1After these words, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah son of Azariah son of Hilkiah2son of Shallum son of Zadok son of Ahitub3son of Amariah son of Azariah son of Meraioth4son of Zerahiah son of Uzzi son of Bukki5son of Abishua son of Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, the head6He was Ezra, who went up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that the LORD the God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, because the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.7Some of the sons of Israel went up, along with some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants, to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.8He arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was the seventh year of the king.9For on the first day of the first month was the beginning of the ascent from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived in Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him.10For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of the LORD, to do it, and to teach statute and justice in Israel.