6. this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Instruction from Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. Moreover, the king gave him everything he requested because the Lord his God’s power was with him.
7. Some of the Israelites and some of the priests and the Levites, the singers and gatekeepers and the temple servants also came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.
8. They reached Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king.
9. The journey from Babylon began on the first day of the first month, and they came to Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him.
10. Ezra had determined to study and perform the Lord’s Instruction, and to teach law and justice in Israel.
11. This is a copy of the letter that Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, a scholar of the text of the Lord’s commandments and his requirements for Israel:
12. Artaxerxes, king of kings,to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Instruction from the God of heaven.Peace!And now
13. I decree that any of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom who volunteer to go to Jerusalem with you may go.
14. You are sent by the king and his seven counselors to investigate Judah and Jerusalem according to the Instruction from your God, which is in your hand.
15. You should bring the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,
16. together with any of the silver and gold that you find in the entire province of Babylonia. You should also bring the spontaneous gifts of the people and the priests, given freely for God’s house in Jerusalem.
17. With this money you will be careful to buy bulls, rams, and lambs, as well as their grain offerings and their drink offerings. And you will offer them on the altar of God’s house in Jerusalem.
18. As long as it is God’s will, you and your colleagues may do what you think best with the rest of the silver and gold.
19. You will deliver the equipment that has been given to you for the service of God’s house to the God of Jerusalem.