1AND after these thinges, when Artaxerxes the king of the Persians reigned, came Esdras the sonne of Azarias, the sonne of Zechrias, the sonne of Helcias, the sonne of Salom,stylus2the sonne of Sadoc, the sonne of Achitob, the sonne of Amarias, the sonne of Ozias, the sonne of Memeroth, the sonne of Zaraias, the sonne of Sauias, the sonne of Boccas, the sonne of Abisum, the sonne of Phinees, the sonne of Eleazar, the sonne of Aaron the first priest.stylus3This Esdras came vp from Babylon as a scribe, and wise in the law of Moyses, which was geuen of our Lord the God of Israel, to teach and to doe.stylus4And the king gaue him glorie, for that he had found grace in his sight in al his honour.stylus5And there went vp with him of the children of Israel, and of the Priestes, and of the Leuites, and of the sacred singers, and of the porters, and of the seruantes of the temple in Ierusalem.stylus6In the seuenth yeare of the reigne of Artaxerxes, in the fift moneth, this is the seuenth yeare of the reigne: for going out of Babylon in the newmoone of the first moneth, he came to Ierusalem, according to his prosperons iourney which our Lord gaue him.stylus7For Esdras had great knowledge, that he might not pretermitte anie thing of the law of God, and of the commandments, and to teach in Israel al iustice and iudgement.stylus8And the copie of the commission, which Artaxerxes the king gaue to Esdras the Priest, and the reader of the law of our Lord, is this that foloweth:stylus9King Artaxerxes to Esdras the Priest, and reader of the law of our Lord greeting.stylus10I of courtesie haue iudged to the benifite of men, to geue commandment, that whosoeuer in my kingdom wil of the nation of the Iewes, and of the Priestes and Leuites goe with thee into Ierusalem, be free.stylus11Therefore as manie as haue a minde, let them depart together with thee, as it hath seemed good to me, and to my seuen freindes counsellors:stylus12That they may visite the thinges that are done in Iurie and Ierusalem, obseruing as thou hast in the law of our Lord.stylus13And let them carie giftes to the Lord of Israel, which I & my freindes haue vowed, and al gold and siluer that shal be found in the countrie of Babylon to the Lord in Ierusalem, with that which is geuen for the nation it self into the temple of their Lord, which is in Ierusalem:stylus14that gold & siluer be gathered to buy bulles, and rammes, and lambes, and thinges that goe with these,stylus15to offer hostes vpon the altar of their Lord, which is in Ierusalem.stylus16And al thinges whatsoeuer thou wilt doe with thy brethren, perfourme it with gold and siluer, according to the precept of thy Lord.stylus17And the sacred vessels, which are geuen thee to the workes of the house of thy Lord the God, which is in Ierusalem:stylus18and other thinges whatsoeuer shal helpe to the workes of the temple of thy God, thou shalt geue it out of the kinges treasure:stylus19And I king Artaxerxes haue commanded the keepers of the treasures in Syria and Phenice, that whatsoeuer Esdras the priest and the reader of the law of our Lord shal write for, they geue it him vnto an hundred talentes of siluer, and likewisestylus20of gold: and of corne an hundred cores, and of wine an hundred peces.stylus21And al thinges els whatsoeuer, aboundantly. Let al thinges be done to the Highest God, according to the law of God, lest wrath arise in the reigne of the king, and his sonnes.stylus22And to you we say, that to al the Priestes, and Leuites, and sacred singers, and seruantes of the temple, and scribes of this temple,stylus23not anie tribute, nor any other imposition be layd vpon them, and that no man haue authoritie to obiect any thing against them, or to vexe them in any thing.stylus24And thou Esdras according to the wisedom of God, appoint iudges and presidentes, that they may iudge in al Syria and Phenice, al them that know the law of thy God: and them that know it not, do ye teach.stylus25And whosoeuer shal transgresse the law of God, and of the king, let them be punished diligently, whether by death, or by torment, or by pecuriarie mulct, or by banishment.stylus26And Esdras the scribe sayd: Blessed be the Lord God of my fathers, that hath put this in the hart of the king, to glorifie his house which is in Ierusalem:stylus27and hath honoured me in the sight of the King, and his counselers, and al his freindes, and his purple peeres.stylus28And I was made constant in minde according to the helpe of our Lord my God, and gathered together men of Israel, that should goe vp with me.stylus29And these are the princes according to the families of their fathers & their principalities, that came vp with me from Babylon in the kingdom of Artaxerxes:stylus30Of the children of Phares, Gersomus: of the children of Ithamar, Gamael: of the children of Dauid, Hattus the sonne of Sechenias:stylus31of the children of Phoros, Zacharias, and with him returned an hundred fiftie men:stylus32of the children of Phaath Moab, Eliaonias the sonne of Zareas, and with him two hundred men:stylus33of the children of Zathoe, Sechenias the sonne of Iezelus, and with him three hundred men: of the children of Adin, Obeth the sonne of Ionathas, and with him two hundred fiftie men:stylus34of the children of Elam, Iesias the sonne of Gotholias, and with him seuntie men:stylus35of the children of Saphatia, Zaruias the sonne of Michael, and with him seuentie men:stylus36of the children of Ioab, Madias the sonne of Iezelus, and with him two hundred twelue men:stylus37of the children of Banni, Salimoth the sonne of Iosaphias, and with him an hundred sixtie men:stylus38of the children of Babi, Zacharias the sonne of Bebai, and with him twintie eight men:stylus39of the children of Astath, Ioannes the sonne of Acatan, and with him an hundred ten men:stylus40of the children of Adonicam, they that were last, and these are their names: Eliphalet, and Iehel, & Samaias, and with them sixtie men:stylus41of the children of Bago, Vthi the sonne of Istalcurus, and with him seuentie men.stylus42And I called them together to the riuer, which is called Thia, and we camped there three dayes, and reuewed them.stylus43And of the children of the priestes, and of the Leuites I found not there.stylus44And I sent to Eleazar, and Iduel, and Maasman, and Elnathan, and Samaias, and Ioribum, Nathan, Ennatan, Zacharias, and Mosolam principal men and lerned.stylus45And I sayd to them, that they should come to Laddeus, who was treasurer in the place of treasury.stylus46and I commanded them to say to Laddeus, and to his brethren, & to them that were in the place of the treasurie, to send vs them that might do the function of priesthood in the house of the Lord our God.stylus47And they brought vnto vs by the mightie hand of our Lord men, expert of the children of Mooli, the sonne of Leui, the sonne of Israel, Serebias, and ris sonnes, and his brethren eighteen.stylus48And Asbias, & Annuni, and Osaias his brother of the children of Chanuneus, and their sonnes twentie men.stylus49And of the seruantes of the temple, whom Dauid gaue, & the princes to the ministerie of the Leuites, seruantes of the temple two hundred twentie. Al their names were signified in writing.stylus50& I vowed there a fast to the yong men in the sight of our Lord God, that I might aske of him a good iourney for vs, and for those that were with vs, an for the children, and the cattel.stylus51For I was ashamed to aske of the king footmen, and horsmen in my companie, for safe conduct against our aduersaries.stylus52For we sayd to the king: that the powre of our Lord wil be with them that seeke him with al affection.stylus53And herevpon we besought our Lord, and found him fauourable.stylus54and I separated of the priestes twelue men, & Esebrias, & Assamias, & with them of their brethren ten men.stylus55And I weyed to them the gold, and the siluer, and the sacred vessels of the house of our Lord God, which the king had geuen, and his counselers, and the princes, and al Israel.stylus56And when I had weyed it, I deliuered of siluer talentes six hundred, & fiftie: & vessels of siluer an hundred talentes, & of gold an hundred talentes:stylus57& of golden vessels twentie, & of vessels of brasse of good metal twelue vessels: & the weight of them, as of gold.stylus58And I sayd to them: You are holie to our Lord, and the vessels are holie, and the gold and the siluer is a vow to our Lord the God of our fathers.stylus59Watch and keepe them, til you deliuer them to the Ancients of the people, and to the Priestes, and to the Leuites, and to the princes of the cities of Israel in Ierusalem, in the chamber of the house of our God.stylus60And the sacred-singers, & the Priestes receiuing the gold & the siluer and the vessels, brought them into Ierusalem into the temple of our Lord.stylus61And we went forward from the riuer Thia, the twelft day of the first moneth, til we entered into Ierusalem.stylus62And the mighty hand of our Lord was with vs, and deliuered vs from the entrance of euery enimie: and we came into Ierusalem.stylus63And when the third day was past, the weight of the gold and siluer was deliuered in the house of our Lord to Marmoth the priest the sonne of Iori.stylus64And with him was Eleazar the sonne of Phinees: and with him were Iosabdus the sonne of Iesus, and Moeth the sonne of Sabannus, Leuites: and they deliuered al by number and weight, and the whole weight was writen at the same time.stylus65And these that were come out of the captiuite, offered sacrifice to our Lord the God of Israel, bulles twelue for al Israel, rammes ninetie six,stylus66lambes seuentie two, buckegoates for peace twelue: al for holocaust to our Lord.stylus67And they deliuered the Kinges commandmentes to the kinges ouerseers, and to the deputies of Caelesyria, and Phenice: and they glorified the nation, and the temple of our Lord.stylus68And when these thinges were finished, the princes came to me, saying:stylus69The nation of Israel, and the princes, and the Priestes, and the Leuites, haue not separated them selues from the alien nations of the land, and from the vncleannes of the Gentiles, to witte, of the Chananeites, and Hetheites, and Pherezeites, and Iebuseites, and Moabilte, and AEgyptians, and Idumeians.stylus70For they haue ioyned to them selues, & to their sonnes the daughters of them: & the holie seede is mingled with the natinos of the land: and the princes, and the magistrates were partakers of this iniquitie from the beginning of this matter.stylus71And as I heard these thinges, I rent my garmentes, and my cote: and tearing the heare of my head, and of my beard, I sate sorrowful and heauie.stylus72And there assembled to me, as manie as feared the word of our Lord God of Israel, for the iniquities of them, that were returned from captiuitie: and I sate sorowful vntil the euening sacrifice.stylus73And rising from fasting, hauing my garmentes rent and my cote, bowing my knees, and stretching forth my handes to our Lord,stylus74I sayd: O Lord I am confounded and ashamed before thy face.stylus75For our sinnes are multiplied ouer our heades, and our iniquities are exalted euen to heauen:stylus76from the times of our fathers, & we are in great sinne euen to this day.stylus77And for the sinnes of vs, and of our fathers, we haue bene deliuered with our brethren, and with our kinges, and with our priestes to the kinges of the earth, into sword and captiuitie, and into praye with confusion vnto this present day.stylus78And now how great is the mercie that hath hapened to vs from thee O Lord God, to leaue vs a roote, and a name, in the place of thy sanctificationstylus79to discouer our light in the house of the Lord our God: to geue vs meate in the time of our seruitude.stylus80And when we were in bondage, we were not forsaken of our Lord: but he did set vs in fauour with the kinges of the Persians, to geue vs meate,stylus81and to glorifie the temple of our Lord, and to rayse vp the desolation of Sion, to geue vs stabilitie in Iurie and Ierusalem.stylus82And now what shal we say Lord, hauing these thinges? For we haue transgressed thy preceptes, which thou gauest by the handes of thy seruantes the prophetes, saying:stylus83That the land, into which ye enter to possesse the inheritance therof, is a land polluted with the pollutions of the strangers of the land, and with their vncleannes, wherewith they haue filled it with their filthines.stylus84And now your daughters match not ye with their sonnes, & their daughters take not ye to your sonnes.stylus85And seeke not ye their peace, that ye may be strong, & may eate the good thinges of the land, and may leaue it for inheritance to your children for euer.stylus86And the thinges that happen to vs, are for our euil workes, & our great sinnes.stylus87And thou gauest vs such a roote of deliuerie, and we are returned againe to transgresse thy law, to be mingled with the vncleannes of the nations of the land.stylus88Wilt thou not be wrath with vs to destroy vs, til there be no roote left, nor our name?stylus89O Lord God of Israel, thou art true: for a roote is left vnto this day.stylus90Behold now we are in thy sight in our iniquities: for we can not stand before thee for these thinges.stylus91And when Esdras praying did acknowledge, weeping and lying vpon the ground before the temple, there was gathered to him from Ierusalem a very great multitude, men, and wemen, and yong men, and there was great weeping in the multitude.stylus92And Iechonias the sonne of Iehel of the children of Israel cried out, and sayd to Esdras: We haue sinned against our Lord, because we haue taken outlandish wiues of the nations of the land. And now there is hope in Israel vpon this thing.stylus93Let vs therefore sweare to our Lord, to cast out al our wiues, that are of strangers with their children, as it is decreed to thee, and to as manie as obey the law of the Lord.stylus94Rise, and put it in execution: for to thee the busines perteyneth, & we are with thee: doe it manfully.stylus95And Esdras arose, and adiured the princes of the Priestes, and Leuites, and of al Israel to doe according to these wordes, and they sware.stylus
