A   And after hym, when Artaxerses the kynge of the Persians raygned, there went vnto hym Esdras the sonne of Saraias, the sonne of Azarias, the sonne of Helchiah, the sonne of Sallum, the sonne of Sadoc, the sonne of Achitob, the sonne of Amarias, the sonne of Azarias, the sonne of Boccus, the sonne of Abisu, the sonne of Phineas, the sonne of Eleazar, the s&obar;ne of Aar&obar; þe; fyrst priest. This Esdras went vp from Babylon (for he had good vnderstandyng in the lawe of Moyses, that was geu&ebar; of the Lord God of Israel, to be taught ∧ done in dede.) And the king fauoured him, ∧ did him great worship and honour, after all hys desyres. There wente vp with hym also certayne of the chyldren of Israell, of the priestes, of the Leuytes, of the syngers, porters and minysters of the temple of Hierusalem.

In the .vij. yeare of the raygne of kynge Artaxerses, in the .v. moneth, that is in the .vij yeare of the raygne, they went from Babylon in the new moone of the .v. moneth, and came the hye waye to Hierusalem after hys commaundement, lyke as the Lord had prospered their iourney. For in these Esdras gat great instruccion, that he shoulde leaue none of the thynges behynde, which are in the law ∧ commaundem&ebar;tes of God. And he taught whole Israel all righteousnes ∧ iudgement.

Then came the Secretaries of kyng Artaxerses, and delyuered the wrytynges (that were come from Artaxerses the kyng) to Esdras the priest and reader of the lawe of the Lorde: And this is the copye of the letter. Kynge Artaxerses sendeth his gretyng vnto Esdras the prieste and reader of the lawe of the Lord: Of frendship and good will I haue ordeyned and charged, if there be any of the Iewes, of the Priestes and Leuites in my realme, B   whiche desyreth and is content to go with the vnto Hierusalem, that he may do it. Therefore if any be minded to beare the c&obar;pany, let them come together, and goo wyth the (lyke as I am content and my .vii. fr&ebar;des my co&ubar;saylers:) to se what they do at Ierusalem ∧ in Iewry, ∧ kepe the thynges accordyng as thou hast in the lawe of the Lorde: ∧ to bryng the gyftes vnto God the Lorde of Israell, that I ∧ my frendes haue promysed to Ierusalem, ∧ all the syluer ∧ golde that is in the countrye of Babyl&obar;, vnto the Lorde to Ierusalem, with the thinge that is geuen for the people in the Lordes t&ebar;ple at Ierusalem: Yea, that the same siluer ∧ golde may be gathered, and oxen, rammes, shepe and goates ∧ other that belonge to these thynges: ∧ that they maye offer sacryfyces vnto the Lorde, vpon the aulter of their Lorde, whyche is at Hierusalem.

And whatsoeuer thou ∧ thy brethren wyll do wyth the siluer ∧ golde, that do after thy mynde, and after the c&obar;maundemente of the Lorde thy God: and likewise with al the holy

vessels, that are geuen the for the seruice of þe; house of the Lord thy God: ∧ other thinges whatsoeuer is necessary for the to the worke of the t&ebar;ple, þt; shalbe geu&ebar; the of the kynges treasur: ∧ loke what thou with thy brethren wilt do with the golde and siluer, that do after the wil of the Lorde. And I kyng Artaxerses haue commaunded the kepers of the treasures in Syria and Phenices, that whatsoeuer Esdras the priest ∧ reader of the law of the Lord doth write, it shalbe geuen hym: tyll an .C. talentes of siluer, and of golde in lyke maner: Of corne also an .C. measures, and till an hundreth vessels of wyne, ∧ other plenteous thinges without numbre. Let all thynges be done after the lawe of the hyest God, that the wrath of God aryse not in the realme of the kyng and of his sonnes. I c&obar;maunde you also, that ye requyere no taxe nor tribute of the priestes, leuytes, syngers, and ministers of the temple, nor of the wryters: ∧ that no man haue aucthorite to medle any thynge against them. C   As for the (O Esdras) set thou iudges ∧ arbitrers in the whole lande of Siria and Phenices, after the wysdome of God: ∧ learne all suche as are ignoraunt in the lawe of God thy Lorde, and let all them that offende agaynst the law, be punished: whether it be with death, with payne to be c&obar;demned in money, or to be banished.

Then sayd Esdras the wryter. ^noteBlessed be the God of our fathers, that hath geu&ebar; so good a mynde and will into the herte of the kynge, to magnifye hys house that is at Ierusalem, and hath made me to be accepted in the sight of the kynge, of his counsayl, of hys friendes ∧ of hys nobles. And so I was stedfast in my mynde, accordynge as the Lorde my God helped me, and I chose oute men of Israel to go vp with me. ^noteAnd these are the heades (after their kynredes and houses of their fathers) that went vp with me fr&obar; Babil&obar;, out of the kyngdome of Artaxerses: Of the sonnes of Phares, Gersonius. Of the sonnes of Siemarith, Amenus. Of the sonnes of Dauid, Accus, the sonne of Cecilia.

Of the sonnes of Phares, Zachary: ∧ with hym there turned agayne an hundred and fiftye men. Of the sonnes of the captayne of Moabilon, Zaraei, and with him .ij. C and l.m&ebar;. Of the sonnes of Zachnes, Iechonias Zecholy, and with hym .ij.C. and .l. men. Of the sonnes of Salamaasias, Gotholie and lxx. with him. Of the s&obar;nes of Zaphacia. Zarias Miheli, ∧ with him .lxxx. Of the sonnes of Iob, Abdias Ieheli, and with hym .ij.C. ∧ xij. men. Of the sonnes of Bania, Salimoth the sonne of Iosaphia, and with hym an .C. ∧ lx. men. Of the sonnes of Beer, Zachari Bebei, and with hym .ij.C. and .viij. men. Of the sonnes of Esead, Iohannes Ezechan, ∧ with hym .C. ∧ .x. men. Of the sonnes of Adonic&abar;, those that were the laste, and these are theyr names: Eliphalam the sonne of Gebel and Semeias, and with hym .lxx. men. All these called I together by the water Thia, where we pitched oure tentes thre dayes, and there I mustered them.

D   As for the sonnes of the priestes and Leuites, I founde none there. Then sent I vnto Eleazar, and Eccelom, and Masman, and Malobam, and Enaathan, and Samea, and Ioribimathan, Eunagan, Zachary, Mosollamum (these were the leders and men of experience) and I sent them woorde, that they shuld come vnto Loddeus, which was by the place of the treasury, and commaunded them that thei should speake vnto Loddeus and to his brethren, ∧ to those that were in the treasury, to sende vs such men, as might execute the Priestes office in the house of the Lorde oure God. And wyth the mightye hande of oure Lorde God, they brought vnto vs men of good experience, from amonge the sonnes of Moolius, the sonne of Leui, the sonne of Israel, Sebebeiam ∧ the sonnes and hys brethren Asbin and Anin, of whome there were xviii. From among the chyldr&ebar; of the sonnes of Cananeus, and their sonnes were .xx. m&ebar;. And of them that serued in the t&ebar;ple, whome Dauid had ordeyned, and the principal men that ministred for the worke vnto the Leuytes in the temple .ij.C. and .xx. men, whose names are all tokened vp in writynge.

Then commaunded I a fastinge vnto the yongemen before the Lorde, that I myghte desyre of him a prosperous iourney ∧ a good waye for vs, yea for vs, for oure chyldr&ebar; and for the cattel, because of the layinges awayte and I durst not requyre of the kynge men of horse and of fote, to c&obar;ueye vs safely agaynst oure enemies, for we had saide vnto the king that the power of the Lorde our God should be with them, that seke him with their whole herte. And therfore we besoughte God oure Lorde earnestly because of these thinges, and he was mercifull vnto vs, and hearde oure prayer. And I separated from am&obar;g the rulers of the people, and fr&obar; the Priestes of the temple .xij. men, ∧ Sebeia ∧ Asania, and ten men of their brethr&ebar; with them. And I weied them the golde and the siluer, ∧ al the priestly ornamentes of the house of our God, which the king, ∧ his co&ubar;sail, ∧ his princes, ∧ whole Israel had geu&ebar;. And wh&ebar; I had weyed it, I gaue th&ebar; an .C. ∧ .l. tal&ebar;tes in siluer, ∧ .C. tal&ebar;tes of siluer vessel, an .C. talentes of golde, ∧ of golden vessel seuen tymes tw&ebar;ty, and vessels of other metall (yea of good metall) xij. glysteringe as the golde, ∧ sayde vnto th&ebar;: ye also are holy vnto the Lord, ∧ the vessels are holy, and the gold and the siluer is promised vnto the Lord the God of our fathers. E   Be diligent now and kepe it, vntil the time that ye deliuer it to the rulers of the people, too the Priestes, to the Leuites, and to the principall men of the cities of Israel in Hierusalem, and in the chambre of the house of oure God.

So the priestes ∧ the Leuites, whiche receyued of me the golde, the syluer and the vessel,

brought it to Ierusal&ebar; into the temple of the Lorde. And from Thia we brake vp the .xij. daye of the fyrst moneth, tyll we came to Ierusal&ebar;. And when the thyrd daye was paste, the weyed golde ∧ syluer was deliuered in þe; house of the Lord the fourth day, vnto Marimoth the sonne of Ior the Priest, and with him was Eleazar the sonne of Phineas, and with th&ebar; were Iosabdus the sonne of Iesnet Medias ∧ the sonne of Banus, ∧ certayne of the Leuytes, to the numbre ∧ to the wayght: and the wayght of them was written vp the same tyme. As for those that were come out of captiuitie, they offred sacryfyce vnto the Lorde the God of Israel: eu&ebar; .xij. oxen for all Israel .lxxxvi. rammes .lxxij. shepe .xii. goates for synne .xij. kyne for a thankeofferynge, all to the sacrifice of the Lorde. And the kynges c&obar;mission deliuered they vnto the stewardes and debyties of the kynge, and to the vndershreues in Celosyria and Phenices.

Now when these thynges were done, the rulers came vnto me, and sayd: The generacion of Israel, the Princes, the Priestes and Leuites, the stra&ubar;ge people and indwellers of the lande, haue not put awaye their vncl&ebar;nesse, frome the Cananites, Hethites, Pheresites, fr&obar; the Moabites, Egipcians, ∧ Edomytes. For both they and their sonnes haue mingled them selues with the daughters of them, ∧ the holy sede is myxte with the outlandysh Heathen, and sens the beginning of their raygne haue the rulers and heades ben partakers of their wickednesse.

^noteAs soone as I had hearde these thinges immediatly I rente my holy garmentes, and pulled out þe; heere of my heade ∧ my beard, ∧ sat me doune sorowful ∧ heuy. So all they that were moued thorow the word of þe; God of Israel, came vnto me: ∧ I sat styll full of heuinesse vntill the euenyng sacrifice. Then stode I vp fr&obar; fasting, hauinge rente clothes and the holy garment, kneled doune vp&obar; my knees, helde out my handes vnto the Lorde, ∧ sayde: O Lorde, I am confounded ∧ ashamed before thy face, for oure synnes are become many vpon oure heades, and our wickednesses are exalted vnto the heau&ebar;: for sens the tyme of our fathers we are in great sinne vnto this daye. And for the synnes of vs and our fathers, we with our brethr&ebar; ∧ with our Priestes haue bene deliuered vnto the kinges of the earth, into þe; swerde, ∧ into captiuitie, and became a spoyle with c&obar;fusion and shame vnto this daye. And now O Lord God, how great is the mercy that we haue gott&ebar; of the? in that thou hast left vs a rote ∧ a name in þe; place of thy Sanctuary, too discouer oure light in the house of the Lorde our God and geuen vs meate at all times of our ministracion. And when we were in captiuitie, we were not forsaken of the Lord oure God: but he made the kynges of Persia gracious and fauourable vnto vs, so that they gaue vs vitayles ∧ meate, yee and leaue to buyld vp the temple of our Lord God agayne, to repayre the wasted places of Sion, and too dwell in Iewry and Ierusalem. G   And nowe O Lorde, what shall we saye, hauyng all these thinges in possession? For we haue broken thy commaundementes, whych thou gauest vnto vs by the h&abar;des of thy serua&ubar;tes the prophetes, sayinge: The lande that ye go vnto, ∧ that is geuen you for an heritage to haue in possession, is defiled with the vnclennes and filthines of the Heathen, ∧ with their abhominacion haue they poluted it altogether. Therefore shall ye not ioyne youre daughters vnto their sonnes, nor mary your s&obar;nes vnto their daughters: Moreouer, ye shall neuer seke to make peace with th&ebar;, that ye maye increase ∧ eate the best in the lande, ∧ that ye maye deuide the inheritaunce of the lande vnto your chyldren for euermore. As for the thing that now happeneth vnto vs, it commeth all for oure wicked workes and greate synnes, yet hast thou geuen vs suche a roote, that we are come agayn into our owne l&abar;de: and we are so wicked that we haue broken thy statutes ∧ commaundementes agayne, ∧ mingled oure selfes with the vnclennes of the outlandishe Heathen. O Lorde, art thou angry with vs? wilt thou rote vs cleane out? that our rote ∧ name remayne nomore? O Lord God of Israel thou art true, for our rote endureth yet vnto this present daye. And beholde, now are we before the in our synnes, now can we not stande before the in them.

^noteAnd wh&abar; Esdras with this prayer had knowleged the synne, weping, and lyeng flat vpon the gro&ubar;de before the temple, there gathered vnto hym from Hierusalem a greate multitude of men and wom&ebar;, of iongm&ebar; and mayd&ebar;s, for there was a very great weping and mourning in the congregacion. So wh&ebar; Iechonias the sonne of Ieheli one of the children of Israel cryed, he sayde vnto Esdras: we haue synned against the Lord, because we haue maried outlandysh women of the Heathen. Now art thou ouer all Israel. We will sweare an othe therfore vnto the Lorde, that we shall put awaye all oure wyues, whyche we haue taken of the Heath&ebar;, with their children: like as it is appoynted the by oure fore elders. Stande vp then, open thou it, and declare it playnely vnto vs, accordynge to the lawe of the Lorde: for the matter belongeth vnto the, and we will helpe the, quyt thy self manly. So Esdras arose, and toke an othe of the rulers of the Priestes, and of the Leuites, and of Israel, to do after these thinges: and they sware.

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