The Return · 458 BC
Chapter 14
Ezra Comes to Jerusalem
For Ezra had set his heart to seek Yahweh’s law, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Later, while was king of , a man named went up from . He was the son of Seraiah, and his family line ran back, son to father, all the way to the chief priest.
Ezra was a who knew the law of well, the law that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. Because the Lord his God had his hand on Ezra, the king gave him everything he asked for.
Some of the people of Israel went up to too, in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. Among them were , , singers, gatekeepers and .
On the first day of the first month Ezra started out from Babylon. On the first day of the fifth month, in the king’s seventh year, he came to Jerusalem. The good hand of his God was on him.
That was because Ezra had set his heart on studying the Lord’s law, on doing what it says, and on teaching its commands and rules in Israel.
King Artaxerxes gave a letter to Ezra the priest, the scribe who knew the Lord’s commandments and his laws for Israel. This is a copy of it.
“From Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the perfect God of heaven. I make this decree: anyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel may go with you to Jerusalem if they freely choose to, and so may any of their priests and Levites.
“The king and his seven counselors are sending you to look into how things are in and Jerusalem, going by the law of your God, which you hold in your hand. The king and his counselors have freely offered silver and gold to the God of Israel, whose home is in Jerusalem, and you are to take it with you. Also take all the silver and gold you find in the whole province of Babylon, along with the gifts the people and the priests freely give for the house of their God in Jerusalem.
“Take care to use this money to buy bulls, rams and lambs, with the and that go with them, and offer them on the of your God’s house in Jerusalem. With the rest of the silver and the gold, do whatever seems good to you and your brothers, the way your God wants.
“As for the vessels you have been given for the service of the house of your God, hand them over in the presence of the God of Jerusalem. If the house of your God needs anything more that you have to provide, give it from the king’s treasury.”
The letter also carried a decree from King Artaxerxes himself to all the treasurers beyond the River, the . Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, was to get whatever he asked of them, and they were to see to it carefully. He could ask for up to a hundred of silver. A talent was about 66 pounds, so that was more than three tons. He could ask for up to a hundred of wheat, about six hundred bushels, and up to a hundred of wine and a hundred baths of oil, about 560 gallons of each. And he could have salt, with no limit set on how much.
“Everything the God of heaven commands for his house must be done exactly,” the king wrote. “Why should there be anger against the kingdom of the king and his sons?”
“We also tell you this: the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants and other workers of this house of God are not to be made to pay any tax, duty or toll.”
Then the letter spoke to Ezra again. “And you, Ezra, are to appoint officials and judges, using the wisdom of your God that you hold in your hand. They will judge all the people beyond the River, all who know the laws of your God. And teach anyone who doesn’t know them. Anyone who will not obey your God’s law and the king’s law must be judged without delay. He may be put to death, or sent away, or have his goods taken, or be put in prison.”
“Praise the Lord, the God of our ancestors!” Ezra said. “He has put this into the king’s heart: to make the Lord’s house in Jerusalem beautiful. He has shown me his loving kindness in front of the king and his counselors, and in front of all the king’s mighty princes.”
The hand of the Lord his God was on Ezra, and he found strength. He gathered leaders of Israel to go up with him.
These were the heads of the families who went up with Ezra from Babylon while Artaxerxes was king, listed family by family. Gershom came from the family of , Daniel from the family of , and Hattush from the family of King David.
Then came the leaders of the families of Parosh, Pahathmoab, Shecaniah, Adin, Elam, Shephatiah, Joab, Shelomith, Bebai, Azgad, Adonikam and Bigvai. The males of each family came with its leaders and were listed with them, from twenty-eight in one family to three hundred in another.
Ezra gathered them at the river that runs to , and they camped there three days. When he looked over the people and the priests, he found that there were no Levites among them.
Then Ezra sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, another Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders. He also sent for Joiarib and another Elnathan, who were teachers. He sent them to , the chief at the place called . He told them what to say to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants there: they should send people back to serve in the house of their God.
The good hand of their God was on Ezra and his people. A man of good sense was brought to them from the family of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. His name was Sherebiah, and his sons and his brothers came with him, eighteen in all. Hashabiah came too. Jeshaiah of the family of came with him, and so did his brothers and their sons, twenty in all. Two hundred twenty temple servants came as well. They were from the temple servants that David and the leaders had given to serve the Levites. Every one of them was listed by name.
Ezra called for a at the river Ahava, so that they could humble themselves before their God and ask him for a straight road for themselves, for their little ones, and for everything they owned.
Ezra had been ashamed to ask the king for a guard of soldiers and horsemen to help them against the enemy on the road, because he and his people had said to the king, “The hand of our God is on all who seek him, for their good. But his power and his anger are against all who turn away from him.”
So they fasted and begged their God for this, and he granted their request.
Then Ezra set apart twelve of the chief priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them. He weighed out the silver, the gold and the vessels, and gave them into their care. This was the offering that the king, his counselors, his princes, and all Israel who were there had given for the house of their God.
He weighed it into their hands: six hundred fifty talents of silver, more than twenty tons; a hundred talents of silver vessels; a hundred talents of gold; twenty gold bowls weighing a thousand , which were Persian gold coins; and two vessels of fine, shining bronze, as precious as gold.
“You are holy to the Lord,” Ezra told them, “and the vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a gift freely given to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Watch over them and keep them safe until you weigh them out in the rooms of the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. You will weigh them there in front of the chief priests, the Levites, and the heads of Israel’s families.”
So the priests and the Levites received the silver, the gold and the vessels that had been weighed out. They were to carry them to the house of their God in Jerusalem.
On the twelfth day of the first month they left the river Ahava for Jerusalem. The hand of their God was on them, and he saved them from the enemy and from bandits on the way.
They came to Jerusalem and stayed there three days. On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed out in the house of their God. They were handed over to Meremoth son of Uriah the priest, and Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him. Two Levites were with them as well: Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. Everything was counted and weighed, and the weight of it all was written down at that time.
The people who had been captives and had come back from exile offered to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats for a . All of it was a burnt offering to the Lord.
They delivered the king’s orders to the king’s local governors and to the governors beyond the River. So they supported the people and God’s house.