11. Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel.
12. Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect and so forth,
13. I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with thee.
14. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king and his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;
15. and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,