1. NOW AFTER this, in the reign of Artaxerxes [son of Xerxes, or Ahasuerus] king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
2. The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
3. The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
4. The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
5. The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest–
6. This Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a skilled scribe in the five books of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. And the king granted him all he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.