Ezra 8

1 And so these are the leaders of the families, with their genealogy, of those who ascended with me from Babylon, during the reign of king Artaxerxes.

These are the family heads and genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:

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

from the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom; from the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel; from the descendants of David, Hattush

3 From the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Parosh, Zechariah, and one hundred fifty men were numbered with him.

of the descendants of Shecaniah; from the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men;

4 From the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, the son of Zerahiah, and two hundred men were with him.

from the descendants of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men;

5 From the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel, and three hundred men were with him.

from the descendants of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men;

6 From the sons of Adin, Ebed, the son of Jonathan, and fifty men were with him.

from the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men;

7 From the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah, the son of Athaliah, and seventy men were with him.

from the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;

8 From the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, the son of Michael, and eighty men were with him.

from the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men;

9 From the sons of Joab, Obadiah, the son of Jehiel, and two hundred eighteen men were with him.

from the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men;

10 From the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and one hundred sixty men were with him.

from the descendants of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men;

11 From the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and twenty-eight men were with him.

from the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men;

12 From the sons of Azgad, Johanan, the son of Hakkatan, and one hundred and ten men were with him.

from the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men;

13 From the sons of Adonikam, who were the last, and these were their names: Eliphelet, and Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and sixty men were with them.

from the later descendants of Adonikam, these were their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men;

14 From the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and seventy men were with them.

and from the descendants of Bigvai, both Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.

15 Now I gathered them together at the river that runs down to Ahava, and we stayed there for three days. And I sought among the people and among the priests for the sons of Levi, and I found none there.

Now I assembled these exiles at the canal that flows to Ahava, and we camped there three days. And when I searched among the people and priests, I found no Levites there.

16 And so I sent Eliezer, and Ariel, and Shemaiah, and Elnathan, and Jarib, and another Elnathan, and Nathan, and Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise.

Then I summoned the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, as well as the teachers Joiarib and Elnathan.

17 And I sent them to Iddo, who is first within the place of Casiphia. And I placed in their mouth the words that they should speak to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants, in the place of Casiphia, so that they would lead to us ministers for the house of our God.

And I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia, with a message for him and his kinsmen, the temple servants at Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.

18 And because the good hand of our God was over us, they led to us a very learned man from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, with Sherebiah, and his sons, and his eighteen brothers,

And since the gracious hand of our God was upon us, they brought us Sherebiah—a man of insight from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel—along with his sons and brothers, 18 men;

19 and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, of the sons of Merari, and his brothers, and his sons, numbering twenty.

also Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah, from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, 20 men.

20 And from the temple servants, whom David, and the leaders had provided for the ministry of the Levites, there were two hundred twenty temple servants. All these were called by their names.

They also brought 220 of the temple servants, all designated by name. David and the officials had appointed them to assist the Levites.

21 And I proclaimed a fast in that place, beside the river Ahava, so that we might afflict ourselves in the sight of the Lord our God, and so that we might request of him the right way for us, and for our sons, and for all our substance.

And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.

22 For I was ashamed to petition the king for assistance and for horsemen, who would defend us from the enemy along the way. For we had said to the king: “The hand of our God is over all those who seek him in goodness. And his authority, and his strength and fury, is over all those who forsake him.”

For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.”

23 And so we fasted and begged our God for this; and as a result, we prospered.

So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He granted our request.

24 And I separated twelve from among the leaders of the priests: Sherebiah, and Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers.

Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, together with Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers,

25 And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold, and the vessels consecrated to the house of our God, which had been offered by the king, and by his counselors and his leaders, and by all those of Israel who had been found.

and I weighed out to them the contribution of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites there had offered for the house of our God.

26 And I weighed out to their hands six hundred fifty talents of silver, and one hundred vessels of silver, and one hundred talents of gold,

I weighed out into their hands 650 talents of silver, articles of silver weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold,

27 and twenty gold bowls which had the weight of one thousand coins, and two vessels of the finest shining brass, as beautiful as gold.

20 gold bowls valued at 1,000 darics, and two articles of fine polished bronze, as precious as gold.

28 And I said to them: “You are the holy ones of the Lord, and the vessels are holy, with the silver and the gold, which has been offered freely to the Lord, the God of our fathers.

Then I told them, “You are holy to the LORD, and these articles are holy. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.

29 Watch and guard them, until you weigh them out before the leaders of the priests and the Levites, and the rulers of the families of Israel in Jerusalem, into the treasury of the house of the Lord.”

Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the LORD in Jerusalem before the leading priests, Levites, and heads of the Israelite families.”

30 Then the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, so that they might carry these to Jerusalem, into the house of our God.

So the priests and Levites took charge of the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.

31 Therefore, we set out from the river Ahava, on the twelfth day of the first month, so that we might travel to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was over us, and he freed us from the hand of the enemy and of those who lay in ambush along the way.

On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us to protect us from the hands of the enemies and bandits along the way.

32 And we arrived at Jerusalem, and we stayed there for three days.

So we arrived at Jerusalem and rested there for three days.

33 Then, on the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed out 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 were the Levites, Jozabad, the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, the son of Binnui.

On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and sacred articles into the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, along with the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.

34 This was done according to the number and weight of everything; and every weight was written down at that time.

Everything was verified by number and weight, and the total weight was recorded at that time.

35 Moreover, those who came from the captivity, the sons of the transmigration, offered holocausts to the God of Israel: twelve calves on behalf of all the people of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve he-goats for sin. All these were a holocaust to the Lord.

Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and a sin offering of 12 male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD.

36 Then they gave the edicts of the king to the rulers who served in the sight of the king, and to the governors beyond the river, and they exalted the people and the house of God.

They also delivered the king’s edicts to the royal satraps and governors of the region west of the Euphrates, who proceeded to assist the people and the house of God.