1 Esdras 8

¹And after these things, when Artaxerxes the king of the Persians reigned, came Ezdras the son of Azaraias, the son of Zechrias, the son of Helkias, the son of Salem,

²the son of Sadduk, the son of Ahitob, the son of Amarias, the son of Ozias, the son of Memeroth, the son of Zaraias, the son of Savias, the son of Boccas, the son of Abisne, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the chief priest.

³This Esdras went up from Babylon, as being a ready scribe in the law of Moses, that was given by the God of Israel.

⁴And the king did him honour: for he found grace in his sight in all his requests.

⁵There went up with him also certain of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and Levites, and holy singers, and porters, and temple servants, unto Jerusalem,

⁶in the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, in the fifth month, this was the king’s seventh year; for they went from Babylon on the new moon of the first month, and came to Jerusalem, according to the prosperous journey which the Lord gave them for his sake.

⁷For Esdras had very great skill, so that he omitted nothing of the law and commandments of the Lord, but taught all Israel the ordinances and judgments.

⁸Now the commission, which was written from Artaxerxes the king, came to Esdras the priest and reader of the law of the Lord, whereof this that followeth is a copy;

⁹King Artaxerxes unto Esdras the priest and reader of the law of the Lord, greeting:

¹⁰Having determined to deal graciously, I have given order, that such of the nation of the Jews, and of the priests and Levites, and of those within our realm, as are willing and desirous, should go with thee unto Jerusalem.

¹¹As many therefore as have a mind thereunto, let them depart with thee, as it hath seemed good both to me and my seven friends the counsellors;

¹²that they may look unto the affairs of Judaea and Jerusalem, agreeably to that which is in the law of the Lord,

¹³and carry the gifts unto the Lord of Israel to Jerusalem, which I and my friends have vowed; and that all the gold and silver that can be found in the country of Babylonia for the Lord in Jerusalem,

¹⁴with that also which is given of the people for the temple of the Lord their God that is at Jerusalem, be collected: even the gold and silver for bullocks, rams, and lambs, and things thereunto appertaining;

¹⁵to the end that they may offer sacrifices unto the Lord upon the altar of the Lord their God, which is in Jerusalem.

¹⁶And whatsoever thou and thy brethren are minded to do with gold and silver, that perform, according to the will of thy God.

¹⁷And the holy vessels of the Lord, which are given thee for the use of the temple of thy God, which is in Jerusalem:

¹⁸and whatsoever thing else thou shalt remember for the use of the temple of thy God, thou shalt give it out of the king’s treasury.

¹⁹And I king Artaxerxes have also commanded the keepers of the treasures in Syria and Phoenicia, that whatsoever Esdras the priest and reader of the law of the Most High God shall send for, they should give it him with all diligence,

²⁰to the sum of a hundred talents of silver, likewise also of wheat even to a hundred measures, and a hundred firkins of wine, and salt in abundance.

²¹Let all things be performed after the law of God diligently unto the most high God, that wrath come not upon the kingdom of the king and his sons.

²²I command you also, that no tax, nor any other imposition, be laid upon any of the priests, or Levites, or holy singers, or porters, or temple servants, or any that have employment in this temple, and that no man have authority to impose anything upon them.

²³And thou, Esdras, according to the wisdom of God ordain judges and justices, that they may judge in all Syria and Phoenicia all those that know the law of thy God; and those that know it not thou shalt teach.

²⁴And whosoever shall transgress the law of thy God, and of the king, shall be punished diligently, whether it be by death, or other punishment, by penalty of money, or by imprisonment.

²⁵Then said Esdras the scribe, Blessed be the only Lord, the God of my fathers, who hath put these things into the heart of the king, to glorify his house that is in Jerusalem:

²⁶and hath honoured me in the sight of the king, and his counsellors, and all his friends and nobles.

²⁷Therefore was I encouraged by the help of the Lord my God, and gathered together out of Israel men to go up with me.

²⁸And these are the chief according to their families and the several divisions thereof, that went up with me from Babylon in the reign of king Artaxerxes:

²⁹of the sons of Phinees, Gerson: of the sons of Ithamar, Gamael: of the sons of David, Attus the son of Sechenias:

³⁰of the sons of Phoros, Zacharais; and with him were counted a hundred and fifty men:

³¹of the sons of Phaath Moab, Eliaonias the son of Zaraias, and with him two hundred men:

³²of the sons of Zathoes, Sechenias the son of Jezelus, and with him three hundred men: of the sons ofAdin, Obeth the son of Jonathan, and with him two hundred and fifty men:

³³of the sons of Elam, Jesias son of Athaliah. Gotholias, and with him seventy men:

³⁴of the sons of Saphatias, Zebadiah. Zaraias son of Michael, and with him threescore and ten men:

³⁵of the sons of Joab, Obadiah. Abadias son of Jehiel. Jezelus, and with him two hundred and twelve men:

³⁶of the sons of Banias, Salimoth son of Josaphias, and with him a hundred and threescore men:

³⁷of the sons of Babi, Zacharias son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight men:

³⁸of the sons of Azgad. Astath, Joannes son of Hakkatan Akatan, and with him a hundred and ten men:

³⁹of the sons of Adonikam, the last, and these are the names of them, Eliphalat, Jeuel, and Shemaiah. Samaias, and with them seventy men:

⁴⁰of the sons of Bigvai. Bago, Uthi the son of Istalcurus, and with him seventy men.

⁴¹And I gathered them together to the river called Theras; and there we pitched our tents three days, and I surveyed them.

⁴²But when I had found there none of the priests and Levites,

⁴³then sent I unto Eleazar, and Ariel Iduel, and Maasmas,

⁴⁴and Elnathan, and Samaias, and Jarib Joribus, Nathan, Ennatan, Zacharias, and Mosollamus, principal men and men of understanding.

⁴⁵And I bade them that they should go unto Iddo Loddeus the captain, who was in the place of Casiphia, the treasury:

⁴⁶and commanded them that they should speak unto Loddeus, and to his brethren, and to the treasurers in that place, to send us such men as might execute the priests’ office in the house of our Lord.

⁴⁷And by the mighty hand of our Lord they brought unto us men of understanding of the sons of Mooli the son of Levi, the son of Israel, Asebebias, and his sons, and his brethren, who were eighteen,

⁴⁸and Asebias, and Annuus, and Osaias his brother, of the sons of Chanuneus, and their sons were twenty men;

⁴⁹and of the temple-servants whom David and the principal men had appointed for the servants of the Levites, two hundred and twenty temple-servants, the catalogue of all their names was shewed.

⁵⁰And there I vowed a fast for the young men before our Lord, to desire of him a prosperous journey both for us and for our children and cattle that were with us:

⁵¹for I was ashamed to ask of the king footmen, and horsemen, and conduct for safeguard against our adversaries.

⁵²For we had said unto the king, that the power of our Lord would be with them that seek him, to support them in all ways.

⁵³And again we besought our lord as touching these things, and found him favourable unto us.

⁵⁴Then I separated twelve men of the chiefs of the priests, Eserebias, and Assamias, and ten men of their brethren with them:

⁵⁵and I weighed them the silver, and the gold, and the holy vessels of the house of our Lord, which the king, and his counsellors, and the nobles, and all Israel, had given.

⁵⁶And when I had weighed it, I delivered unto them six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels of a hundred talents, and a hundred talents of gold,

⁵⁷and twenty golden vessels, and twelve vessels of brass, even of fine brass, glittering like gold.

⁵⁸And I said unto them, Both ye are holy unto the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the gold and the silver are a vow unto the Lord, the Lord of our fathers.

⁵⁹Watch ye, and keep them till ye deliver them to the chiefs of the priests and Levites, and to the principal men of the families of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of our Lord.

⁶⁰So the priests and the Levites, who received the silver and the gold and the vessels which were in Jerusalem, brought them into the temple of the Lord.

⁶¹And from the river Theras we departed the twelfth day of the first month, until we came to Jerusalem, by the mighty hand of our Lord which was upon us: and the Lord delivered us from assault by the way, from every enemy, and so we came to Jerusalem.

⁶²And when we had been there three days, the silver and gold was weighed and delivered in the house of our Lord on the fourth day unto Marmoth the priest the son of Urias.

⁶³And with him was Eleazar the son of Phinees, and with them were Josabdus the son of Jesus and Moeth the son of Sabannus, the Levites: all was delivered them by number and weight.

⁶⁴And all the weight of them was written up the same hour.

⁶⁵Moreover they that were come out of the captivity offered sacrifices unto the Lord, the God of Israel, even twelve bullocks for all Israel, fourscore and sixteen rams,

⁶⁶threescore and twelve lambs, goats for a peace offering, twelve; all of them a sacrifice to the Lord.

⁶⁷And they delivered the king’s commandments unto the king’s stewards, and to the governors of Coelesyria and Phoenicia; and they honored the people and the temple of the Lord.

⁶⁸Now when these things were done, the principal men came unto me, and said,

⁶⁹The nation of Israel, and the princes, and the priests and the Levites, have not put away from them the strange people of the land, nor the uncleannesses of the Gentiles, to wit, of the Canaanites, Hittites, Pherezites, Jebusites, and the Moabites, Egyptians, and Edomites.

⁷⁰For both they and their sons have married with their daughters, and the holy seed is mixed with the strange people of the land; and from the beginning of this matter the rulers and the nobles have been partakers of this iniquity.

⁷¹And as soon as I had heard these things, I rent my clothes, and my holy garment, and plucked the hair from off my head and beard, and sat me down sad and full of heaviness.

⁷²So all they that were moved at the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, assembled unto me, whilst I mourned for the iniquity: but I sat still full of heaviness until the evening sacrifice.

⁷³Then rising up from the fast with my clothes and my holy garment rent, and bowing my knees, and stretching forth my hands unto the Lord,

⁷⁴I said, O Lord, I am ashamed and confounded before thy face;

⁷⁵for our sins are multiplied above our heads, and our errors have reached up unto heaven,

⁷⁶ever since the time of our fathers; and we are in great sin, even unto this day.

⁷⁷And for our sins and our fathers’ we with our brethren and our kings and our priests were given up to the kings of the earth, to the sword, and to captivity, and for a prey with shame, unto this day.

⁷⁸And now in some measure hath mercy been shewed unto us from thee, O Lord, that there should be left us a root and a name in the place of thy sanctuary;

⁷⁹and to discover unto us a light in the house of the Lord our God, and to give us food in the time of our servitude.

⁸⁰Yea, when we were in bondage, we were not forsaken of our Lord; but he made us gracious before the kings of Persia, so that they gave us food,

⁸¹and glorified the temple of our Lord, and raised up the desolate Sion, to give us a sure abiding in Jewry and Jerusalem.

⁸²And now, O Lord, what shall we say, having these things? For we have transgressed thy commandments, which thou gavest by the hand of thy servants the prophets, saying,

⁸³That the land, which ye enter into to possess as a heritage, is a land polluted with the pollutions of the strangers of the land, and they have filled it with their uncleanness.

⁸⁴Therefore now shall ye not join your daughters unto their sons, neither shall ye take their daughters unto your sons.

⁸⁵Neither shall ye seek to have peace with them for ever, that ye may be strong, and eat the good things of the land, and that ye may leave it for an inheritance unto your children for evermore.

⁸⁶And all that is befallen is done unto us for our wicked works and great sins: for thou, O Lord, didst make our sins light,

⁸⁷and didst give unto us such a root: but we have turned back again to transgress thy law, in mingling ourselves with the uncleanness of the heathen of the land.

⁸⁸Thou wast not angry with us to destroy us, till thou hadst left us neither root, seed, nor name.

⁸⁹O Lord of Israel, thou art true: for we are left a root this day.

⁹⁰Behold, now are we before thee in our iniquities, for we cannot stand any longer before thee by reason of these things.

⁹¹And as Esdras in his prayer made his confession, weeping, and lying flat upon the ground before the temple, there gathered unto him from Jerusalem a very great throng of men and women and children: for there was great weeping among the multitude.

⁹²Then Jechonias the son of Jeelus, one of the sons of Israel, called out, and said, O Esdras, we have sinned against the Lord God, we have married strange women of the heathen of the land, and now is all Israel aloft.

⁹³Let us make an oath unto the Lord herein, that we will put away all our wives, which we have taken of the strangers, with their children,

⁹⁴like as seemeth good unto thee, and to as many as do obey the Law of the Lord.

⁹⁵Arise, and put in execution: for to thee doth this matter appertain, and we will be with thee to do valiantly.

⁹⁶So Esdras arose, and took an oath of the chief of the priests and Levites of all Israel to do after these things; and so they sware.