Ezra 8

¹Therfor these ben the princes of meynees, and this is the genologie of hem, whiche beynge in the rewme of Artaxerses, kyng, stieden with me fro Babiloyne.

²Of the sones of Phynees, Gerson; of the sones of Ythamar, Danyel; of the sones of Dauid, Arcus;

³of the sones of Sechemye and of the sones of Pharos, Zacarie, and with hym weren noumbrid an hundrid and fifti men;

⁴of the sones of Phet, Moab, and Elioneay, the sone of Zacharie, and with hym two hundrid men;

⁵of the sones of Sechemye, the sone of Ezechiel, and with hym thre hundrid men;

⁶of the sones of Addam, Nabeth, the sone of Jonathan, and with hym fifti men;

⁷of the sones of Elam, Ysaie, the sone of Italie, and with him seuenti men;

⁸of the sones of Saphacie, Zebedie, the sone of Mycael, and with him fourescore men;

⁹of the sones of Joab, Obedie, the sone of Jehiel, and with him two hundrid and eiytene men;

¹⁰of the sones of Salomyth, the sone of Josphie, and with hym an hundrid and sixti men; of the sones of Belbai,

¹¹Zacarie, the sone of Belbai, and with hym twenti and eiyte men;

¹²of the sones of Ezead, Johannam, the sone of Ezethan, and with hym an hundrid and ten men;

¹³of the sones of Adonycam, that weren the laste, and these ben the names of hem, Eliphelech, and Eihel, and Samaie, and with hem weren sexti men;

¹⁴of the sones of Beguy, Vtai, and Zaccur, and with hem weren seuenti men.

¹⁵Forsothe Y gaderide hem togidere at the flood, that renneth doun to Hanna; and we dwelliden there thre daies. And `Y souyte in the puple, and in the prestis of the sonus of Leuy, and Y fonde not there.

¹⁶Therfor Y sente Eliezer, and Ariehel, and Semeam, and Helnathan, and Jaubeth, and an other Helnathan, and Nathan, and Zacharie, and Mesollam, princes; and Joarib, and Elnathan, wise men;

¹⁷and Y sente hem to Heldo, which is `the firste in the place of Casphie, and Y puttide in the mouth of hem wordis, whiche thei schulden speke to Heldo, and to hise britheren, Natynneis, in the place of Casphie, for to brynge to vs the mynystris of the hows of oure God.

¹⁸And `thei brouyten to vs, bi the good hoond of oure God on vs, a ful wijs man of the sones of Mooli, the sone of Leuy, sone of Israel; and Sarabie, and his sones twenti, and his britheren eiytene;

¹⁹and Azabie, and Isaie, with him of the sones of Merari, thei brouyten his britheren, and his sones, twenti;

²⁰and of Nathynneis, whiche Dauid and the princis hadden youe to the seruyces of dekenes, thei brouyten two hundrid and twenti Nathynneis; alle these weren clepid bi her names.

²¹And `Y prechide there fastyng bisidis the flood of Hanna, that we schulden be turmentid bifor `oure Lord God, and that we schulden axe of him the riytful weie to vs, and to oure sones, and to al oure catel.

²²For Y schamede to axe of the kyng help, and horse men, that schulden defende vs fro enemyes in the weie, for we hadden seid to the king, The hond of oure God is on alle men that seken hym in goodnesse; and his lordschip, and his strengthe, and strong veniaunce ben on alle men that forsaken hym.

²³Forsothe we fastiden, and preieden oure God for this thing, and it bifelde to vs `bi prosperite.

²⁴And `Y departide twelue of the princes of prestis, Sarabie, and Asabie, and ten of her britheren with hem;

²⁵and Y bitook vndur certeyn weiyte and noumbre to hem the siluer and gold, and the halewid vessels of the hows of oure God, whiche the kyng hadde offrid, and hise counseleris, and hise princes, and `al Israel, of hem that weren foundun.

²⁶And Y bitook vndur certeyn weiyte and noumbre in the hondis of hem sixe hundrid and fifti talentis of siluer, and an hundrid siluerne vessels; an hundrid talentis of gold,

²⁷and twenti goldun cuppis, that hadden a thousynde peesis of gold; and twei faire vessels of best bras, schynynge as gold.

²⁸And Y seide to hem, Ye ben the hooli men of the Lord,

²⁹and wake ye, and kepe the hooli vessels, and siluer and gold, which is offrid bi fre wille to the Lord God of oure fadris, til ye yelde vndur certeyn weiyte and noumbre bifor th princes of prestis, and of dekenes, and bifor the duykis of meynees of Israel in Jerusalem, in to the tresour of Goddis hows.

³⁰Sotheli the preestis and dekenes token the weiyte of siluer, and of gold, and of vessels, for to bere in to Jerusalem, in to the hows of oure God.

³¹Therfor we mouyden forth fro the flood of Hanna, in the tweluethe dai of the firste monethe, for to go in to Jerusalem; and the hond of oure God was on vs, and delyuerde vs fro the hond of enemye and of aspiere in the weie.

³²And we camen to Jerusalem, and we dwelliden there thre daies.

³³Forsothe in the fourthe dai the siluer was yoldun vndur certeyn weiyte and noumbre, and the gold, and the vessels, `in the hows of oure God, by the noumbre and weiyte of alle thingis, bi the hond of Remmoth, `sone of Vrie, preest; and with him was Eleazar, the sone of Phynees, and with him weren Jozaded, the sone of Josue, and Noadaie, the sone of Bennoy, dekenes;

³⁴and al the weiyte was discriued in that tyme.

³⁵But also the sones of transmygracioun, that camen fro caitifte, offriden brent sacrifices to the Lord God of Israel, `twelue calues for al the puple of Israel, nynti and sixe rammes, seuene and seuenti lambren, twelue buckis of geet for synne; alle thingis in to brent sacrifice to the Lord.

³⁶Forsothe thei yauen the comaundementis of the kyng to the princes, that weren of the siyt of the king, and to the duykis biyende the flood; and thei reisiden the puple, and the hows of God.

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.