Ezra 4:16

4:16 We therefore are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will not retain control¹ of this portion of Trans-Euphrates.”

Ezra 5:17

5:17 “Now if the king is so inclined,² let a search be conducted in the royal archives³ there in Babylon in order to determine whether King Cyrus did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us a decision concerning this matter.”

Ezra 4:13

4:13 Let the king also be aware that if this city is built and its walls are completed, no more tax, custom, or toll will be paid, and the royal treasury⁴ will suffer loss.

Ezra 6:11

6:11 “I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled⁵ on it, and his house is to be reduced⁶ to a rubbish heap⁷ for this indiscretion.⁸

Ezra 10:8

10:8 Everyone who did not come within three days would thereby forfeit all his property, in keeping with the counsel of the officials and the elders. Furthermore, he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

Ezra 7:20

7:20 The rest of the needs for the temple of your God that you may have to supply,⁹ you may do so from the royal treasury.

Ezra 7:26

7:26 Everyone who does not observe both the law of your God and the law of the king will be completely¹⁰ liable to the appropriate penalty, whether it is death or banishment or confiscation of property or detainment in prison.”

Ezra 7:25

7:25 “Now you, Ezra, in keeping with the wisdom of your God which you possess,¹¹ appoint judges¹² and court officials who can arbitrate cases on behalf of all the people who are in Trans-Euphrates who know the laws of your God. Those who do not know this law should be taught.

Ezra 9:12

9:12 Therefore do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, and do not take their daughters in marriage for your sons. Do not ever seek their peace or welfare, so that you may be strong and may eat the good of the land and may leave it as an inheritance for your children¹³ forever.’

Ezra 10:3

10:3 Therefore let us enact¹⁴ a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord,¹⁵ and that of those who respect¹⁶ the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

¹tn Aram “will not be to you.”

²tn Aram “if upon the king it is good.”

³tn Aram “the house of the treasures of the king.”

³tn Aram “the treasury of kings.” The plural “kings” is Hebrew, not Aramaic. If the plural is intended in a numerical sense the reference is not just to Artaxerxes but to his successors as well. Some scholars understand this to be the plural of majesty, referring to Artaxerxes. See F. C. Fensham, Ezra and Nehemiah (NICOT), 74.

⁴sn The practice referred to in v. 11 has been understood in various ways: hanging (cf. 1 Esd 6:32 and KJV); flogging (cf. NEB, NLT); impalement (BDB 1091 s.v. זְקַף; HALOT 1914 s.v. מחא hitpe; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The latter seems the most likely.

⁵tn Aram “made.”

⁶tn Aram “a dunghill.”

⁷tn Aram “for this.”

⁵tn Aram “may fall to you to give.”

⁶tn On the meaning of this word see HALOT 1820-21 s.v. אָסְפַּרְנָא; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 14.

⁷tn Aram “in your hand.”

⁸tc For the MT reading שָׁפְטִין (shoftim, “judges”) the LXX uses the noun γραμματεῖς (grammatei", “scribes”).

⁸tn Heb “sons”; cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NLT “children”; NCV, TEV “descendants.”

⁹tn Heb “cut.”

¹⁰tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.

¹¹tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”