Ezra 8

1 And these [are] heads of their fathers, and the genealogy of those going up with me, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king, from Babylon.

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 Shechaniah, from the sons of Pharosh: Zechariah, and with him, reckoning themselves by genealogy, of males one hundred and fifty.

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: Elihoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred who are males.

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

5 From the sons of Shechaniah: the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred who are males.

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

6 And from the sons of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him fifty who are males.

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

7 And from the sons of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him seventy who are males.

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

8 And from the sons of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him eighty who are males.

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

9 From the sons of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen who are males.

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

10 And from the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him one hundred and sixty who are males.

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

11 And from the sons of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight who are males.

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

12 And from the sons of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred and ten who are males.

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

13 And from the younger sons of Adonikam—and these [are] their names—Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty who are males.

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

14 And from the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them seventy who are males.

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

15 And I gather them to the river that is going to Ahava, and we encamp there three days; and I consider about the people, and about the priests, and of the sons of Levi I have 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 I send for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, heads, 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 charge them for Iddo the head, in the place Casiphia, and put in their mouth words to speak to Iddo, [and] his brothers the Nethinim, in the place Casiphia, to bring to us servants 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 they bring to us, according to the good hand of our God on us, a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, and Sherebiah, and his sons, and his brothers, 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 Jeshaiah, of the sons of Merari, his brothers, and their sons, twenty;

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

20 and from the Nethinim, whom David and the heads gave for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them defined 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 proclaim there a fast, by the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our infants, 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 ask from the king a force and horsemen to help us because of the enemy in the way, for we spoke to the king, saying, “The hand of our God [is] on all seeking Him for good, and His strength and His wrath [is] on all forsaking 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 fast, and seek from our God for this, and He accepts our plea.

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

24 And I separate from the heads of the priests, twelve, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them of their brothers ten,

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

25 and I weigh to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, a raised-offering of the house of our God, that the king, and his counselors, and his heads, and all Israel—those present—lifted up;

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 weigh to their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and one hundred talents of vessels of silver, 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 basins of gold, of one thousand drams, and two vessels of good shining bronze, desirable as gold.

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

28 And I say to them, “You [are] holy to YHWH, and the vessels [are] holy, and the silver and the gold [are] a willing-offering to YHWH, 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, until you weigh before the heads of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the fathers of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of YHWH.”

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 took the weight of the silver, and of the gold, and of the vessels, to bring to Jerusalem to 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 journey from the river Ahava, on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God has been on us, and He delivers us from the hand of the enemy and the one lying 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 come to Jerusalem, and dwell there three days.

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

33 And on the fourth day has been weighed the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, in the house of our God, to the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest, and with him Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them Jozabad son of Jeshua, and Noadiah son of Binnui, the 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 by number, by weight of everyone, and all the weight is written at that time.

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

35 Those coming in of the captives—sons of the expulsion—have brought burnt-offerings near to the God of Israel: twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve young male goats for a sin-offering—the whole a burnt-offering to YHWH;

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 give the laws of the king to the lieutenants of the king and the governors beyond the river, and they have lifted up 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.