5. son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the high priest—
6. this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe, well-versed in the law of Moses given by the Lord, the God of Israel. The king granted him all that he requested, because the hand of the Lord, his God, was over him.
7. Some of the Israelites and some priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants also came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.
8. Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month of that seventh year of the king.
9. On the first day of the first month he began the journey up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived at Jerusalem, for the favoring hand of his God was over him.
10. Ezra had set his heart on the study and practice of the law of the Lord and on teaching statutes and ordinances in Israel.
11. This is a copy of the rescript which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest-scribe, the scribe versed in matters concerning the Lord’s commandments and statutes for Israel:
12. “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, greetings! And now,
13. I have issued this decree, that anyone in my kingdom belonging to the people of Israel, its priests or Levites, who is willing to go up to Jerusalem with you, may go,
14. for you are the one sent by the king and his seven counselors to supervise Judah and Jerusalem with regard to the law of your God which is in your possession,
15. and to bring the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely contributed to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,
16. as well as all the silver and gold which you may receive throughout the province of Babylon, together with the voluntary offerings the people and priests freely contribute for the house of their God in Jerusalem.