Ezra 8

People Who Went with Ezra

1Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households and the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes: 2of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, 1Hattush; 3of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of 2Parosh, Zechariah and with him 150 males who were in the genealogical list; 4of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and 200 males with him; 5of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel and 300 males with him; 6and of the sons of 3Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan and 50 males with him; 7and of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and 70 males with him; 8and of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael and 80 males with him; 9of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel and 218 males with him; 10and of the sons of Bani, Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah and 160 males with him; 11and of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai and 28 males with him; 12and of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 males with him; 13and of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, these being their names, Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and 60 males with them; 14and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and 4Zabbud, and 70 males with 5them.

Ezra Sends for Levites

15Now I assembled them at 6the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days; and when I observed the people and the priests, I 7did not find any Levites there. 16So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, 8leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, teachers. 17I sent them to Iddo the 9leading man at the place Casiphia; and I 10told them what to say to 11Iddo and his brothers, 12the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that is, to bring ministers to us for the house of our God. 1813According to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a 14man of insight of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, 18 men; 19and Hashabiah and 15Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, 20 men; 20and 220 of 16the temple servants, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, all of them designated by name.

Protection of God Invoked

21Then I proclaimed 17a fast there at 18the river of Ahava, that we might 19humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a 20safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. 22For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to 21protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “22The hand of our God is 23favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but 24His power and His anger are against all those who 25forsake Him.” 23So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He 2627listened to our entreaty.

24Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, 28Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers; 25and I 29weighed out to them 30the silver, the gold and the utensils, the offering for the house of our God which the king and 31his counselors and his princes and all Israel present there had offered. 2632Thus I weighed into their hands 650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth 100 talents, and 100 gold talents, 27and 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and two utensils of fine shiny bronze, precious as gold. 28Then I said to them, “33You are holy to the Lord, and the 34utensils are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers. 29Watch and keep them 35until you weigh them before the leading priests, the Levites and the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.” 30So the priests and the Levites 36accepted the weighed out silver and gold and the utensils, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

31Then we journeyed from 37the river Ahava on 38the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and 39the hand of our God was over us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the way. 3240Thus we came to Jerusalem and remained there three days.

Treasure Placed in the Temple

33On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the utensils 41were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of 42Meremoth 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. 34Everything was numbered and weighed, and all the weight was recorded at that time.

3543The exiles who had come from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: 4412 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, 12 male goats for a sin offering, all as a burnt offering to the Lord. 36Then 45they delivered the king’s edicts to 46the king’s satraps and to the governors in the provinces beyond the 47River, and they supported the people and the house of God.