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King Artaxerxes unto Esdras the priest and reader of the law of the Lord sendeth greeting:
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Having determined to deal graciously, I have given order, that such of the nation of the Jews, and of the priests and Levites being within our realm, as are willing and desirous should go with thee unto Jerusalem.
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As many therefore as have a mind thereunto, let them depart with thee, as it hath seemed good both to me and my seven friends the counsellors;
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That they may look unto the affairs of Judea and Jerusalem, agreeably to that which is in the law of the Lord;
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And carry the gifts unto the Lord of Israel to Jerusalem, which I and my friends have vowed, and all the gold and silver that in the country of Babylon can be found, to the Lord in Jerusalem,