Septuagint (Greek Old Testament)

And the elders of the Jews and the Levites built, at the prophecy of Aggæus the prophet, and Zacharias the son of Addo: and they built up, and finished [it], by the decree of the God of Israel, and by the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Arthasastha, kings of the Persians.

And they finished this house by the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of the house of God with gladness.

And they offered for the dedication of the house of God a hundred calves, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, twelve kids of the goats for a sin-offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their separate orders, for the services of God in Jerusalem, according to the writing of the book of Moses.

And the children of the captivity kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

For the priests and Levites were purified, all were clean to a man, and they slew the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

And the children of Israel ate the passover, [even] they that were of the captivity, and every one who separated himself to them from the uncleanness of the nations of the land, to seek the Lord God of Israel.

And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with gladness, because the Lord made them glad, and he turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the works of the house of the God of Israel.

Now after these things, in the reign of Arthasastha king of the Persians, came up Esdras the son of Saraias, the son of Azarias, the son of Chelcias,

the son of Selum, the son of Sadduc, the son of Achitob,

the son of Samarias, the son of Esria, the son of Mareoth,

the son of Zaraia, the son of Ozias, the son of Bokki,

the son of Abisue, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the first priest.

This Esdras went up out of Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel gave: and the king gave him [leave], for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him in all things which he sought.

And [some] of the children of Israel went up, and [some] of the priests, and of the Levites, and the singers, and the door-keepers, and the Nathinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Arthasastha the king.

And they came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, this [was] the seventh year of the king.

For in the first [day] of the first month he began the going up from Babylon, and in the first day of the fifth month they came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was upon him.

For Esdras had determined in his heart to seek the law, and to do and teach the ordinances and judgments in Israel.

And this [is] the copy of the order which Arthasastha gave to Esdras the priest, the scribe of the book of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his ordinances to Israel.

Arthasastha, king of kings, to Esdras, the scribe of the law of the Lord God of heaven, Let the order and the answer be accomplished.

A decree is made by me, that every one who is willing in my kingdom of the people of Israel, and of the priests and Levites, to go to Jerusalem, [be permitted] to go with thee.

[One] has been sent from the king and the seven councillors, to visit Judea and Jerusalem, according to the law of their God that is in thine hand.

And for the house of the Lord [there have been sent] silver and gold, which the king and the councillors have freely given to the God of Israel, who dwells in Jerusalem.

And all the silver and gold, whatsoever thou shalt find in all the land of Babylon, with the freewill-offering of the people, and the priests that offer freely for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.

And as for every one that arrives [there], speedily order him by this letter [to bring] calves, rams, lambs, and their meat-offerings, and their drink-offerings; and thou shalt offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

And whatever it shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do as it is pleasing to your God.

And deliver the vessels that are given thee for the service of the house of God, before God in Jerusalem.

And as to the rest of the need of the house of thy God, thou shalt give from the king's treasure-houses,

and from me, whatever it shall seem [good] to thee to give. I king Arthasastha have made a decree for all the treasuries that are in the [country] beyond the river, that whatever Esdras the priest and scribe of the God of heaven may ask you, it shall be done speedily,

to [the amount of] a hundred talents of silver, and a hundred measures of wheat, and a hundred baths of wine, and a hundred baths of oil, and salt without reckoning.

Let whatever is in the decree of the God of heaven, be done: take heed lest any one make an attack on the house of the God of heaven, lest at any time there should be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons.

Also this has been declared to you, with respect to all the priests, and Levites, the singers, porters, Nathinim and ministers of the house of God, let no tribute be [paid] to thee; thou shalt not have power to oppress them.

And thou, Esdras, as the wisdom of God [is] in thy hand, appoint scribes and judges, that they may judge for all the people beyond the river, all that know the law of the Lord thy God; and ye shall make it known to him that knows not.

And whosoever shall not do the law of God, and the law of the king readily, judgment shall be taken upon him, whether for death or for chastisement, or for a fine of his property, or casting into prison.

Blessed [be] the Lord God of our fathers, who has put it thus into the heart of the king, to glorify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem;

and has given me favour in the eyes of the king, and of his councillors, and all the rulers of the king, the exalted ones. And I was strengthened according to the good hand of God upon me, and I gathered chief men of Israel to go up with me.

And these [are] the heads of their families, the leaders that went up with me in the reign of Arthasastha the king of Babylon.

Of the sons of Phinees; Gerson: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David; Attus.

Of the sons of Sachania, and of the sons of Phoros; Zacharias: and with him a company [of] a hundred and fifty.

Of the sons of Phaath-Moab; Eliana the son of Saraia, and with him two hundred that were males.

And of the sons of Zathoes; Sechenias the son of Aziel, and with him three hundred males.

And of the sons of Adin; Obeth the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.

And of the sons of Elam; Isæas the son of Athelia, and with him seventy males.

And of the sons of Saphatia; Zabadias the son of Michael, and with him eighty males.

And of the sons of Joab; Abadia the son of Jeiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

And of the sons of Baani; Selimuth the son of Josephia, and with him a hundred and sixty males.

And of the sons of Babi; Zacharias the son of Babi, and with him twenty-eight males.

And of the sons of Asgad; Joanan the son of Accatan, and with him a hundred and ten males.

And of the sons of Adonicam [were the] last, and these [were] their names, Eliphalat, Jeel, and Samæa, and with them sixty males.

And of the sons of Baguæ, Uthai, and Zabud, and with him seventy males.

And I gathered them to the river that comes to Evi, and we encamped there three days: and I reviewed the people and the priests, and found none of the sons of Levi there.

And I sent men of understanding to Eleazar, to Ariel, to Semeias, and to Alonam, and to Jarib, and to Elnatham, and to Nathan, and to Zacharias, and to Mesollam, and to Joarim, and to Elnathan.

And I forwarded them to the rulers with the money of the place, and I put words in their mouth to speak to their brethren the Athinim with the money of the place, that they should bring us singers for the house of our God.

And they came to us, as the good hand of our God was upon us, even a man of understanding of the sons of Mooli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, and at the commencement came his sons and his brethren, eighteen.

And Asebia, and Isaia of the sons of Merari, his brethren and his sons, twenty.

And of the Nathinim, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites [there were] two hundred and twenty Nathinim; all were gathered by [their] names.

And I proclaimed there a fast, at the river Aüe, that [we] should humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our children, and for all our property.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king a guard and horsemen to save us from the enemy in the way: for we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God [is] upon all that seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath [are] upon all that forsake him.

So we fasted, and asked of our God concerning this; and he hearkened to us.

And I gave charge to twelve of the chiefs of the priests, to Saraia, to Asabia, and ten of their brethren with them.

And I weighed to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of the first-fruits of the house of our God, which the king, and his councillors, and his princes, and all Israel that were found, had dedicated.

I even weighed into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and a hundred silver vessels, and a hundred talents of gold;

and twenty golden bowls, [weighing] about a thousand drachms, and superior vessels of fine shining brass, [precious] as gold.

And I said to them, Ye [are] holy to the Lord; and the vessels [are] holy; and the silver and the gold are freewill-offerings to the Lord God of our fathers.

Be watchful and keep them, until ye weigh [them] before the chief priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of families in Jerusalem, at the chambers of the house of the Lord.

So the priests and the Levites took the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring to Jerusalem into the house of our God.

And we departed from the river of Aüe on the twelfth day of the first month, to come to Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and delivered us from the hand of the enemy and adversary in the way.

And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.

And it came to pass on the fourth day that we weighed the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, in the house of our God, into the hand of Merimoth the son of Uria the priest; and with him [was] Eleazar the son of Phinees, and with them Jozabad the son of Jesus, and Noadia the son of Banaia, the Levites.

All things [were reckoned] by number and weight, and the whole weight was written [down].

At that time the children of the banishment that came from the captivity offered whole-burnt-offerings to the God of Israel, twelve calves for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve goats for a sin-offering: all whole-burnt-offerings to the Lord.

And they gave the king's mandate to the king's lieutenants, and the governors beyond the river: and they honoured the people and the house of God.

And when these things were finished, the princes drew near to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands in their abominations, [even] the Chananite, the Ethite, the Pherezite, the Jebusite, the Ammonite, the Moabite, and the Moserite and the Amorite.

For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and their sons; and the holy seed has passed among the nations of the lands, and the hand of the rulers [has been] first in this transgression.

And when I heard this thing, I rent my garments, and trembled, and plucked [some] of the hairs of my head and of my beard, and sat down mourning.

Then there assembled to me all that followed the word of the God of Israel, on account of the transgression of the captivity; and I remained mourning until the evening sacrifice.

And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my humiliation; and when I had rent my garments, then I trembled, and I bow myself on my knees, and spread out my hands to the Lord God,

and I said, O Lord, I am ashamed and confounded, O my God, to lift up my face to thee: for our transgressions have abounded over our head, and our trespasses have increased even to heaven.

From the days of our fathers we have been in a great trespass until this day: and because of our iniquities we, and our kings, and our children, have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the Gentiles by the sword, and by captivity, and by spoil, and with shame of our face, as at this day.

And now our God has dealt mercifully with us, so as to leave us to escape, and to give us an establishment in the place of his sanctuary, to enlighten our eyes, and to give a little quickening in our servitude.

For we are slaves, yet in our servitude the Lord our God has not deserted us; and he has extended favour to us in the sight of the kings of the Persians, to give us a quickening, that they should raise up the house of our God, and restore the desolate places of it, and to give us a fence in Juda and Jerusalem.

What shall we say, our God, after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,

which thou hast given us by the hand of thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, into which ye go to inherit it, is a land subject to disturbance by the removal of the people of the nations for their abominations, wherewith they have filled it from one end to the other by their uncleannesses.

And now give not your daughters to their sons, and take not of their daughters for your sons, neither shall ye seek their peace or their good for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and transmit it as an inheritance to your children for ever.

And after all that is come upon us because of our evil deeds, and our great trespass, [it is clear] that there is none such as our God, for thou hast lightly visited our iniquities, and given us deliverance;

whereas we have repeatedly broken thy commandments, and intermarried with the people of the lands: be not very angry with us to [our] utter destruction, so that there should be no remnant or escaping one.

O Lord God of Israel, thou [art] righteous; for we remain [yet] escaped, as at this day: behold, we [are] before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee on this account.

So when Esdras [had] prayed, and when he [had] confessed, weeping and praying before the house of God, a very great assembly of Israel came together to him, men and women and youths; for the people wept, and wept aloud.

And Sechenias the son of Jeel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Esdras, We have broken covenant with our God, and have taken strange wives of the nations of the land: yet now there is patience [of hope] to Israel concerning this thing.

Now then let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and their offspring, as thou shalt advise:

arise, and alarm them with the commands of our God; and let [it] be done according to the law. Rise up, for the matter [is] upon thee; and we [are] with thee: be strong and do.

Then Esdras arose, and caused the rulers, the priests, and Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word: and they swore.

And Esdras rose up from before the house of God, and went to the treasury of Joanan the son of Elisub; he even went thither: he ate no bread, and drank no water; for he mourned over the unfaithfulness [of them] of the captivity.

And they made proclamation throughout Juda and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should assemble at Jerusalem, [saying],

Every one who shall not arrive within three days, as [is] the counsel of the rulers and the elders, all his substance shall be forfeited, and he shall be separated from the congregation of the captivity.

So all the men of Juda and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. This [was] the ninth month: on the twentieth day of the month all the people sat down in the street of the house of the Lord, because of their alarm concerning the word, and because of the storm.

And Esdras the priest arose, and said to them, Ye have broken covenant, and have taken strange wives, to add to the trespass of Israel.

Now therefore give praise to the Lord God of our fathers, and do that which is pleasing in his sight: and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the strange wives.

Then all the congregation answered and said, This thy word [is] powerful upon us to do it.