8. Ezra arrived at Jerusalem in the fifth month, during the king’s seventh year.
9. From the first day of the first month when the journey from Babylon began, until the first day of the fifth month when he arrived at Jerusalem, the good hand of his God was upon him.
10. Because Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, he was doing so and teaching the statutes and judgments in Israel.
11. Now this is the copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, who was likewise the scribe, the one responsible for the words of the commandments of the Lord and His statutes to Israel:
12. “Artaxerxes, king of kings,“To Ezra the priest, scribe of the law of the God of heaven:“Perfect peace, and so forth.
13. “I have issued a decree that all the people of Israel, and their priests, and the Levites in my realm, who are inclined to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you.