The Book of Ezra

⭑ Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 8 -

And these [are] heads of their fathers, and the genealogy of those going up with me, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king, from Babylon.

From the sons of Phinehas: Gershom; from the sons of Ithamar: Daniel; from the sons of David: Hattush;

from the sons of Shechaniah, from the sons of Pharosh: Zechariah, and with him, reckoning themselves by genealogy, of males one hundred and fifty.

From the sons of Pahath-Moab: Elihoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred who are males.

From the sons of Shechaniah: the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred who are males.

And from the sons of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him fifty who are males.

And from the sons of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him seventy who are males.

And from the sons of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him eighty who are males.

From the sons of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen who are males.

And from the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him one hundred and sixty who are males.

And from the sons of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight who are males.

And from the sons of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred and ten who are males.

And from the younger sons of Adonikam—and these [are] their names—Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty who are males.

And from the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them seventy who are males.

Ezra Sends for the Levites

And I gather them to the river that is going to Ahava, and we encamp there three days; and I consider about the people, and about the priests, and of the sons of Levi I have found none there;

and I send for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, heads, and for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding;

and I charge them for Iddo the head, in the place Casiphia, and put in their mouth words to speak to Iddo, [and] his brothers the Nethinim, in the place Casiphia, to bring to us servants for the house of our God.

And they bring to us, according to the good hand of our God on us, a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, and Sherebiah, and his sons, and his brothers, eighteen;

and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, of the sons of Merari, his brothers, and their sons, twenty;

and from the Nethinim, whom David and the heads gave for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them defined by name.

Fasting for Protection

And I proclaim there a fast, by the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our infants, and for all our substance,

for I was ashamed to ask from the king a force and horsemen to help us because of the enemy in the way, for we spoke to the king, saying, “The hand of our God [is] on all seeking Him for good, and His strength and His wrath [is] on all forsaking Him.”

And we fast, and seek from our God for this, and He accepts our plea.

Priests to Guard the Offerings

And I separate from the heads of the priests, twelve, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them of their brothers ten,

and I weigh to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, a raised-offering of the house of our God, that the king, and his counselors, and his heads, and all Israel—those present—lifted up;

and I weigh to their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and one hundred talents of vessels of silver, one hundred talents of gold,

and twenty basins of gold, of one thousand drams, and two vessels of good shining bronze, desirable as gold.

And I say to them, “You [are] holy to YHWH, and the vessels [are] holy, and the silver and the gold [are] a willing-offering to YHWH, God of your fathers;

watch, and keep, until you weigh before the heads of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the fathers of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of YHWH.”

And the priests and the Levites took the weight of the silver, and of the gold, and of the vessels, to bring to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

And we journey from the river Ahava, on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God has been on us, and He delivers us from the hand of the enemy and the one lying in wait by the way;

Arrival in Jerusalem

and we come to Jerusalem, and dwell there three days.

And on the fourth day has been weighed the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, in the house of our God, to the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest, and with him Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them Jozabad son of Jeshua, and Noadiah son of Binnui, the Levites:

by number, by weight of everyone, and all the weight is written at that time.

Those coming in of the captives—sons of the expulsion—have brought burnt-offerings near to the God of Israel: twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve young male goats for a sin-offering—the whole a burnt-offering to YHWH;

and they give the laws of the king to the lieutenants of the king and the governors beyond the river, and they have lifted up the people and the house of God.

Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:

Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.

Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were listed by genealogy of the males one hundred fifty.

Of the sons of Pahathmoab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.

Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.

Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.

Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.

Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him eighty males.

Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred eighteen males.

Of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him one hundred sixty males.

Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males.

Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him one hundred ten males.

Of the sons of Adonikam, who were the last, their names are: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males.

Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.

Ezra Sends for the Levites

I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava; and there we encamped three days. Then I looked around at the people and the priests, and found there were none of the sons of Levi.

Then I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, for Elnathan, for Jarib, for Elnathan, for Nathan, for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib and for Elnathan, who were teachers.

I sent them out to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should tell Iddo and his brothers the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.

According to the good hand of our God on us they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen;

and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty;

and of the temple servants, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred twenty temple servants. All of them were mentioned by name.

Fasting for Protection

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for us, for our little ones, and for all our possessions.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him.”

So we fasted and begged our God for this, and he granted our request.

Priests to Guard the Offerings

Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,

and weighed to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, his counselors, his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered.

I weighed into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver,(a) one hundred talents of silver vessels, one hundred talents of gold,

twenty bowls of gold weighing one thousand darics,(b) and two vessels of fine bright bronze, precious as gold.

I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a free will offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.

Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and the princes of the fathers’ households of Israel at Jerusalem, in the rooms of the LORD’s house.”

So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver, the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the bandits by the way.

Arrival in Jerusalem

We came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days.

On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levites.

Everything was counted and weighed; and all the weight was written at that time.

The children of the captivity, who had come out of exile, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD.

They delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s local governors and to the governors beyond the River. So they supported the people and God’s house.

Footnotes

(a)8:26 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces

(b)8:27 a daric was a gold coin issued by a Persian king, weighing about 8.4 grams or about 0.27 troy ounces each.