God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
[11] Also I have made a decree, that
whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him
be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.
[12] And the God that hath caused
his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy
this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed.
[13]
Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, according to that
which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.
[14] And the elders of the Jews builded, and they
prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they
builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment
of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
[15] And this house was finished on the third day
of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
[16] And the children of
Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of
this house of God with joy,
[17] And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks,
two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according
to the number of the tribes of Israel.
[18] And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in
their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.
[19]
And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month.
[20] For
the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all
the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.
[21] And the children
of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them
from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,
[22] And kept the
feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart
of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of
Israel.
Ezra.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,
[2] The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
[3] The son
of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
[4] The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son
of Bukki,
[5] The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief
priest:
[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] 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.
[8] And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year
of the king.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[14] Forasmuch
as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellers, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem,
according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;
[15] And to carry the silver and gold, which the
king and his counsellers have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,
[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:
[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.
[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.
[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.
[20] And whatsoever more shall be needful