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1Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,[#7:1 Literally After these things]
2the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
3the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
4the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
5the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest—
6this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the Lord , the God of Israel, had given.
The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.
7So in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, he went up to Jerusalem with some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants.[#7:7 Hebrew Nethinim; also in verse 24]
8Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king.
9He had begun the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him.
10For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord , to practice it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.
11This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes had given to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in the commandments and statutes of the Lord to Israel:[#7:11 The original text of Ezra 7:12–26 is in Aramaic.]
27Blessed be the Lord , the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the Lord in Jerusalem,
28and who has shown me favor before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officials.
And because the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, I took courage and gathered the leaders of Israel to return with me.