Ezra 8

1 And these are the chief fathers, and their genealogy, who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.

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

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

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

3 of the children of Shecaniah, of the children of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered by genealogy of the males a hundred and fifty.

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

4 Of the children of Pahath-Moab, Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.

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

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

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

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

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

7 And of the children of Elam, Isaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

13 And of the children of Adonikam, the last ones, whose names are these: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males.

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

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

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

15 And I gathered them together at the river that runs to Ahava; and there we encamped three days; and I surveyed the people and the priests, and found none of the sons of Levi 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 I sent 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, and for Joiarib and for Elnathan, men of understanding.

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 gave them a commission to Iddo the chief, at the place Casiphia, and I put words in their mouths to say to Iddo [and] his brethren the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring 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 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, namely, Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;

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 Isaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;

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

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

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 there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, 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 require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way; for we had spoken to the king saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his anger is against all them that 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 we fasted, and besought our God for this; and he was entreated of us.

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

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

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

25 and I weighed to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the heave-offering for the house of our God, which the king and his counsellors and his princes, and all Israel present, had offered.

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 into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver; and silver vessels a hundred talents, [and] of gold a hundred talents;

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

27 and twenty basons of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of shining copper, precious 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, Ye are holy unto Jehovah; the vessels also are holy; and the silver and the gold is a voluntary offering to Jehovah the God of your 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 keep [them] until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.

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 And the priests and the Levites received by weight the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto 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 And we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth of the first month, to go to 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.

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 came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.

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

33 And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Urijah 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, Levites:

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 the whole by number and by weight; and all the weight was written down at that time.

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

35 The children of those that had been carried away, who had come out of the captivity, presented burnt-offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all for a burnt-offering to Jehovah.

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 And they delivered the king's edicts to the king's satraps, and to the governors on this side the river. And they furthered 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.