This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave Ezra the priest and scribe, a man with a thorough knowledge of the Lord’s commands and laws for Israel:
As a scribe, Ezra was an expert in Moses’ Teachings, which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king gave Ezra everything he requested because the Lord his God was guiding him.
⌞When the seventh month came,⌟ all the people gathered together in the courtyard in front of Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of Moses’ Teachings, which the Lord had commanded Israel ⌞to follow⌟.
Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people told them, “This is a holy day for the Lord your God. Don’t mourn or cry.” All the people were crying as they listened to the reading of God’s Teachings.