Ezra 8

Those Returning with Ezra

8These are the family leaders and the genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes: ^e

²Gershom, from Phinehas’s descendants;

Daniel, from Ithamar’s descendants;

Hattush, from David’s descendants,

³who was of Shecaniah’s descendants; ^f

Zechariah, from Parosh’s ^gdescendants,

and 150 men ^hwith him who were registered by genealogy;

⁴Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah

from Pahath-moab’s descendants, ⁱ

and 200 men with him;

⁵Shecaniah ^json of Jahaziel

from Zattu’s descendants,

and 300 men with him;

⁶Ebed son of Jonathan

from Adin’s descendants, ^k

and 50 men with him;

⁷Jeshaiah son of Athaliah

from Elam’s descendants,

and 70 men with him;

⁸Zebadiah son of Michael

from Shephatiah’s descendants,

and 80 men with him;

⁹Obadiah son of Jehiel

from Joab’s descendants,

and 218 men with him;

¹⁰Shelomith ^lson of Josiphiah

from Bani’s descendants,

and 160 men with him;

¹¹Zechariah son of Bebai

from Bebai’s descendants,

and 28 men with him;

¹²Johanan son of Hakkatan

from Azgad’s descendants,

and 110 men with him;

¹³these are the last ones, from Adonikam’s descendants, ^m

and their names are:

Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah,

and 60 men with them;

¹⁴Uthai and Zaccur ⁿ

from Bigvai’s descendants,

and 70 men with them.

¹⁵I gathered them at the river ^othat flows to Ahava, ^pand we camped there for three days. I searched among the people and priests, but found no Levites ^qthere. ¹⁶Then I summoned the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, ^ras well as the teachers Joiarib and Elnathan. ¹⁷I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia, with a message for ^shim and his brothers, the temple servants ^tat Casiphia, that they should bring us ministers for the house of our God. ¹⁸Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, ^uthey brought us Sherebiah ^v—a man of insight from the descendants of Mahli, a descendant of Levi son of Israel—along with his sons and brothers, 18 men, ¹⁹plus Hashabiah, ^walong with Jeshaiah, from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, 20 men. ²⁰There were also 220 of the temple servants, ^xwho had been appointed by David and the leaders for the work of the Levites. All were identified by name.

Preparing to Return

²¹I proclaimed a fast ^yby the Ahava River, ^zso that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us, our children, and all our possessions. ²²I did this because I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and cavalry to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who abandon Him.” ^a23So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and He granted our request.

²⁴I selected 12 of the leading priests, along with Sherebiah, ^bHashabiah, and 10 of their brothers. ²⁵I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles—the contribution for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites who were present had offered. ²⁶I weighed out to them 24 tons ^cof silver, silver articles weighing 7,500 pounds, ^d7,500 pounds ^eof gold, ²⁷20 gold bowls worth 1,000 gold coins, ^fand two articles of fine gleaming bronze, as valuable as gold. ^g28Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the articles are holy. The silver and gold are a freewill offering ^hto the Lord God of your fathers. ²⁹Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the Lord’s house before the leading priests, Levites, and heads of the Israelite families in Jerusalem.” ³⁰So the priests and Levites took charge of the silver, the gold, and the articles that had been weighed out, to bring them to the house of our God in Jerusalem. ⁱ

Arrival in Jerusalem

³¹We set out from the Ahava River ^jon the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. We were strengthened by our God, ^kland He protected us from the power of the enemy and from ambush along the way. ^m32So we arrived at Jerusalem and rested there for three days. ⁿ³³On the fourth day the silver, the gold, and the articles were weighed out in the house of our God into the care of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him. The Levites Jozabad ^oson of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui were also with them. ³⁴Everything was verified by number and weight, and the total weight was recorded at that time.

³⁵The exiles who had returned from the captivity ^poffered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, and 77 lambs, along with 12 male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering for the Lord. ^q36They also delivered the king’s edicts to the royal satraps and governors of the region west of the Euphrates, ^rso that they would support the people and the house of God. ^s