Ezra 8
1 These are the heads of their families, and this is the genealogy of those who came up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes.
2 From the descendants of Phinehas: Gershom; from the descendants of Ithamar: Daniel; from the descendants of David: Hattush.
3 From the descendants of Shecaniah, from the descendants of Parosh: Zechariah, and with him 150 men were registered.
4 From the descendants of Pahath-moab: Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men.
5 From the descendants of Shecaniah: the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men.
6 From the descendants of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men.
7 From the descendants of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men.
8 From the descendants of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men.
9 From the descendants of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men.
10 From the descendants of Shelomith: the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men.
11 From the descendants of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men.
12 From the descendants of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men.
13 From the descendants of Adonikam, the last ones; these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men.
14 From the descendants of Bigvai: Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.
15 I gathered them by the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I looked over the people and the priests, and found none of the descendants of Levi there.
16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, another Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders; and also Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers.
17 I gave them instructions concerning Iddo, the leader at the place called Casiphia. I put into their mouths the words they were to say to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants at Casiphia, so they would bring us ministers for the house of our God.
18 Because the good hand of our God was over us, they brought us a man of good judgment from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, son of Israel: Sherebiah, with his sons and brothers, eighteen men.
19 Also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty men.
20 And from the temple servants, whom David and the leaders had assigned to serve the Levites, 220 temple servants; all of them were designated by name.
21 There by the river Ahava I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us, our children, and all our possessions.
22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for troops and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is over all who seek him, for their good; but his strength and anger are against all who abandon him.”
23 So we fasted and sought this from our God, and he answered our prayer.
24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them.
25 I weighed out for them the silver, the gold, and the vessels—the offering for the house of our God that the king, his advisers, his officials, and all the Israelites present had contributed.
26 I weighed into their hands 650 talents of silver, silver vessels weighing 100 talents, and 100 talents of gold;
27 twenty gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine, gleaming bronze, precious as gold.
28 I said to them, “You are consecrated to the LORD, and the vessels are consecrated. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your ancestors.
29 Keep watch over them and guard them until you weigh them out before the leading priests and Levites and the heads of Israel’s families in Jerusalem, in the storerooms of the house of the LORD.”
30 The priests and Levites accepted the silver, gold, and vessels by weight, to carry them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.
31 We set out from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was over us, and he rescued us from the enemy and from those lying in ambush along the way.
32 We arrived in Jerusalem and stayed there for three days.
33 On the fourth day, the silver, gold, and vessels were weighed out in the house of our God into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, and with them were Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui, the Levites.
34 Everything was counted and weighed, and the total weight was recorded at that time.
35 Those who had returned from captivity, the exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering—all of this as a burnt offering to the LORD.
36 They delivered the king’s orders to the king’s satraps and to the governors of Beyond the River, and they supported the people and the house of God.
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