Ezra 7:12-18

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

¹² ‘Artaxerxes, king of kings, to the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven: Peace.^[a] And now ¹³ I decree that any of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom who freely offers to go to Jerusalem may go with you. ¹⁴ For you are sent by the king and his seven counsellors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your hand, ¹⁵ and also to convey the silver and gold that the king and his counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶ with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill-offerings of the people and the priests, given willingly for the house of their God in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, and their grain-offerings and their drink-offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Whatever seems good to you and your colleagues to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God.