Ezra 8

1 These 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.

This is a list of the names of the leaders of the clans who came with me up [to Jerusalem] from Babylonia when Artaxerxes was the king [of Persia]:

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

Gershom, from the clan descended from [Aaron’s grandson] Phinehas Daniel, from the clan descended from [Aaron’s son] Ithamar Hattush, the son of Shecaniah, from the clan descended from King David

3 Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.

Zechariah and 150 [other] men from the clan descended from Parosh

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

Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and 200 other men from the clan descended from Pahath-Moab

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

Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel and 300 other men from the clan descended from Zattu

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

Ebed the son of Jonathan and 50 other men from the clan descended from Adin

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

Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and 70 other men from the clan descended from Elam

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

Zebadiah the son of Michael and 80 other men from the clan descended from Shephatiah

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

Obadiah the son of Jehiel and 218 other men from the clan descended from Joab

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

Shelomith the son of Josiphiah and 160 other men from the clan descended from Bani

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

Zechariah the son of Bebai and 28 other men from the clan descended from [another man whose name was] Bebai

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

Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 other men from the clan descended from Azgad

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

Also Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, who returned [here] later with 60 men from the clan descended from Adonikam

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

And Uthai and Zaccur and 70 other men from the clan descended from Bigvai.

15 And 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.

I gathered all of them together at the canal that goes [from Babylon] to Ahava [town]. We set up our tents there and stayed there for three days. [During that time] I checked the lists of names and found out that there were priests [going with us], but no [other] descendants of Levi [who could help them in the temple].

16 Then 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.

So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, two men whose names were Elnathan, and Jarib, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were all leaders [of the people]. I also summoned Joiarib and another Elnathan, who were wise.

17 And 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.

I sent them all to Iddo, the leader of the descendants of Levi, who was living in Casiphia [town], to request that he and his relatives and other men who had worked in the temple send to us some men who would [go/come with us to] work in God’s new temple [in Jerusalem].

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; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;

Because God was kind to us, they brought to us a man named Sherebiah and 18 of his sons and other relatives. Sherebiah was a very wise man, a descendant of Mahli, [who was a grandson] of Levi.

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

They also sent to us Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, descendants of [Levi’s son] Merari, and 20 of their relatives.

20 Also 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.

They also sent 220 other men to work in the temple. Those men’s ancestors had been appointed by King David to assist the descendants of Levi [who helped the priests in the temple]. I listed/wrote the names of all those men.

21 Then 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.

There alongside the Ahava Canal, I told them that we all would (fast/abstain from eating food) and pray. I also told them that we should humble ourselves in the presence of our God. We prayed that God would protect us while we traveled, and also protect our children and our possessions/belongings.

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: 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.

Previously we had told the king that our God takes care of all those who truly trust in him, but that he becomes very angry with those who refuse to obey him. So I would have been ashamed if I had asked the king to send soldiers and men riding on horses to protect us from our enemies while we were traveling along the road.

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

So we (fasted/abstained from eating food) and requested God to protect us, and he (answered our prayers/did what we requested.)

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

I chose twelve of the leaders of the priests, Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their relatives.

25 And 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:

I appointed them to supervise carrying to Jerusalem the gifts of silver and gold and the other valuable items that the king and his advisors and other officials, and the Israeli people [who were living in Babylonia], had contributed for the temple of our God.

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

As I gave these various items to those priests, I weighed each of the items. This was the total: 25 tons of silver, 100 items made from silver that altogether weighed 7,500 pounds, (7,500 pounds/3,400 kg.) of gold,

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

20 gold bowls that altogether weighed (19 pounds/8.6 kg.), and two items made of polished bronze that were as valuable as ones made of gold.

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

I said to those priests, “You belong to Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors (worshiped/also belonged to), and these valuable things also belong to him. The people themselves gave these things to be offerings to Yahweh (voluntarily/because they wanted to).

29 Watch 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 Yhwh.

So guard them carefully, and [when we arrive] in Jerusalem, weigh them in the presence of the priests, the descendants of Levi [who will help the priests], and the other Israeli leaders there. They will then put them in the storerooms in the new temple.”

30 So 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.

So the priests and [other] descendants of Levi took from me all the gifts of silver and gold and the other valuable items, in order to carry them to the temple in Jerusalem.

31 Then 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.

On April 19, we left the Ahava Canal and started to travel to Jerusalem. Our God took care of us, and while we traveled, he prevented our enemies and bandits from (ambushing us/suddenly attacking us).

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

After we arrived in Jerusalem, we rested for three days.

33 Now 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;

Then on the fourth/next day we went to the temple. There the silver and gold and the other items were weighed and given to the priest Meremoth, the son of Uriah. Eleazar the son of Phinehas and two descendants of Levi, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui, were with him.

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

They counted everything, and wrote down how much they weighed, and wrote [a description of] each item.

35 Also 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 Yhwh.

We who had returned from Babylonia offered to God sacrifices on the altar. We offered twelve bulls for all us Israeli people. We also offered 96 rams and 27 lambs. We also sacrificed twelve goats [to atone] for the sins that all the people had committed. These were all completely burned on the altar.

36 And 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.

Some of us who returned [from Babylonia] took to the governors and other officials of the province west of the [Euphrates] River the letter that the king had given to us. [After they read the letter, ] they did all [that they were able to do] for us Israeli people and for the temple of God.