granted him all his request, according
to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
7:7 And there went up some of the children of Israel, and
of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the
porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh
year of Artaxerxes the king.
7:8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was
in the seventh year of the king.
7:9 For upon the first day of the first month began he to
go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month
came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God
upon him.
7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the
LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and
judgments.
King Artaxerxes’ Letter
to Ezra
7:11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the
king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even
a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and
of his statutes to Israel.
7:12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a
scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and
at such a time.
7:13 I make a decree, that all they of the people of
Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which
are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go
with thee.
7:14 Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his
seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and
Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine
hand;
7:15 And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and
his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel,
whose habitation is in Jerusalem,
7:16 And all the silver and gold that thou canst 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 in Jerusalem:
7:17 That thou mayest buy speedily with this money
bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their
drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house
of your God which is in Jerusalem.
7:18 And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy
brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold,
that do after the will of your God.
7:19 The vessels also that are given thee for the service
of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God
of Jerusalem.
7:20 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 treasure house.
7:21 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, it be done speedily,
7:22 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 without prescribing how
much.
7:23 Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it
be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for
why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and
his sons?
7:24 Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests
and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of
this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll,
tribute, or custom, upon them.
7:25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is
in thine hand, set 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 them that know them not.
7:26 And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the
law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him,
whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to
confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
7:27 Blessed be the LORD 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 is in Jerusalem:
7:28 And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and
his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes.
And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was
upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to
go up with me. |
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
