Ezra 8

1 This is a list of the family leaders and genealogical records of those who came back with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:

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

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

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

3 son of Shecaniah. From the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him 150 men were registered.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

13 From the sons of Adonikam, those who were last, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men.

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

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

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

15 I gathered the returning exiles together at the Ahava Canal. We camped there for three days while I reviewed who had come—the ordinary people, the priests, and the Levites. I discovered there wasn't a single Levite

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.

16 so I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men with good insight.

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.

17 I told them to go to Iddo, the leader of the Temple servants at Casiphia, asking him and his relatives to send us ministers for the Temple of our God.

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.

18 Since our gracious God was with us, they brought us Sherebiah, a man with good insight from the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, together with his sons and brothers, a total of eighteen men;

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;

19 and Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, from the sons of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, a total of twenty men.

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

20 In addition they brought 220 of the Temple servants, a group appointed by David and his officials to help the Levites. These were all registered by name.

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.

21 At the Ahava Canal I called for a fast so we could confess our sins before God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, along with all our possessions.

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.

22 I had been reluctant to ask the king to give us a military escort to protect us from enemies on the way. We had told the king, “Our gracious God takes care of everyone who follows him, but shows his anger against anyone who abandons him.”

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.

23 So we fasted and asked God to protect us, and he answered our prayers.

And we fasted, and besought our God for this; and he was entreated of us.

24 Then I designated twelve of the leading priests, and Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers,

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

25 and I weighed out and handed them the donations of silver and gold, and the items that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the people of Israel there had given for the Temple of our God.

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.

26 I weighed out and placed in their hands 650 talents of silver, silver Temple items weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold,

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;

27 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and two articles of highly-polished bronze, as valuable as gold.

and twenty basons of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of shining copper, precious as gold.

28 I told them, “You are set apart for the Lord, and these Temple items are too. The silver and gold are a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of your forefathers.

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.

29 You are to guard them and keep them safe until you hand them over, weighing them before the high priests, the Levites and the family leaders in Israel at Jerusalem, in the treasury rooms within the Lord's Temple.”

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.

30 The priests and Levites took responsibility for the silver and gold and the Temple items that had been weighed out to be brought to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem.

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.

31 On the twelfth day of the first month, we left the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and our God was with us to protect us from enemy ambushes along the way.

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.

32 Eventually we arrived in Jerusalem and rested there for three days.

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

33 On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the Temple items were weighed out in the Temple of our God and handed over to Meremoth, son of Uriah the priest, accompanied by Eleazar, son of Phinehas. Also present were the Levites, Jozabad, son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, son of Binnui.

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:

34 Everything was checked, both by number and weight, and the total weight was written down at the time.

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

35 Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel—twelve bulls for all of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and a sin offering of twelve goats. All were sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord.

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.

36 They also delivered the king's decrees to the chief officers of the king and the governors of the province west of the Euphrates, who then provided assistance to the people and to God's Temple.

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.