Ezra 8
8
The families who came back with Ezra
1Artaxerxes was king of Persia when I#8.1 I: Ezra. led the following chiefs of the family groups from Babylonia to Jerusalem:
2-14Gershom of the Phinehas family;
Daniel of the Ithamar family;
Hattush son of Shecaniah of the David family;
Zechariah and 150 other men of the Parosh family, who had family records;
Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah with 200 men of the Pahath Moab family;
Shecaniah son of Jahaziel with 300 men of the Zattu family;#8.2-14 of the Zattu family: One ancient translation; these words are not in the Hebrew text, but see 2.2-20, where Zattu is mentioned.
Ebed son of Jonathan with 50 men of the Adin family;
Jeshaiah son of Athaliah with 70 men of the Elam family;
Zebadiah son of Michael with 80 men of the Shephatiah family;
Obadiah son of Jehiel with 218 men of the Joab family;
Shelomith son of Josiphiah with 160 men of the Bani family;#8.2-14 of the Bani family: One ancient translation; these words are not in the Hebrew text, but see 2.2-20.
Zechariah son of Bebai with 28 men of the Bebai family;
Johanan son of Hakkatan with 110 men of the Azgad family;
Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah who returned some time later with 60 men of the Adonikam family;
Uthai and Zaccur with 70 men of the Bigvai family.
Ezra finds Levites for the temple
15I#8.15 I: See the note at 8.1. brought everyone together by the river#8.15 river: Or “canal”. that flows to the town of Ahava#8.15 town of Ahava: A town (or place) in Babylonia, but the exact location is unknown. where we camped for three days. Not one Levite could be found among the people and priests. 16So I sent for the leaders Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam. I also sent for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were very wise. 17Then I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia,#8.17 Casiphia: The location is not known. and I told them to ask him and his temple workers to send people to serve in God's temple.
18God was kind to us and made them send a skilful man named Sherebiah, who was a Levite from the family of Mahli. Eighteen of his relatives came with him. 19We were also sent Hashabiah and Jeshaiah from the family of Merari along with twenty of their relatives. 20In addition, 220 others came to help the Levites in the temple. The ancestors of these workers had been chosen years ago by King David#8.20 King David: See the note at 3.10. and his officials, and they were all listed by name.
Ezra asks the people to go without eating and to pray
21Beside the River#8.21 River: See the note at 8.15. Ahava, I#8.21 I: See the note at 8.1. asked the people to go without eating#8.21 to go without eating: The Jews often went without eating as a way of worshipping God. This is sometimes called “fasting”. and to pray. We humbled ourselves and asked God to bring us and our children safely to Jerusalem with all our possessions. 22I was ashamed to ask the king to send soldiers and cavalry to protect us against enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king that our God takes care of everyone who truly worships him, but that he gets very angry and punishes anyone who refuses to obey. 23So we went without food and asked God himself to protect us, and he answered our prayers.
The gifts for the temple
24I#8.24 I: See the note at 8.1. chose twelve of the leading priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their relatives. 25-27Then I weighed the gifts that had been given for God's temple, and I divided them among the twelve priests I had chosen. There were gifts of silver and gold, as well as the articles that the king, his advisers and officials, and the people of Israel had contributed. In all there were: 22 tonnes of silver; 100 silver articles weighing 70 kilogrammes; 3,400 kilogrammes of gold; 20 gold bowls weighing over 8 kilogrammes; and 2 polished bronze articles as valuable as gold.
28I said to the priests:
You belong to the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and these things also belong to him. The silver and gold were willingly given as gifts to the LORD. 29Be sure to guard them and keep them safe until you reach Jerusalem. Then weigh them inside God's temple in the presence of the chief priests, the Levites, and the heads of the Israelite families.
30The priests and Levites then took charge of the gifts that had been weighed, so they could take them to the temple of our God in Jerusalem.
The return to Jerusalem
31On the twelfth day of the first month,#8.31 first month: See the note at 6.19. we left the River#8.31 River: See the note at 8.15. Ahava and started for Jerusalem. Our God watched over us, and as we travelled along, he kept our enemies from ambushing us.
32After arriving in Jerusalem, we rested for three days. 33Then on the fourth day we went to God's temple, where the silver, the gold, and the other things were weighed and given to the priest Meremoth son of Uriah. With him were Eleazar son of Phinehas and the two Levites, Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui. 34Everything was counted, weighed, and recorded.
35Those who had returned from exile offered sacrifices on the altar to the God of Israel. Twelve bulls were offered for all Israel. Ninety-six rams and seventy-seven#8.35 seventy-seven: Or “seventy-two”. lambs were offered on the altar. And twelve goats were sacrificed for the sins of the people. 36Some of those who had returned took the king's orders to the governors and officials in Western Province. Then the officials did what they could for the people and for the temple of God.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
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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