Ezra 8

1 Now, these, are their ancestral heads, and their genealogical register, —even of those who came up with me, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king, out of Babylon: —

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 sons of Phinehas, Gershom, of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel, —of the sons of David, Hattush;

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

3 Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, —and, with him—by genealogical registry of 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 sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, 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 sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, the son of Jehaziel, —and, with him, three hundred males;

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

6 And, of the sons of Adin, Ebed, 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 sons of Elam, Jeshaiah, 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 sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, 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 sons of Joab, Obadiah, 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 sons of Bani, Shelomith, 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 sons of Bebai, Zechariah, 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 sons of Azgad, Johanan, 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 later sons of Adonikam, these being their names, Eliphelet, Jeuel, 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 sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, —and, with him, seventy males.

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

15 And I gathered them together, unto the river that cometh into Ahava, and we encamped there three days, —and I informed myself among the people and the priests, and, of the sons of Levi, found I 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 So 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, —also for Joiarib and for Elnathan, teachers.

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 sent them forth unto Iddo the chief, at the place Casiphia, —and I put into their mouth words, to speak unto Iddo and his brethren the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, to bring unto us attendants 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 So they brought unto us, according to the good hand of our God upon us, a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, —and Sherebiah, and 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, Jeshaiah, 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 rulers had given for the service of the Levites, Nethinim, two hundred and twenty, —all of them, 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 Then proclaimed I there a fast, by the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, —to seek of him a smooth 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 ask 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 who seek him, for good, But, his power and his anger, are against all who 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 So we fasted and sought of our God, concerning this, —and he suffered himself to be entreated by us.

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

24 Then I separated, from among the rulers of the priests, twelve, —even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and, with them, from among their brethren, ten;

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

25 and weighed unto them, the silver and the gold, and the utensils, —the heave-offering for the house of our God, which the king and his counselors and his rulers and all Israel who were 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 I even weighed unto their hand, of silver, six hundred and fifty talents, and, of utensils of silver, a hundred talents, —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, bowls of gold, twenty, of a thousand drams, —and, utensils of fine bright bronze, two, precious as gold.

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

28 Then said I unto them, Ye, are hallowed unto Yahweh, and, the utensils, are hallowed, —and, the silver and the gold, are a freewill offering, unto Yahweh, 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 guard, until ye weigh [them] before the rulers of the priests and the Levites and the ancestral rulers of Israel, in Jerusalem, —in the chambers of the house of Yahweh.

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 So the priests and the Levites accepted the weight of the silver and the gold, and the utensils, —to bring 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 Then brake we up from the river of Ahava, on the twelfth of the first month, to journey unto Jerusalem, —and, the hand of our God, was upon us, and he delivered us from the grasp of the enemy and of the lier 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 So we came to Jerusalem, —and we rested there, three days.

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

33 And, on the fourth day, was weighed—the silver and the gold and the utensils, in the house of our God, unto the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest, and, with him, was Eleazar son of Phinehas, —and, with them, were Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah 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 by the number and by the weight of the whole, —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 They who came in out of the captivity, Sons of the Exile, offered as ascending-sacrifices unto the God of Israel—bullocks twelve for all Israel, rams ninety-six, young sheep seventy-seven, he-goats for bearing sin, twelve, —the whole, as an ascending-sacrifice unto Yahweh.

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 Then delivered they the decrees of the king, unto the satraps of the king, and the pashas Beyond the River, —and they upheld 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.