Ezra 8

¹ These are the heads of families and the genealogical records of those who went 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 son of Shecaniah. From the descendants of Parosh: Zechariah, and with him 150 men registered by genealogy.

⁴ From the descendants of Pahath-Moab: Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and 200 men with him.

⁵ From the descendants of Zattu: Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and 300 men with him.

⁶ From the descendants of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan, and 50 men with him.

⁷ From the descendants of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and 70 men with him.

⁸ From the descendants of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael, and 80 men with him.

⁹ From the descendants of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel, and 218 men with him.

¹⁰ From the descendants of Bani: Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and 160 men with him.

¹¹ From the descendants of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai, and 28 men with him.

¹² From the descendants of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan, and 110 men with him.

¹³ From the descendants of Adonikam—the last ones—their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and 60 men with them.

¹⁴ From the descendants of Bigvai: Uthai and Zakkur, and 70 men with them.

¹⁵ I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I reviewed the people and the priests, I found no Levites there.

¹⁶ So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers.

¹⁷ I sent them to Iddo, the leader at the place called Casiphia, and I told them what to say to Iddo and his relatives, the temple servants at Casiphia, so that they would bring us ministers for the house of our God.

¹⁸ Because the good hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi son of Israel, along with his sons and brothers—18 men;

¹⁹ also Hashabiah and Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, with his brothers and their sons—20 men;

²⁰ and 220 of the temple servants—a group that David and the officials had established to assist the Levites. All of them were registered by name.

²¹ I proclaimed a fast there, at the canal of Ahava, 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 soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, since we had told the king, "The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek him, but his power and his anger are against all who forsake him."

²³ So we fasted and sought our God about this, 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 and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels—the offering for the house of our God that the king, his advisors, his officials, and all Israel present there had contributed.

²⁶ I weighed into their hands 650 talents of silver, silver vessels worth 100 talents, 100 talents of gold,

²⁷ 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine polished bronze, as precious as gold.

²⁸ Then I said to them, "You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.

²⁹ Guard them carefully until you weigh them out before the leading priests, the Levites, and the heads of Israel's families in Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of the LORD."

³⁰ So the priests and the Levites received the silver, the gold, and the vessels by weight, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

³¹ We set out from the canal of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of enemies and ambushers along the way.

³² We arrived in Jerusalem and rested there three days.

³³ On the fourth day, the silver, the gold, and the vessels were weighed out in the house of our God into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest. With him was Eleazar son of Phinehas, 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 The exiles who had returned from captivity 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 as a burnt offering to the LORD.

³⁶ They also delivered the king's orders to the royal satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and these officials supported the people and the house of God.