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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Ezra 8
8
The People who Returned from Exile
1This is the list of the heads of the clans who had been in exile in Babylonia and who returned with Ezra to Jerusalem when Artaxerxes was emperor:
2-14Gershom, of the clan of Phinehas
Daniel, of the clan of Ithamar
Hattush son of Shecaniah, of the clan of David
Zechariah, of the clan of Parosh, with 150 men of his clan (there were records of their ancestry)
Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, of the clan of Pahath Moab, with 200 men
Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, of the clan of Zattu,#8.2–14 One ancient translation (see also 2.8) Zattu; Hebrew does not have this name. with 300 men
Ebed son of Jonathan, of the clan of Adin, with fifty men
Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, of the clan of Elam, with seventy men
Zebadiah son of Michael, of the clan of Shephatiah, with eighty men
Obadiah son of Jehiel, of the clan of Joab, with 218 men
Shelomith son of Josiphiah, of the clan of Bani,#8.2–14 One ancient translation (see also 2.10) Bani; Hebrew does not have this name. with 160 men
Zechariah son of Bebai, of the clan of Bebai, with 28 men
Johanan son of Hakkatan, of the clan of Azgad, with 110 men
Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, of the clan of Adonikam, with sixty men (they returned at a later date)
Uthai and Zaccur, of the clan of Bigvai, with seventy men.
Ezra Finds Levites for the Temple
15I assembled the entire group by the canal that runs to the town of Ahava, and we camped there three days. I found that there were priests in the group, but no Levites. 16I sent for nine of the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, and for two teachers, Joiarib and Elnathan. 17I sent them to Iddo, head of the community at Casiphia, to ask him and his associates, the temple workmen, to send us people to serve God in the Temple. 18Through God's grace they sent us Sherebiah, an able man, a Levite from the clan of Mahli, and eighteen of his sons and brothers came with him. 19They also sent Hashabiah and Jeshaiah of the clan of Merari, with twenty of their relatives. 20In addition there were 220 temple workmen whose ancestors had been designated by King David and his officials to assist the Levites. They were all listed by name.
Ezra Leads the People in Fasting and Prayer
21There by the Ahava Canal I gave orders for us all to fast and humble ourselves before our God and to ask him to lead us on our journey and protect us and our children and all our possessions. 22I would have been ashamed to ask the emperor for a troop of cavalry to guard us from any enemies during our journey, because I had told him that our God blesses everyone who trusts him, but that he is displeased with and punishes anyone who turns away from him. 23So we fasted and prayed for God to protect us, and he answered our prayers.
The Gifts for the Temple
24From among the leading priests I chose Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten others. 25Then I weighed out the silver, the gold, and the utensils which the emperor, his advisers and officials, and the people of Israel had given to be used in the Temple, and I gave it to the priests. 26-27This is what I gave them:
silver — 22 tonnes
100 silver utensils — seventy kilogrammes
gold — 3.4 tonnes
twenty gold bowls — 8.4 kilogrammes
two fine bronze bowls, equal in value to gold bowls.
28I said to them, “You are sacred to the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and so are all the silver and gold utensils brought to him as freewill offerings. 29Guard them carefully until you reach the Temple. There in the priests' room weigh them and hand them over to the leaders of the priests and of the Levites, and to the leaders of the people of Israel in Jerusalem.” 30So the priests and the Levites took charge of the silver, the gold, and the utensils, to take them to the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Return to Jerusalem
31It was on the twelfth day of the first month that we left the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. Our God was with us and protected us from enemy attacks and from ambush as we travelled. 32When we reached Jerusalem, we rested for three days. 33Then on the fourth day we went to the Temple, weighed the silver, the gold, and the utensils, and handed them over to Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah. With him were Eleazar son of Phinehas and two Levites, Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui. 34Everything was counted and weighed, and a complete record was made at the same time.
35All those who had returned from exile then brought offerings to be burnt as sacrifices to the God of Israel. They offered twelve bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, and 77 lambs; they also offered twelve goats to purify themselves from sin. All these animals were burnt as sacrifices to the LORD. 36They also took the document the emperor had given them and gave it to the governors and officials of the province of West Euphrates, who then gave their support to the people and the temple worship.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.