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.
Currently Selected:
Ezra 8: CPDV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Ezra 8
8
Leaders Who Returned with Ezra
1These are the leaders of the family groups who returned with me. And it is a listing of those who were with them. They came back from Babylon during the rule of King Artaxerxes.
2From the descendants of Phinehas, there was Gershom.
From the descendants of Ithamar, there was Daniel.
From the descendants of David, there was Hattush 3of the descendants of Shecaniah.
From the descendants of Parosh, there was Zechariah. And 150 men came with him.
4From the descendants of Pahath-Moab, there was Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, with 200 men.
5From the descendants of Zattu, there was Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, with 300 men.
6From the descendants of Adin, there was Ebed son of Jonathan, with 50 men.
7From the descendants of Elam, there was Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, with 70 men.
8From the descendants of Shephatiah, there was Zebadiah son of Michael, with 80 men.
9From the descendants of Joab, there was Obadiah son of Jehiel, with 218 men.
10From the descendants of Bani, there was Shelomith son of Josiphiah, with 160 men.
11From the descendants of Bebai, there was Zechariah son of Bebai, with 28 men.
12From the descendants of Azgad, there was Johanan son of Hakkatan, with 110 men.
13From the descendants of Adonikam, these were the last ones: Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah. With them were 60 men.
14From the descendants of Bigvai, there were Uthai and Zaccur, with 70 men.
The Return to Jerusalem
15I, Ezra, called all those people together at the canal. It flows toward Ahava. We camped there for three days. I checked all the people and the priests. But I did not find any Levites. 16So I called these leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam. And I called Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers. 17I sent those men to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his relatives, who are the Temple servants in Casiphia. I sent them to bring servants to us for the Temple of our God. 18Our God was helping us. So Iddo’s relatives gave us Sherebiah, a wise man from the descendants of Mahli. Mahli was the son of Levi. And Levi was the son of Israel. And they brought Sherebiah’s sons and brothers. In all there were 18 men. 19And they brought to us Hashabiah and Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari. And they also brought his brothers and nephews. In all there were 20 men. 20They also brought 220 of the Temple servants. This is a group David and the officers had set up to help the Levites. All of those men were listed by name.
21There by the Ahava Canal, I announced we would all give up eating. We would make ourselves humble before our God. And we would ask God for a safe trip for ourselves, our children and all our possessions. 22I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen. They could have protected us from enemies on the road. But we had said to the king, “Our God helps everyone who obeys him. But God is very angry with all who reject him.” 23So we gave up eating and prayed to our God about our trip. He answered our prayers.
24Then I chose 12 of the priests who were leaders. They were Sherebiah and Hashabiah and 10 of their relatives. 25I weighed the offering of silver and gold. And I weighed the things given for the Temple of our God. I gave them to the 12 priests I had chosen. The king, the people who advised him, his officers and all the Israelites there with us had given these things for the Temple. 26I weighed out and gave them about 50,000 pounds of silver, about 7,500 pounds of silver objects and about 7,500 pounds of gold. 27I gave them 20 gold bowls that weighed about 19 pounds. And I gave them 2 fine pieces of polished bronze that were as valuable as gold.
28Then I said to the priests, “You and these things belong to the Lord for his service. The silver and gold are gifts to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. 29Guard these things carefully. In Jerusalem, weigh them in front of the leading priests, Levites and the leaders of the family groups of Israel. Do this in the rooms of the Temple of the Lord.” 30So the priests and Levites took the silver, the gold and the special things that had been weighed out. They were to take them to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem.
31On the twelfth day of the first month we left the Ahava Canal. We started toward Jerusalem. Our God helped us. He protected us from enemies and robbers along the way. 32Then we arrived in Jerusalem. We rested there three days.
33On the fourth day we weighed out the silver, the gold and the special things in the Temple of our God. We handed them to the priest Meremoth son of Uriah. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with Meremoth. Also the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui were with them. 34We checked everything by number and by weight. And the total weight was written down at that time.
35Then the captives who returned made burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They sacrificed 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 male sheep and 77 male lambs. All these animals were burned as sacrifices to the Lord. For a sin offering to the Lord there were 12 male goats. 36They took King Artaxerxes’ orders to the royal officers and to the governors west of the Euphrates. Then these men gave help to the people and the Temple of God.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.