The priests and the Levites had purified themselves, every last one,<n id="1" /> and they all were ceremonially pure. They sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their colleagues<n id="2" /> the priests, and for themselves.

<p class="bodytext">The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family<n id="1" /> of Jeshua): 973;p>

<p class="bodytext">The priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel lived in their towns.p>

who was the son of Abishua, who was the son of Phinehas, who was the son of Eleazar, who was the son of Aaron the chief priest.

<p class="bodytext">Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, together with<n id="1" /> Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers,<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">Then the priests and the Levites took charge of<n id="1" /> the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to transport them to Jerusalem to the temple of our God.p>

<p class="bodytext">And from among<n id="1" /> the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that<n id="2" /> name).

The governor<n id="1" /> instructed them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest who could consult<n id="2" /> the Urim and Thummim.p>

As they were able,<n id="1" /> they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 drachmas<n id="2" /> of gold, 5,000 minas<n id="3" /> of silver, and 100 priestly robes.<n id="4" />p>

In the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, Ezra brought<n id="1" /> up to Jerusalem<n id="2" /> some of the Israelites and some of the priests, the Levites, the attendants, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants.

<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>

<t /><p class="bodytext">I had them assemble<n id="1" /> at the canal<n id="2" /> that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I observed that the people and the priests were present, but I found no Levites there.

Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem,<n id="1" /> in the storerooms of the temple of the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">So Ezra got up and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath to carry out this plan.<n id="1" /> And they all took a solemn oath.

<p class="bodytext">Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, &#8220;You have behaved in an unfaithful manner by taking foreign wives! This has contributed to the guilt of Israel.

<t /><p class="bodytext">It was determined<n id="1" /> that from the descendants of the priests, the following had taken foreign wives: from the descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then the leaders<n id="1" /> of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites &#8211; all those whose mind God had stirred &#8211; got ready<n id="2" /> to go up in order to build the temple of the <sc>Lordsc> in Jerusalem.<n id="3" />

Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak<n id="1" /> and his priestly colleagues<n id="2" /> and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues<n id="3" /> started to build<n id="4" /> the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by<n id="5" /> the law of Moses the man of God.

When the builders established the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions,<n id="1" /> and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the <sc>Lordsc> according to the instructions left by<n id="2" /> King David of Israel.<n id="3" />

Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders<n id="1" /> &#8211; older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established<n id="2" /> &#8211; were weeping loudly,<n id="3" /> and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout.