Ezra8

¹These are the heads of their fathers ’ houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia , in the reign of Artaxerxes the king :

²Of the sons of Phinehas , Gershom . Of the sons of Ithamar , Daniel . Of the sons of David , Hattush .

³Of the sons of Shecaniah , who was of the sons of Parosh , Zechariah , with whom were registered 150 men .

⁴Of the sons of Pahath-moab , Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah , and with him 200 men .

⁵Of the sons of Zattu , Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel , and with him 300 men .

⁶Of the sons of Adin , Ebed the son of Jonathan , and with him 50 men .

⁷Of the sons of Elam , Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah , and with him 70 men .

⁸Of the sons of Shephatiah , Zebadiah the son of Michael , and with him 80 men .

⁹Of the sons of Joab , Obadiah the son of Jehiel , and with him 218 men .

¹⁰Of the sons of Bani , Shelomith the son of Josiphiah , and with him 160 men .

¹¹Of the sons of Bebai , Zechariah , the son of Bebai , and with him 28 men .

¹²Of the sons of Azgad , Johanan the son of Hakkatan , and with him 110 men .

¹³Of the sons of Adonikam , those who came later , their names being Eliphelet , Jeuel , and Shemaiah , and with them 60 men .

¹⁴Of the sons of Bigvai , Uthai and Zaccur , and with them 70 men .

¹⁵I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava , and there we camped three days . As I reviewed the people and the priests , I found there none of the sons of Levi .

¹⁶Then I sent for Eliezer , Ariel , Shemaiah , Elnathan , Jarib , Elnathan , Nathan , Zechariah , and Meshullam , leading men , and for Joiarib and Elnathan , who were men of insight ,

¹⁷and sent them to Iddo , the leading man at the place Casiphia , telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and the temple servants at the place Casiphia , namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God .

¹⁸And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion , of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi , son of Israel , namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen , 18 ;

¹⁹also Hashabiah , and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari , with his kinsmen and their sons , 20 ;

²⁰besides 220 of the temple servants , whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites . These were all mentioned by name .

²¹Then I proclaimed a fast there , at the river Ahava , that we might humble ourselves before our God , to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children , and all our goods .

²²For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way , since we had told the king , The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.

²³So we fasted and implored our God for this , and he listened to our entreaty .

²⁴Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests : Sherebiah , Hashabiah , and ten of their kinsmen with them.

²⁵And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels , the offering for the house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered .

²⁶I weighed out into their hand 650 talents of silver , and silver vessels worth 200 talents , and 100 talents of gold ,

²⁷20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics , and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold .

²⁸And I said to them, You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy , and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers .

²⁹Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers ’ houses in Israel at Jerusalem , within the chambers of the house of the Lord.

³⁰So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels , to bring them to Jerusalem , to the house of our God .

³¹Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month , to go to Jerusalem . The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way .

³²We came to Jerusalem , and there we remained three days .

³³On the fourth day , within the house of our God , the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest , son of Uriah , and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas , and with them were the Levites , Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui .

³⁴The whole was counted and weighed , and the weight of everything was recorded .

³⁵At that time those who had come from captivity , the returned exiles , offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel , twelve bulls for all Israel , ninety-six rams , seventy-seven lambs , and as a sin offering twelve male goats . All this was a burnt offering to the Lord.

³⁶They also delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River , and they aided the people and the house of God .