Ezra 8

1 And these [are] [the] heads of fathers their and recording genealogy they who came up with me in [the] reign of Artaxerxes the king 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 [the] descendants of Phinehas Gershom. Of [the] descendants of Ithamar Daniel. Of [the] descendants 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] descendants of Shecaniah. Of [the] descendants of Parosh Zechariah and with him a genealogical list of males one hundred and fifty.

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

4 Of [the] descendants of Pahath-Moab Eliehoenai [the] son of Zerahiah and with him [were] two hundred the males.

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

5 Of [the] descendants of (Zattu *X*) Shecaniah [the] son of Jahaziel and with him [were] three hundred the males.

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

6 And of [the] descendants of Adin Ebed [the] son of Jonathan and with him [were] fifty the males.

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

7 And of [the] descendants of Elam Jeshaiah [the] son of Athaliah and with him [were] seventy the males.

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

8 And of [the] descendants of Shephatiah Zebadiah [the] son of Michael and with him [were] eighty the males.

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

9 Of [the] descendants of Joab Obadiah [the] son of Jehiel and with him [were] two hundred and eight-teen the males.

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

10 And of [the] descendants of (Bani *X*) Shelomith [the] son of Josiphiah and with him [were] one hundred and sixty the males.

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

11 And of [the] descendants of Bebai Zechariah [the] son of Bebai and with him [were] twenty and eight the 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] descendants of Azgad Johanan [the] son of Hakkatan and with him [were] one hundred and ten the males.

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

13 And of [the] descendants of Adonikam [the] last [ones] and these [are] names their Eliphelet Jeiel and Shemaiah and with them [were] sixty the males.

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

14 And of [the] descendants of Bigvai Uthai (and Zaccur *Q(K)*) and with him [were] seventy the males.

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

15 And I assembled them to the river which goes to Ahava and we encamped there days three and I considered! the people and the priests and any of [the] descendants of Levi not I found 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 And 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 chiefs and for Joiarib and for Elnathan teachers.

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 commanded *Q(K)*) them to Iddo the chief in Casiphia the place and I put! in mouth their words to speak to Iddo brother his (the temple servants *Q(K)*) in Casiphia the place to bring to us servants for [the] house of God our.

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 to us according to [the] hand of God our good on us a man of insight one of [the] descendants of Mahli [the] son of Levi [the] son of Israel and Sherebiah and sons his and brothers his eight-teen.

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 one of [the] descendants of Merari brothers his and sons their twenty.

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

20 And some of the temple servants whom he had appointed David and the officials for [the] work of the Levites temple servants two hundred and twenty all of them they had been designated 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 And I proclaimed there a fast at the river Ahava to humble ourselves before God our to seek from him a journey straight for us and for little one[s] our and for all property our.

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 from the king an escort and horsemen to help us from an enemy on the journey for we had said to the king saying [the] hand of God our [is] on all [those who] seek him for good and strength his and anger his [are] towards all [those who] 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 And we fasted! and we sought! from God our on this and he was 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 And I set apart! of [the] leaders of the priests two [plus] ten to Sherebiah Hashabiah and with them of brothers their ten.

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

25 (And I weighed out! *Q(k)*) to them the silver and the gold and the vessels [the] contribution of [the] house of God our which they had offered the king and counselors his and officials his and all Israel who were found.

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! on hand their silver talents six hundred and fifty and vessels of silver one hundred of talents gold one hundred talent[s].

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 And bowls of gold twenty of darics a thousand and vessels of bronze gleaming fine two precious like 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! to them you [are] holy person[s] to Yahweh and the vessels [are] holy thing[s] and the silver and the gold [are] a freewill offering to Yahweh [the] God of ancestors your.

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 and keep [them] until you will weigh [them] out before [the] leaders of the priests and the Levites and [the] leaders of the fathers of Israel in Jerusalem the rooms of [the] house of Yahweh.

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 they received the priests and the Levites [the] weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels to bring [them] to Jerusalem to [the] house of God our.

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 set out! from [the] river of Ahava on [day] two [plus] ten of the month first to go Jerusalem and [the] hand of God our it was on us and he delivered us from [the] hand of an enemy and from an ambusher on the journey.

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 Jerusalem and we remained there days three.

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

33 And on the day fourth it was weighed out the silver and the gold and the vessels in [the] house of God our on [the] hand of Meremoth [the] son of Uriah the priest and with him Eleazar [the] son of Phinehas and with them Jozabad [the] son of Jeshua and Noadiah [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 by weight for everything and it was written down all the weight at the time that.

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

35 Those [who] had come from the captivity [the] children of the exile they brought near burnt offerings - to [the] God of Israel bulls two [plus] ten on all Israel rams - ninety and six lambs seventy and seven he-goats of sin offering two [plus] ten everything [was] a burnt offering to Yahweh.

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 gave - [the] decrees of the king to [the] satraps of the king and [the] governors of beyond the River and they supported 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.