Ezra 8

1 Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:

This is a list of the family leaders and genealogical records of those who came back 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 sons of Phinehas, Gershom. From the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. From the sons of David, Hattush,

3 Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were listed by genealogy of the males one hundred fifty.

son of Shecaniah. From the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him 150 men were registered.

4 Of the sons of Pahathmoab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.

From the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men.

5 Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.

From the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men.

6 Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.

From the sons of Adin, Ebed, son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men.

7 Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.

From the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah, son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men.

8 Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him eighty males.

From the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, son of Michael, and with him 80 men.

9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred eighteen males.

From the sons of Joab, Obadiah, son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men.

10 Of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him one hundred sixty males.

From the sons of Bani, Shelomith, son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men.

11 Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males.

From the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, son of Bebai, and with him 28 men.

12 Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him one hundred ten males.

From the sons of Azgad, Johanan, son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men.

13 Of the sons of Adonikam, who were the last, their names are: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males.

From the sons of Adonikam, those who were last, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men.

14 Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.

From the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.

15 I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava; and there we encamped three days. Then I looked around at the people and the priests, and found there were none of the sons of Levi.

I gathered the returning exiles together at the Ahava Canal. We camped there for three days while I reviewed who had come—the ordinary people, the priests, and the Levites. I discovered there wasn't a single Levite

16 Then I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, for Elnathan, for Jarib, for Elnathan, for Nathan, for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib and for Elnathan, who were teachers.

so I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men with good insight.

17 I sent them out to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should tell Iddo and his brothers the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.

I told them to go to Iddo, the leader of the Temple servants at Casiphia, asking him and his relatives to send us ministers for the Temple of our God.

18 According to the good hand of our God on us they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen;

Since our gracious God was with us, they brought us Sherebiah, a man with good insight from the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, together with his sons and brothers, a total of eighteen men;

19 and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty;

and Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, from the sons of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, a total of twenty men.

20 and of the temple servants, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred twenty temple servants. All of them were mentioned by name.

In addition they brought 220 of the Temple servants, a group appointed by David and his officials to help the Levites. These were all registered by name.

21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for us, for our little ones, and for all our possessions.

At the Ahava Canal I called for a fast so we could confess our sins before God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, along 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 on the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him.”

I had been reluctant to ask the king to give us a military escort to protect us from enemies on the way. We had told the king, “Our gracious God takes care of everyone who follows him, but shows his anger against anyone who abandons him.”

23 So we fasted and begged our God for this, and he granted our request.

So we fasted and asked God to protect us, and he answered our prayers.

24 Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,

Then I designated twelve of the leading priests, and Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers,

25 and weighed to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, his counselors, his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered.

and I weighed out and handed them the donations of silver and gold, and the items that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the people of Israel there had given for the Temple of our God.

26 I weighed into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver, one hundred talents of silver vessels, one hundred talents of gold,

I weighed out and placed in their hands 650 talents of silver, silver Temple items weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold,

27 twenty bowls of gold weighing one thousand darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze, precious as gold.

20 gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and two articles of highly-polished bronze, as valuable as gold.

28 I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a free will offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.

I told them, “You are set apart for the Lord, and these Temple items are too. The silver and gold are a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of your forefathers.

29 Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and the princes of the fathers’ households of Israel at Jerusalem, in the rooms of the LORD’s house.”

You are to guard them and keep them safe until you hand them over, weighing them before the high priests, the Levites and the family leaders in Israel at Jerusalem, in the treasury rooms within the Lord's Temple.”

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

The priests and Levites took responsibility for the silver and gold and the Temple items that had been weighed out to be brought to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem.

31 Then we departed from the river 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 the enemy and the bandits by the way.

On the twelfth day of the first month, we left the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and our God was with us to protect us from enemy ambushes along the way.

32 We came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days.

Eventually we arrived in Jerusalem and rested there for three days.

33 On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levites.

On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the Temple items were weighed out in the Temple of our God and handed over to Meremoth, son of Uriah the priest, accompanied by Eleazar, son of Phinehas. Also present were the Levites, Jozabad, son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, son of Binnui.

34 Everything was counted and weighed; and all the weight was written at that time.

Everything was checked, both by number and weight, and the total weight was written down at the time.

35 The children of the captivity, who had come out of exile, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD.

Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel—twelve bulls for all of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and a sin offering of twelve goats. All were sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord.

36 They delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s local governors and to the governors beyond the River. So they supported the people and God’s house.

They also delivered the king's decrees to the chief officers of the king and the governors of the province west of the Euphrates, who then provided assistance to the people and to God's Temple.