Ezra 8

¹These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, 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 Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.

⁴Of the sons of Pahath–moab; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.

⁵Of the sons of Shechaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.

⁶Of the sons also of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.

⁷And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.

⁸And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males.

⁹Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

¹⁰And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males.

¹¹And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males.

¹²And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten males.

¹³And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males.

¹⁴Of the sons also of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.

¹⁵And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.

¹⁶Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.

¹⁷And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.

¹⁸And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;

¹⁹And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;

²⁰Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.

²¹Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

²²For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

²³So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.

²⁴Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

²⁵And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:

²⁶I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;

²⁷Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.

²⁸And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord God of your fathers.

²⁹Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.

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

³¹Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.

³²And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.

³³Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites;

³⁴By number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.

³⁵Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the Lord.

³⁶And they delivered the king’s commissions unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the house of God.

Ezra 8

¹Now these are the heads of families who were listed of those who went up with me from Babylon, when Artaxerxes was king.

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

³Of the sons of Shecaniah; of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were listed a hundred and fifty males.

⁴Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.

⁵Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.

⁶And of the sons of Adin, Ebed, the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.

⁷And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah; the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.

⁸And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, the son of Michael; and with him eighty males.

⁹Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah, the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

¹⁰And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and sixty males.

¹¹And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males.

¹²And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan, the son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred and ten males.

¹³And of the sons of Adonikam, the last, whose names were Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males.

¹⁴And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.

¹⁵And I made them come together by the river flowing to Ahava; and we were there in tents for three days: and after viewing the people and the priests I saw that no sons of Levi were there.

¹⁶Then I sent for Eliezer and Ariel and Shemaiah and Elnathan Jarib and Elnathan and Nathan and Zechariah and Meshullam, all responsible men; and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise men.

¹⁷And I sent them to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and gave them orders what to say to Iddo and his brothers the Nethinim at the place Casiphia, so that they might come back to us with men to do the work of the house of our God.

¹⁸And by the help of our God they got for us Ish-sechel, one of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah with his sons and brothers, eighteen;

¹⁹And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty;

²⁰And of the Nethinim, to whom David and the captains had given the work of helping the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them specially named.

²¹Then I gave orders for a time of going without food, there by the river Ahava, so that we might make ourselves low before our God in prayer, requesting from him a straight way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance.

²²For I would not, for shame, make request to the king for a band of armed men and horsemen to give us help against those who might make attacks on us on the way: for we had said to the king, The hand of our God is on his servants for good, but his power and his wrath are against all those who are turned away from him.

²³So we went without food, requesting our God for this: and his ear was open to our prayer.

²⁴So I put on one side twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,

²⁵And gave to them by weight the silver and the gold and the vessels, all the offering for the house of our God which the king and his wise men and his captains and all Israel there present had given:

²⁶Measuring into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels, a hundred talents' weight, and a hundred talents of gold,

²⁷And twenty gold basins, of a thousand darics, and two vessels of the best bright brass, equal in value to gold.

²⁸And I said to them, You are holy to the Lord and the vessels are holy: and the silver and the gold are an offering freely given to the Lord, the God of your fathers.

²⁹Take care of them and keep them, till you put them on the scales before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and the chiefs of the families of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of the Lord.

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

³¹Then we went away from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was on us, and he gave us salvation from our haters and those who were waiting to make an attack on us by the way.

³²And we came to Jerusalem and were there for three days.

³³And on the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the vessels were measured out by weight in the house of our God into the hands of Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the priest; and with him was Eleazar, the son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad, the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, the son of Binnui, the Levites;

³⁴All was handed over by number and by weight: and the weight was put on record at that time.

³⁵And those who had been prisoners, who had come back from a strange land, made burned offerings to the God of Israel, twelve oxen for all Israel, ninety-six male sheep, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all this was a burned offering to the Lord.

³⁶And they gave the king's orders to the king's captains and the rulers across the river, and they gave the people and the house of God the help which was needed.