Ezra 8
8
Those Returning with Ezra
1These are the family heads and the genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:#Ezr 7:7
2Gershom, from Phinehas’s descendants;
Daniel, from Ithamar’s descendants;
Hattush, from David’s descendants,
3who was of Shecaniah’s descendants;#1Ch 3:22
Zechariah, from Parosh’s#Ezr 2:3; 10:25 descendants,
and 150 men#8:3 Or males; also in vv. 4–14 with him who were registered by genealogy;
4Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah
from Pahath-moab’s descendants,#Ezr 2:6
and 200 men with him;
5Shecaniah#8:5 LXX, 1 Esdras 8:32; MT reads the descendants of Shecaniah son of Jahaziel
from Zattu’s descendants,
and 300 men with him;
6Ebed son of Jonathan
from Adin’s descendants,#Ezr 2:15; Neh 7:20
and 50 men with him;
7Jeshaiah son of Athaliah
from Elam’s descendants,
and 70 men with him;
8Zebadiah son of Michael
from Shephatiah’s descendants,
and 80 men with him;
9Obadiah son of Jehiel
from Joab’s descendants,
and 218 men with him;
10Shelomith#8:10 Some LXX mss, 1 Esdras 8:36; MT reads the descendants of Shelomith son of Josiphiah
from Bani’s descendants,
and 160 men with him;
11Zechariah son of Bebai
from Bebai’s descendants,
and 28 men with him;
12Johanan son of Hakkatan
from Azgad’s descendants,
and 110 men with him;
13these are the last ones, from Adonikam’s descendants,#Ezr 2:13
and their names are
Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah,
and 60 men with them;
14Uthai and Zaccur#8:14 Alt Hb tradition, some LXX mss read Zabud
from Bigvai’s descendants,
and 70 men with them.
15I gathered them at the river#8:15 Or canal that flows to Ahava,#Ezr 8:21,31 and we camped there for three days. I searched among the people and priests, but found no Levites#Ezr 2:40; 7:7 there. 16Then I summoned the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam,#Ezr 10:15 as well as the teachers Joiarib and Elnathan. 17I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia, with a message for#8:17 Lit Casiphia, and I put in their mouth the words to speak to him and his brothers, the temple servants#Ezr 2:43; Neh 7:46 at Casiphia, that they should bring us ministers for the house of our God. 18Since the gracious hand of our God was on us,#Ezr 7:6 they brought us Sherebiah#Ezr 8:24; Neh 8:7 — a man of insight from the descendants of Mahli, a descendant of Levi son of Israel — along with his sons and brothers, 18 men, 19plus Hashabiah,#Neh 12:24 along with Jeshaiah, from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, 20 men. 20There were also 220 of the temple servants,#Ezr 2:43; 7:7 who had been appointed by David and the leaders for the work of the Levites. All were identified by name.
Preparing to Return
21I proclaimed a fast#Is 58:3–8 by the Ahava River,#8:21 Or Canal, also in v. 31 so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us, our dependents, and all our possessions. 22I did this because I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and cavalry to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek him, but his fierce anger is against all who abandon him.”#Dt 31:6,17 23So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and he was receptive to our prayer.
24I selected twelve of the leading priests, along with Sherebiah,#Neh 10:9,11 Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers. 25I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles — the contribution for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites who were present had offered. 26I weighed out to them 24 tons#8:26 Lit 650 talents of silver, silver articles weighing 7,500 pounds,#8:26 Lit 100 talents 7,500 pounds of gold, 27twenty gold bowls worth a thousand gold coins,#8:27 Or 1,000 drachmas, or 1,000 darics and two articles of fine gleaming bronze, as valuable as gold.#Ezr 7:15–20 28Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the articles are holy. The silver and gold are a freewill offering#Ezr 1:4; 2:68–69 to the Lord God of your ancestors. 29Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the Lord’s house before the leading priests, Levites, and heads of the Israelite families in Jerusalem.” 30So the priests and Levites took charge of the silver, the gold, and the articles that had been weighed out, to bring them to the house of our God in Jerusalem.#Neh 13:4–5,9
Arrival in Jerusalem
31We set out from the Ahava River on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. We were strengthened by our God,#8:31 Lit The hand of our God was on us#Ezr 7:9; Neh 2:18 and he kept us from the grasp of the enemy and from ambush along the way.#Ezr 8:21–22 32So we arrived at Jerusalem and rested there for three days.#Neh 2:11 33On the fourth day the silver, the gold, and the articles were weighed out in the house of our God into the care of the priest Meremoth son of Uriah. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him. The Levites Jozabad#Neh 11:16 son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui were also with them. 34Everything was verified by number and weight, and the total weight was recorded at that time.
35The exiles who had returned from the captivity#Ezr 2:1; 6:16 offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, and seventy-seven lambs, along with twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering for the Lord.#Lv 1:3–15; 2Ch 29:24,27,31–35 36They also delivered the king’s edicts to the royal satraps and governors of the region west of the Euphrates,#Ezr 7:21,25 so that they would support the people and the house of God.#Ezr 7:21–24
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Ezra 8
8
1 And so these are the leaders of the families, with their genealogy, of those who ascended with me from Babylon, during the reign of king Artaxerxes.
2 From the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. From the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. From the sons of David, Hattush.
3 From the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Parosh, Zechariah, and one hundred fifty men were numbered with him.
4 From the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, the son of Zerahiah, and two hundred men were with him.
5 From the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel, and three hundred men were with him.
6 From the sons of Adin, Ebed, the son of Jonathan, and fifty men were with him.
7 From the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah, the son of Athaliah, and seventy men were with him.
8 From the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, the son of Michael, and eighty men were with him.
9 From the sons of Joab, Obadiah, the son of Jehiel, and two hundred eighteen men were with him.
10 From the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and one hundred sixty men were with him.
11 From the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and twenty-eight men were with him.
12 From the sons of Azgad, Johanan, the son of Hakkatan, and one hundred and ten men were with him.
13 From the sons of Adonikam, who were the last, and these were their names: Eliphelet, and Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and sixty men were with them.
14 From the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and seventy men were with them.
15 Now I gathered them together at the river that runs down to Ahava, and we stayed there for three days. And I sought among the people and among the priests for the sons of Levi, and I found none there.
16 And so I sent Eliezer, and Ariel, and Shemaiah, and Elnathan, and Jarib, and another Elnathan, and Nathan, and Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise.
17 And I sent them to Iddo, who is first within the place of Casiphia. And I placed in their mouth the words that they should speak to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants, in the place of Casiphia, so that they would lead to us ministers for the house of our God.
18 And because the good hand of our God was over us, they led to us a very learned man from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, with Sherebiah, and his sons, and his eighteen brothers,
19 and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, of the sons of Merari, and his brothers, and his sons, numbering twenty.
20 And from the temple servants, whom David, and the leaders had provided for the ministry of the Levites, there were two hundred twenty temple servants. All these were called by their names.
21 And I proclaimed a fast in that place, beside the river Ahava, so that we might afflict ourselves in the sight of the Lord our God, and so that we might request of him the right way for us, and for our sons, and for all our substance.
22 For I was ashamed to petition the king for assistance and for horsemen, who would defend us from the enemy along the way. For we had said to the king: "The hand of our God is over all those who seek him in goodness. And his authority, and his strength and fury, is over all those who forsake him."
23 And so we fasted and begged our God for this; and as a result, we prospered.
24 And I separated twelve from among the leaders of the priests: Sherebiah, and Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers.
25 And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold, and the vessels consecrated to the house of our God, which had been offered by the king, and by his counselors and his leaders, and by all those of Israel who had been found.
26 And I weighed out to their hands six hundred fifty talents of silver, and one hundred vessels of silver, and one hundred talents of gold,
27 and twenty gold bowls which had the weight of one thousand coins, and two vessels of the finest shining brass, as beautiful as gold.
28 And I said to them: "You are the holy ones of the Lord, and the vessels are holy, with the silver and the gold, which has been offered freely to the Lord, the God of our fathers.
29 Watch and guard them, until you weigh them out before the leaders of the priests and the Levites, and the rulers of the families of Israel in Jerusalem, into the treasury of the house of the Lord."
30 Then the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, so that they might carry these to Jerusalem, into the house of our God.
31 Therefore, we set out from the river Ahava, on the twelfth day of the first month, so that we might travel to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was over us, and he freed us from the hand of the enemy and of those who lay in ambush along the way.
32 And we arrived at Jerusalem, and we stayed there for three days.
33 Then, on the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed out 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 were the Levites, Jozabad, the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, the son of Binnui.
34 This was done according to the number and weight of everything; and every weight was written down at that time.
35 Moreover, those who came from the captivity, the sons of the transmigration, offered holocausts to the God of Israel: twelve calves on behalf of all the people of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve he-goats for sin. All these were a holocaust to the Lord.
36 Then they gave the edicts of the king to the rulers who served in the sight of the king, and to the governors beyond the river, and they exalted the people and the house of God.
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