<t /><p class="bodytext">What follows<n id="1" /> is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priestly scribe.<n id="2" /> Ezra was<n id="3" /> a scribe in matters pertaining to the commandments of the <sc>Lordsc> and his statutes over Israel:p>

And during the reign<n id="1" /> of Artaxerxes, Bishlam,<n id="2" /> Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues<n id="3" /> wrote to King Artaxerxes<n id="4" /> of Persia. This letter<n id="5" /> was first written in Aramaic but then translated.p> <p class="bodytext">[Aramaic:]<n id="6" />p>