< 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: —
2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom, of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel, —of the sons 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:
4 Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, son of Zerahiah, —and, with him, two hundred males;
5 Of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, the son of Jehaziel, —and, with him, three hundred males;
6 And, of the sons of Adin, Ebed, son of Jonathan, —and, with him, fifty males;
7 And, of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah, son of Athaliah, —and, with him, seventy males;
8 And, of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, son of Michael, —and, with him, eighty males;
9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah, son of Jehiel, and, with him, two hundred and eighteen males;
10 And, of the sons of Bani, Shelomith, son of Josiphiah, —and, with him, a hundred and sixty males;
11 And, of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, son of Bebai, and, with him, twenty-eight males;
12 And, of the sons of Azgad, Johanan, son of Hakkatan, —and, with him, a hundred and ten males;
13 And, of the later sons of Adonikam, these being their names, Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, —and, with them, sixty males;
14 And, of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, —and, with him, seventy males.
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.
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.
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.
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;
19 and Hashabiah, and, with him, Jeshaiah, of the sons of Merari, —his brethren and their sons, twenty;
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.
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.
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.
23 So we fasted and sought of our God, concerning this, —and he suffered himself to be entreated by us.
24 Then I separated, from among the rulers of the priests, twelve, —even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and, with them, from among their brethren, ten;
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:
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;
27 and, bowls of gold, twenty, of a thousand drams, —and, utensils of fine bright bronze, two, 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:
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.
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.
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.
32 So we came to Jerusalem, —and we rested there, 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:
34 by the number and by the weight of the whole, —and all the weight, was written down, 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.
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.
