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—70 kilogrammes;

gold—3,400 kilogrammes;

20 gold bowls—8.4 kilogrammes;

2 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.

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