< Ezra 8 >

1 Now these are the chiefs of their divisions, and this is the genealogy of those that went up with me, in the reign of king Artaxerxes, from Babylon.
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 these sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Chattush;
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 Shechanyah, [who was] of the sons of Par'osh, Zechariah; and with him were recorded by genealogy of males one hundred and fifty.
Zechariah and 150 [other] men from the clan descended from Parosh
4 Of the sons of Pachath-moab, Elyeho'enai the son of Zerachyah, and with him were two hundred males.
Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and 200 other men from the clan descended from Pahath-Moab
5 Of the sons of Shechanyah, the son of Yachaziel, and with him were three hundred males.
Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel and 300 other men from the clan descended from Zattu
6 And of the sons of 'Adin, 'Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him were fifty males.
Ebed the son of Jonathan and 50 other men from the clan descended from Adin
7 And of the sons of 'Elam, Jesha'yah the son of 'Athalyah, and with him were seventy males.
Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and 70 other men from the clan descended from Elam
8 And of the sons of Shephatyath, Zebadyah the son of Michael, and with him were eighty 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 Jechiel, and with him were 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 Jossiphyah, and with him were one hundred and sixty 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 were 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 the sons of 'Azgad, Jochanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him were one hundred and ten males.
Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 other men from the clan descended from Azgad
13 And of the sons of Adonikam the last; and those are their names, Eliphelet, Je'iel, and Shema'yah, and with them were sixty males.
Also Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, who returned [here] later with 60 men from the clan descended from Adonikam
14 And of the sons of Bigvai, 'Uthai, and Zabbur, and with them were 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 into the Ahava, and we encamped there three days: and I looked about among the people, and the priests, but of the sons of Levi I found none there.
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 Eli'ezer, for Ariel, for Shema'yah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, the head men; also for Joyarib, 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 a charge unto Iddo the chief at the place Cassiphia, and I laid the words in their mouth to speak unto Iddo, and to his brother, who were appointed at the place Cassiphia, 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 they brought unto us according to the good hand of our God upon us a man of intelligence, of the sons of Machli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely, Sherebyah, with his sons and his brothers, 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 Chashabyah, and with him Jesha'yah of the sons of Merari, his brothers 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 temple-servants, whom David and the princes had assigned for the service of the Levites two hundred and twenty temple-servants, all of whom were expressed by names.
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 did I proclaim a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to request from him a prosperous journey 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 ask of the king an army and horsemen to assist us against an enemy on the way; because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all those that seek him for good; but his power and his wrath are against all those 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 suffered himself to be entreated by 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 set I apart of the chiefs of the priests twelve persons, Sherebyah, Chashabyah, and with them ten of their brethren.
I chose twelve of the leaders of the priests, Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their relatives.
25 And I weighed out unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, 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 And I weighed out into their hand of silver six hundred and fifty talents, and of silver vessels one hundred talents, of gold one 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 cups of gold, of a thousand drachms; and two vessels of fine polished copper, valuable 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 the Lord; and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord the 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 guard them, until ye weigh them out before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of the divisions of Israel, at Jerusalem, into the chambers of the house of the Lord.
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 And the priests and the Levites accepted what was weighed out of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring the same to Jerusalem to 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 And we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was over us, and he delivered us from the hand of any enemy, and of such as lie in wait on 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 remained there three days.
After we arrived in Jerusalem, we rested for three days.
33 And on the fourth day were the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriyah the priest; and with him was El'azar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua', and No'adyah the son of Binnui, the 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 everything: and all the weight was written down at the same time.
They counted everything, and wrote down how much they weighed, and wrote [a description of] each item.
35 Those that came out of the captivity, the children of the exile, offered burnt-offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven sheep, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all as burnt-offerings unto the Lord.
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 commands unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side of the river; and these endowed 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.

< Ezra 8 >