Ezra 7

KJV · Chapter 7/10

¹Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

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 went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him.

⁷And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

⁸And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

⁹For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

¹⁰For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

¹¹Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel.

¹²Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.

¹³I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.

¹⁴Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;

¹⁵And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,

¹⁶And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem:

¹⁷That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

¹⁸And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.

¹⁹The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.

²⁰And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure house.

²¹And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,

²²Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.

²³Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

²⁴Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.

²⁵And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.

²⁶And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

²⁷Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem:

²⁸And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Decades later, Ezra, a priest and scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, travels from Babylon to Jerusalem with authorization from King Artaxerxes to teach the law and organize the people's religious life.

Explanation

Ezra is introduced with a long priestly genealogy that links him to Aaron, establishing his religious authority, and is described as someone who 'prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, to practice it, and to teach it' — an important sequence: first live out the Word, then teach it. King Artaxerxes's letter, reproduced almost in full, shows a surprisingly generous show of support from a pagan ruler toward the Jewish religion, including financial resources and authority to appoint judges. This once again reinforces how God uses authorities outside his people to fulfill his purposes. Today's application is Ezra's model: study, live it out, and only then teach.

Fun facts

Ezra's journey took place about 60 years after the dedication of the temple (chapter 6), so there is a large gap in time between chapters 6 and 7 of the book.
The title 'a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses' indicates that Ezra belonged to a class of scholars who copied, preserved, and interpreted the sacred texts — an essential profession before the invention of the printing press.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Ezra 7:1The chapter makes a great leap forward in time, decades after the temple's dedication, and introduces Ezra through a long genealogy that traces back to Aaron's priestly family.
Ezra 7:2Ezra's genealogy continues, listing ancestors reaching back through generations of recognized priests in Israel.
Ezra 7:3Three more generations are named, reinforcing that Ezra's authority came from an unbroken and well-documented priestly line.
Ezra 7:4The list of ancestors keeps climbing generation by generation, a common device in the Bible for establishing someone's legitimacy before telling their story.
Ezra 7:5The genealogy ends exactly at Aaron, Israel's first high priest and brother of Moses — proving that Ezra came from the highest possible priestly line.
Ezra 7:6Ezra goes up from Babylon decades after the first wave of returnees, and the text describes him as “a ready scribe in the law of Moses.” He is no ordinary priest: he is an expert in the Torah, which explains why the Persian king trusts him to organize the province's religious and legal life.
Ezra 7:7Traveling with Ezra is a new group of priests, Levites, singers, porters, and Nethinims, decades after the first wave that had returned with Zerubbabel.
Ezra 7:8The journey ends in the fifth month of the seventh year of Artaxerxes's reign, a chronological detail that helps pin down exactly when Ezra reaches Jerusalem.
Ezra 7:9The whole journey, from Babylon to Jerusalem, took about four months — a long trek that the text credits to the good hand of God upon Ezra.
Ezra 7:10This is one of the most quoted verses in the book: Ezra had three commitments, in this order — to seek the law, to do it, and only then to teach it to Israel. The order of the verbs matters as much as the verbs themselves.
Ezra 7:11Here begins the transcription of the official letter King Artaxerxes wrote to Ezra, a document that takes up a good part of the rest of the chapter.
Ezra 7:12Artaxerxes's letter addresses Ezra as “a scribe of the law of the God of heaven” and grants him official authority to act in the empire's name within Judah. It is a rare document: a foreign king formally recognizing another people's law as valid within his own territory.
Ezra 7:13The decree grants total freedom: any Israelite, priest, or Levite who wished to accompany Ezra to Jerusalem had the king's own official permission.
Ezra 7:14Ezra receives an official mission: to inquire, in the name of the king and his seven counselors, whether Judah and Jerusalem were following the law of their own God.
Ezra 7:15The king also has Ezra carry freewill offerings of silver and gold, given by himself and his counselors to the God of Israel.
Ezra 7:16Besides that, Ezra could also collect any freewill offering made by Jews and priests scattered throughout the province of Babylon.
Ezra 7:17This money was to be used at once to buy animals and grain offerings, all meant for the sacrifices on the temple altar in Jerusalem.
Ezra 7:18Whatever money was left over was placed at the disposal of Ezra and his companions, to be used as they saw fit, according to the will of their own God.
Ezra 7:19Ezra also receives the task of formally delivering to the temple the sacred vessels the king had donated for religious service.
Ezra 7:20If anything else was still needed for the temple, the Persian royal treasury itself was to cover the difference, at no cost at all to the Jews.
Ezra 7:21The king directly orders all the treasurers of the region west of the Euphrates to meet any request from Ezra without delay.
Ezra 7:22The decree sets generous supply limits: silver, wheat, wine, and oil in large amounts, and salt with no limit at all.
Ezra 7:23The king insists that everything related to temple worship be provided without delay, out of fear, as he himself puts it, of provoking this God's wrath against his own kingdom.
Ezra 7:24The decree also exempts everyone connected to temple service from taxes: priests, Levites, singers, porters, and Nethinims are freed from any royal tribute.
Ezra 7:25Ezra is also given authority to appoint judges and administrators who know the law of God, charged with teaching that law to those who did not yet know it.
Ezra 7:26The penalties for disobedience ranged from fines to imprisonment, banishment, or death — the Jews' religious law now also carried the force of civil law, backed by the empire itself.
Ezra 7:27Ezra closes this section with a blessing, crediting God for putting it in the king's heart to favor the temple this way. For him, a Persian king's goodwill was no political coincidence, but the direct result of an inspiration that came from God.
Ezra 7:28Ezra ends by recounting that he felt the hand of God upon him throughout this whole process, and he draws on that confidence to gather the leaders who will go up with him to Jerusalem.

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