Ezra 8–9

Chapter 8

People Who Went with Ezra

1 Now 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:

2 of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, aHattush;

3 of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of aParosh, Zechariah and with him 150 males who were in the genealogical list;

4 of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and 200 males with him;

5 of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel and 300 males with him;

6 and of the sons of aAdin, Ebed the son of Jonathan and 50 males with him;

7 and of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and 70 males with him;

8 and of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael and 80 males with him;

9 of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel and 218 males with him;

10 and of the sons of Bani, Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah and 160 males with him;

11 and of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai and 28 males with him;

12 and of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 males with him;

13 and of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, these being their names, Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and 60 males with them;

14 and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and 1Zabbud, and 70 males with 2them.

Ezra Sends for Levites

15 Now I assembled them at athe river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days; and when I observed the people and the priests, I bdid not find any Levites there.

16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, 1leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, teachers.

17 I sent them to Iddo the 1leading man at the place Casiphia; and I 2told them what to say to 3Iddo and his brothers, athe temple servants at the place Casiphia, that is, to bring ministers to us for the house of our God.

18 aAccording to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a bman of insight of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, 18 men;

19 and Hashabiah and 1Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, 20 men;

20 and 220 of athe 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

21 Then I proclaimed aa fast there at bthe river of Ahava, that we might chumble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a 1safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.

22 For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to 1protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “aThe hand of our God is 2favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but bHis power and His anger are against all those who cforsake Him.”

23 So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He 1alistened to our entreaty.

24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, aSherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers;

25 and I aweighed out to them bthe silver, the gold and the utensils, the offering for the house of our God which the king and chis counselors and his princes and all Israel present there had offered.

26 aThus I weighed into their hands 650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth 100 talents, and 100 gold talents,

27 and 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and two utensils of fine shiny bronze, precious as gold.

28 Then I said to them, “aYou are holy to the Lord, and the butensils are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers.

29 “Watch and keep them auntil 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.”

30 So the priests and the Levites aaccepted the weighed out silver and gold and the utensils, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

31 Then we journeyed from athe river Ahava on bthe twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and cthe hand of our God was over us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the way.

32 aThus we came to Jerusalem and remained there three days.

Treasure Placed in the Temple

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

35 aThe exiles who had come from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: b12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, 12 male goats for a sin offering, all as a burnt offering to the Lord.

36 Then athey delivered the king’s edicts to bthe king’s satraps and to the governors in the provinces beyond the 1River, and they supported the people and the house of God.

Chapter 9

Mixed Marriages

1 Now when these things had been completed, the princes approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not aseparated themselves from the peoples of the lands, baccording to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites.

2 “For athey have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that bthe holy 1race has cintermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.”

3 When I heard about this matter, I atore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and bsat down appalled.

4 Then aeveryone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until bthe evening offering.

Prayer of Confession

5 But at the evening offering I arose from my 1humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and astretched out my 2hands to the Lord my God;

6 and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have 1risen above our heads and our aguilt has grown even to the heavens.

7 “aSince the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity and to plunder and to 1bopen shame, as it is this day.

8 “But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, ato leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a bpeg in His holy place, that our God may cenlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.

9 “aFor we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but bhas extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

10 “Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments,

11 which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end and awith their impurity.

12 ‘So now do not agive your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons, and bnever seek their peace or their prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and cleave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’

13 “After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and aour great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us ban escaped remnant as this,

14 ashall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples 1who commit these abominations? bWould You not be angry with us 2to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape?

15 “O Lord God of Israel, aYou are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in bour guilt, for cno one can stand before You because of this.”