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.

<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>

<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.

On the fourth day we weighed out the silver, the gold, and the vessels in the house of our God into the care<n id="1" /> of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest, and Eleazar son of Phinehas, who were accompanied by Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui, who were Levites.

So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out<n id="1" /> by name men who were leaders in their family groups.<n id="2" /> They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month,