Ezra 8
8
Ezra's Company
1These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king. 2Of the sons of Phinehas; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David; Hattush. 3Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty. 4Of the sons of Pahath-moab; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males. 5Of the sons of Shechaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males. 6Of the sons also of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males. 7And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males. 8And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males. 9Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males. 10And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males. 11And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males. 12And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten males. 13And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males. 14Of the sons also of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.
The Journey
15And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi. 16Then sent I 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, men of understanding. 17And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God. 18And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen; 19and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty; 20also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.
Prayer on the Way
21Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. 22For I was ashamed to require 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 them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. 23So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.
24Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them, 25and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered: 26I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents; 27also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold. 28And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers. 29Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD. 30So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.
In Jerusalem
31Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way. 32And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
33Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites; 34by number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.
An Offering to God
35 Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD. 36And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the house of God.
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Ezra 8: KJV
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Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Learn More About King James VersionEzra 8
8
The Family Leaders Who Returned to Jerusalem With Ezra
1Many family leaders came up to Jerusalem with me from Babylon. So did others who were listed with them. It was during the time when Artaxerxes was king. Here is a list of those who came.
2Gershom came from the family line of Phinehas.
Daniel came from the family line of Ithamar.
Hattush came from the family line of David. 3Hattush also belonged to the family of Shekaniah.
Zechariah came from the family line of Parosh. The total number of men who were listed with him was 150.
4Eliehoenai came from the family line of Pahath-Moab. Eliehoenai was the son of Zerahiah. The total number of men with him was 200.
5Shekaniah came from the family line of Zattu. Shekaniah was the son of Jahaziel. The total number of men with him was 300.
6Ebed came from the family line of Adin. Ebed was the son of Jonathan. The total number of men with him was 50.
7Jeshaiah came from the family line of Elam. Jeshaiah was the son of Athaliah. The total number of men with him was 70.
8Zebadiah came from the family line of Shephatiah. Zebadiah was the son of Michael. The total number of men with him was 80.
9Obadiah came from the family line of Joab. Obadiah was the son of Jehiel. The total number of men with him was 218.
10Shelomith came from the family line of Bani. Shelomith was the son of Josiphiah. The total number of men with him was 160.
11Zechariah came from the family line of Bebai. Zechariah was the son of Bebai. The total number of men with him was 28.
12Johanan came from the family line of Azgad. Johanan was the son of Hakkatan. The total number of men with him was 110.
13Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah came from the family line of Adonikam. Some members of their family had gone up to Jerusalem before them. The total number of men with them was 60.
14Uthai and Zakkur came from the family line of Bigvai. The total number of men with them was 70.
Ezra Leads Many Jews Back to Jerusalem
15I gathered the people together at the canal that flows toward Ahava. We camped there for three days. I looked for Levites among the people and priests. But I didn’t find any. 16So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan and Jarib. I also sent for Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam. All of them were leaders. And I sent for Joiarib and Elnathan. They were very well educated. 17I ordered all those men to go to Iddo. He was the leader in Kasiphia. He and his Levite relatives were temple servants there. I told my men what to say to them. I wanted Iddo and his Levite relatives to bring some attendants to us for the house of our God. 18God was gracious to us and helped us. So they brought us Sherebiah, a very capable man. He came from the family line of Mahli. Mahli was the son of Levi. Levi was a son of Israel. They also brought us Sherebiah’s sons and brothers. The total number of men was 18. 19And they brought Hashabiah and his brothers and nephews. They brought them together with Jeshaiah. He came from the family line of Merari. The total number of men was 20. 20They also brought 220 of the temple servants. That was a special group David and his officials had established. They were supposed to help the Levites. All of them were listed by name.
21By the canal that flows toward Ahava, I announced a fast. I told the people not to eat any food. In that way, we made ourselves humble in God’s sight. We prayed that he would give us and our children a safe journey. We asked him to keep safe everything we owned. 22I was ashamed to ask King Artaxerxes for soldiers and horsemen. They could have kept us safe from enemies on the road. But we had told the king that our God would keep us safe. We had said, “Our God is gracious and helps everyone who looks to him. But he becomes very angry with anyone who deserts him.” 23So we didn’t eat anything. We prayed to our God about all these matters. And he answered our prayers.
24Then I set apart 12 of the leading priests. They were Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their relatives. 25I weighed out to them the offering of silver and gold and other things. They had been given for the house of our God. The king, his advisers and officials, and all the Israelites who were there had given them. 26I weighed out 24 tons of silver and gave it to those men. I weighed out almost four tons of silver things. I weighed out almost four tons of gold. 27I weighed out 20 gold bowls. They weighed 19 pounds. I also weighed out two fine objects. The bronze they were made out of was highly polished. They were as priceless as gold.
28I said to those men, “You are set apart to the Lord. So are these things. The silver and gold were offered to the Lord by those who chose to give them. He is the God of your people. 29Guard all these things carefully until you weigh them out. Weigh them in the special rooms of the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. Do this in front of the leading priests and the Levites. Make sure the family leaders of Israel are watching.” 30Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred objects. All of them had been weighed out. They were going to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.
31On the 12th day of the first month we started out. We left the canal that flows toward Ahava. And we headed for Jerusalem. Our God helped us. He kept us safe from enemies and robbers along the way. 32So we arrived in Jerusalem. There we rested for three days.
33On the fourth day we weighed out the silver and gold. We also weighed out the sacred objects. We weighed everything in the house of our God. We handed all of it over to Meremoth the priest. He was the son of Uriah. Eleazar, Jozabad and Noadiah were with him. Eleazar was the son of Phinehas. Jozabad was the son of Jeshua. Noadiah was the son of Binnui. Jozabad and Noadiah were Levites. 34Everything was listed by number and weight. And the total weight was recorded at that time.
35Then the people sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They had returned from Babylon. They offered 12 bulls for the whole nation of Israel. They offered 96 rams and 77 male lambs. All of that was a burnt offering to the Lord. They sacrificed 12 male goats as a sin offering. 36They also handed over the king’s orders. They gave them to the royal officials and governors who ruled over the land west of the Euphrates River. Then those men helped the people. They also did many things for the house of God.
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