²“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:* The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem; ⁴and let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.”

⁵Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, every one whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem; ⁶and all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. ⁷Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD which Nebuchadnez'zar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. ⁸Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in charge of Mith'redath the treasurer, who counted them out to Shesh-baz'zar the prince of Judah. ⁹And this was the number of them: a thousand^a basins of gold, a thousand basins of silver, twenty-nine censers, ¹⁰thirty bowls of gold, two thousand^b four hundred and ten bowls of silver, and a thousand other vessels; ¹¹all the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine.^c All these did Shesh-baz'zar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

The number of the men of the sons of Israel: ³the sons of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two. ⁴The sons of Shephati'ah, three hundred and seventy-two. ⁵The sons of A'rah, seven hundred and seventy-five. ⁶The sons of Pa'hath-mo'ab, namely the sons of Jesh'ua and Jo'ab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve. ⁷The sons of E'lam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four. ⁸The sons of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five. ⁹The sons of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty. ¹⁰The sons of Ba'ni, six hundred and forty-two. ¹¹The sons of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-three. ¹²The sons of Azgad, one thousand two hundred and twenty-two. ¹³The sons of Adoni'kam, six hundred and sixty-six. ¹⁴The sons of Bigvai, two thousand and fifty- six. ¹⁵The sons of A'din, four hundred and fifty-four. ¹⁶The sons of A'ter, namely of Hezeki'ah, ninety-eight. ¹⁷The sons of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-three. ¹⁸The sons of Jo'rah, one hundred and twelve. ¹⁹The sons of Hashum, two hundred and twenty-three. ²⁰The sons of Gibbar, ninety-five. ²¹The sons of Bethlehem, one hundred and twenty-three. ²²The men of Netoph'ah, fifty-six. ²³The men of An'athoth, one hundred and twenty-eight. ²⁴The sons of Az'maveth, forty-two. ²⁵The sons of Kir''iathar'im, Chephi'rah, and Be-er'oth, seven hundred and forty-three. ²⁶The sons of Ra'mah and Ge'ba, six hundred and twenty-one. ²⁷The men of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two. ²⁸The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three. ²⁹The sons of Nebo, fifty-two. ³⁰The sons of Magbish, one hundred and fifty-six. ³¹The sons of the other E'lam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four. ³²The sons of Harim, three hundred and twenty. ³³The sons of Lod, Ha'did, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five. ³⁴The sons of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five. ³⁵The sons of Sena'ah, three thousand six hundred and thirty.

³⁶The priests: the sons of Jedai'ah, of the house of Jesh'ua, nine hundred and seventy-three. ³⁷The sons of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two. ³⁸The sons of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven. ³⁹The sons of Harim, one thousand and seventeen.

⁴⁰The Levites: the sons of Jesh'ua and Kad'mi-el, of the sons of Hod''avi'ah, seventy-four. ⁴¹The singers: the sons of A'saph, one hundred and twenty-eight. ⁴²The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of A'ter, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hati'ta, and the sons of Shobai, in all one hundred and thirty-nine.

⁴³The temple servants:^d the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasu'pha, the sons of Tabba'oth, ⁴⁴the sons of Keros, the sons of Si'aha, the sons of Padon, ⁴⁵the sons of Leba'nah, the sons of Hag'abah, the sons of Akkub, ⁴⁶the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Ha'nan, ⁴⁷the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Re-ai'ah, ⁴⁸the sons of Re'zin, the sons of Neko'da, the sons of Gazzam, ⁴⁹the sons of Uzza, the sons of Pase'ah, the sons of Besai, ⁵⁰the sons of Asnah, the sons of Me-u'nim, the sons of Nephi'sim, ⁵¹the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Haku'pha, the sons of Harhur, ⁵²the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehi'da, the sons of Harsha, ⁵³the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sis'era, the sons of Te'mah, ⁵⁴the sons of Nezi'ah, and the sons of Hati'pha.

⁵⁵The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hasso'phereth, the sons of Peru'da, ⁵⁶the sons of Ja'alah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, ⁵⁷the sons of Shephati'ah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Po'chereth-hazzeba'im, and the sons of A'mi.

⁵⁸All the temple servants^d and the sons of Solomon’s servants were three hundred and ninety-two.

⁵⁹The following were those who came up from Tel-me'lah, Tel-har'sha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: ⁶⁰the sons of Delai'ah, the sons of Tobi'ah, and the sons of Neko'da, six hundred and fifty-two. ⁶¹Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habai'ah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzil'lai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name). ⁶²These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean; ⁶³the governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult U'rim and Thummim.

⁶⁴The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, ⁶⁵besides their menservants and maidservants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred male and female singers. ⁶⁶Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules were two hundred and forty-five, ⁶⁷their camels were four hundred and thirty-five, and their donkeys were six thousand seven hundred and twenty.

⁶⁸Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site; ⁶⁹according to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work sixty-one thousand darics of gold, five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priests’ garments.

⁷⁰The priests, the Levites, and some of the people lived in Jerusalem and its vicinity;^e and the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all Israel in their towns.

⁸Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerub'babel the son of She-al'ti-el and Jesh'ua the son of Jo'zadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their brethren, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the house of the LORD. ⁹And Jesh'ua with his sons and his kinsmen, and Kad'mi-el and his sons, the sons of Judah, together took the oversight of the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Hen'adad and the Levites, their sons and kinsmen.

¹⁰And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of A'saph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel; ¹¹and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD,

⁴Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build,* ⁵and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Dari'us king of Persia.

⁶And in the reign of Ahas'u-e'rus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷And in the days of Ar-ta-xerx'es, Bishlam and Mith'redath and Ta'be-el and the rest of their associates wrote to Ar-ta-xerxes king of Persia; the letter was written in Arama'ic and translated.^{f 8}Re'hum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Ar-ta-xerx'es the king as follows—⁹then wrote Re'hum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of E'rech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the E'lamites, ¹⁰and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnap'par deported and settled in the cities of Samar'ia and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, and now ¹¹this is a copy of the letter that they sent—“To Ar-ta-xerx'es the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now ¹²be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city; they are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. ¹³Now be it known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. ¹⁴Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, ¹⁵in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. ¹⁶We make known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

¹⁷The king sent an answer: “To Re'hum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samar'ia and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now ¹⁸the letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me. ¹⁹And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. ²⁰And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. ²¹Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. ²²And take care not to be slack in this matter; why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”

²³Then, when the copy of King Ar-ta-xerx'es’ letter was read before Re'hum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. ²⁴Then the work on the house of God which is in Jerusalem stopped; and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Dari'us king of Persia.

³At the same time Tat'tenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and She'thar-boz'enai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus, “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” ⁴They^g also asked them this, “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” ⁵But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them till a report should reach Dari'us and then answer be returned by letter concerning it.

⁶The copy of the letter which Tat'tenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and She'thar-boz'enai and his associates the governors who were in the province Beyond the River sent to Dari'us the king; ⁷they sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Dari'us the king, all peace. ⁸Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls; this work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. ⁹Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus, ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ ¹⁰We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of the men at their head. ¹¹And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. ¹²But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon, the Chalde'an, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. ¹³However in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. ¹⁴And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnez'zar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Shesh-baz'zar, whom he had made governor; ¹⁵and he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple which is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” ¹⁶Then this Shesh-baz'zar came and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.’ ¹⁷Therefore, if it seem good to the king, let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”

⁶“Now therefore, Tat'tenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, She'thar-boz'enai, and your associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away; ⁷let the work on this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. ⁸Moreover I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God; the cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. ⁹And whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, ¹⁰that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹Also I make a decree that if any one alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled upon it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. ¹²May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people that shall put forth a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Dari'us make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”

¹³Then, according to the word sent by Dari'us the king, Tat'tenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, She'thar-boz'enai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. ¹⁴And the elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Hag'gai the prophet and Zechari'ah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Dari'us and Ar-ta-xerx'es king of Persia; ¹⁵and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar', in the sixth year of the reign of Dari'us the king.

¹⁶And the sons of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. ¹⁷They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

¹⁹On the fourteenth day of the first month the returned exiles kept the Passover. ²⁰For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they killed the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves; ²¹it was eaten by the sons of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and separated himself from the pollutions of the peoples of the land to worship the LORD, the God of Israel. ²²And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; for the LORD had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

⁷And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Ar-ta-xerx'es the king, some of the sons of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants. ⁸And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king; ⁹for on the first day of the first month he began^h to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was upon him. ¹⁰For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach his statutes and ordinances in Israel.

¹¹This is a copy of the letter which King Ar-ta-xerx'es gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in matters of the commandments of the LORD and his statutes for Israel: ¹²“Ar-ta-xerx'es, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven.^x And now ¹³I make a decree that any one of the sons of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. ¹⁴For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your hand, ¹⁵and also to convey the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶with all the silver and gold which you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁷With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their cereal offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸Whatever seems good to you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. ¹⁹The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which you have occasion to provide, you may provide it out of the king’s treasury.

²¹“And I, Ar-ta-xerx'es the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, be it done with all diligence, ²²up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. ²³Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons. ²⁴We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll upon any one of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and those who do not know them, you shall teach. ²⁶Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed upon him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”

²⁷Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem, ²⁸and who extended to me his merciful love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

8These are the heads of their fathers’ houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Ar-ta-xerx'es the king: ²Of the sons of Phin'ehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ith'amar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush, ³of the sons of Shecani'ah. Of the sons of Pa'rosh, Zechari'ah, with whom were registered one hundred and fifty men. ⁴Of the sons of Pa'hath-mo'ab, El'ie-ho-e'nai the son of Zerahi'ah, and with him two hundred men. ⁵Of the sons of Zattu,ⁱ Shecani'ah the son of Jaha'ziel, and with him three hundred men. ⁶Of the sons of A'din, E'bed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty men. ⁷Of the sons of E'lam, Jeshai'ah the son of Athali'ah, and with him seventy men. ⁸Of the sons of Shephati'ah, Zebadi'ah the son of Michael, and with him eighty men. ⁹Of the sons of Jo'ab, Obadi'ah the son of Jehi'el, and with him two hundred and eighteen men. ¹⁰Of the sons of Ba'ni,^j Shelo'mith the son of Josiphi'ah, and with him a hundred and sixty men. ¹¹Of the sons of Bebai, Zechari'ah, the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight men. ¹²Of the sons of Azgad, Joha'nan the son of Hak'katan, and with him a hundred and ten men. ¹³Of the sons of Adoni'kam, those who came later, their names being Eliph'elet, Jeu'el, and Shemai'ah, and with them sixty men. ¹⁴Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them seventy men.

¹⁵I gathered them to the river that runs to Aha'va, and there we encamped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi. ¹⁶Then I sent for Elie'zer, Ar'iel, Shemai'ah, Elna'than, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechari'ah, and Meshul'lam, leading men, and for Joi'arib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, ¹⁷and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphi'a, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brethren the temple servants^k at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. ¹⁸And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mah'li the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely, Sherebi'ah with his sons and kinsmen, eighteen; ¹⁹also Hashabi'ah and with him Jeshai'ah of the sons of Merar'i, with his kinsmen and their sons, twenty; ²⁰besides two hundred and twenty of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.

²¹Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Aha'va, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. ²²For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way; since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good upon all that seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all that forsake him.” ²³So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

²⁴Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebi'ah, Hashabi'ah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. ²⁵And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered; ²⁶I weighed out into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels worth a hundred talents, and a hundred talents of gold, ²⁷twenty bowls of gold worth a thousand darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. ²⁸And I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers. ²⁹Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the LORD.” ³⁰So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

³¹Then we departed from the river Aha'va on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. ³²We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. ³³On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Mer'emoth the priest, son of Uri'ah, and with him was Elea'zar the son of Phin'ehas, and with them were the Levites, Joz'abad the son of Jesh'ua and No-adi'ah the son of Bin'nui. ³⁴The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

³⁵At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve he-goats; all this was a burnt offering to the LORD. ³⁶They also delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River; and they aided the people and the house of God.

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. ⁷From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt; and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as at this day. ⁸But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant, and to give us a secure hold^l within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. ⁹For we are bondmen; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended to us his mercy before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection^m in Judea and Jerusalem.

¹⁰“And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, ¹¹which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land unclean with the pollutions of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. ¹²Therefore give not your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.’ ¹³And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, ¹⁴shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us till you would consume us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? ¹⁵O LORD the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as at this day. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”

⁶Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God, and went to the chamber of Je'ho-ha'nan the son of Eli'ashib, where he spent the night,ⁿ neither eating bread nor drinking water; for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles. ⁷And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem, ⁸and that if any one did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles.

⁹Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days; it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. ¹⁰And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have trespassed and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. ¹¹Now then make confession to the LORD the God of your fathers, and do his will; separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” ¹²Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said. ¹³But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a work for one day or for two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. ¹⁴Let our officials stand for the whole assembly; let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, till the fierce wrath of our God over this matter be averted from us.” ¹⁵Only Jonathan the son of As'ahel and Jahzei'ah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshul'lum and Shab'bethai the Levite supported them.

¹⁶Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men,^o heads of fathers’ houses, according to their fathers’ houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to examine the matter; ¹⁷and by the first day of the first month they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women.

¹⁸Of the sons of the priests who had married foreign women were found Ma-asei'ah, Elie'zer, Ja'rib, and Gedali'ah, of the sons of Jesh'ua the son of Jo'zadak and his brethren. ¹⁹They pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock for their guilt. ²⁰Of the sons of Immer: Hana'ni and Zebadi'ah. ²¹Of the sons of Harim: Ma-asei'ah, Eli'jah, Shemai'ah, Jehi'el, and Uzzi'ah. ²²Of the sons of Pashhur: El'i-o-e'nai, Ma-asei'ah, Ish'mael, Nethan'el, Joz'abad, and Ela'sah.

²³Of the Levites: Joz'abad, Shim'e-i, Kelai'ah (that is, Keli'ta), Peth'a-hi'ah, Judah, and Elie'zer. ²⁴Of the singers: Eli'ashib. Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and U'ri.

²⁵And of Israel: of the sons of Pa'rosh: Rami'ah, Izzi'ah, Malchi'jah, Mi'jamin, Elea'zar, Hashabi'ah,^p and Bena'iah. ²⁶Of the sons of E'lam: Mattani'ah, Zechari'ah, Jehi'el, Abdi, Jer'emoth, and Eli'jah. ²⁷Of the sons of Zattu: El'i-o-e'nai, Eli'ashib, Mattani'ah, Jer'emoth, Zabad, and Azi'za. ²⁸Of the sons of Bebai were Je'ho-ha'nan, Hanani'ah, Zabbai, and Athlai. ²⁹Of the sons of Ba'ni were Meshul'lam, Malluch, Adai'ah, Jash'ub, She'al, and Jer'emoth. ³⁰Of the sons of Pa'hath-mo'ab: Adna, Chelal, Bena'iah, Ma-asei'ah, Mattani'ah, Bez'alel, Bin'nui, and Manas'seh. ³¹Of the sons of Harim: Elie'zer, Isshi'jah, Malchi'jah, Shemai'ah, Shim'e-on, ³²Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemari'ah. ³³Of the sons of Hashum: Matte'nai, Mattat'tah, Zabad, Eliph'elet, Jer'emai, Manas'seh, and Shim'e-i. ³⁴Of the sons of Ba'ni: Ma-ada'i, Amram, U'el, ³⁵Bena'iah, Bedei'ah, Chel'uhi, ³⁶Vani'ah, Mer'emoth, Eli'ashib, ³⁷Mattani'ah, Matte'nai, Jaa'su. ³⁸Of the sons of Bin'nui:^q Shim'e-i, ³⁹Shelemi'ah, Nathan, Adai'ah, ⁴⁰Machnad'ebai, Shashai, Sharai, ⁴¹Az'arel, Shelemi'ah, Shemari'ah, ⁴²Shallum, Amari'ah, and Joseph. ⁴³Of the sons of Nebo: Je-i'el, Mattithi'ah, Zabad, Zebi'na, Jaddai, Joel, and Bena'iah. ⁴⁴All these had married foreign women, and they put them away with their children.^r