1 Esdras 8:41–60

⁴¹I assembled them at the river called Theras, and we encamped there three days, and I inspected them. ⁴²When I found there none of the sons of the priests or of the Levites, ⁴³I sent word to Eliezar, Iduel, Maasmas, ⁴⁴Elnathan, Shemaiah, Jarib, Nathan, Elnathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders and men of understanding; ⁴⁵and I told them to go to Iddo, who was the leading man at the place of the treasury, ⁴⁶and ordered them to tell Iddo and his brethren and the treasurers at that place to send us men to serve as priests in the house of our Lord. ⁴⁷And by the mighty hand of our Lord they brought us competent men of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, eighteen; ⁴⁸also Hashabiah and Annunus and Jeshaiah his brother, of the sons of Hananiah, and their sons, twenty men; ⁴⁹and of the temple servants, whom David and the leaders had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty temple servants; the list of all their names was reported.

⁵⁰There I proclaimed a fast for the young men before our Lord, to seek from him a prosperous journey for ourselves and for our children and the cattle that were with us. ⁵¹For I was ashamed to ask the king for foot soldiers and horsemen and an escort to keep us safe from our adversaries; ⁵²for we had said to the king, “The power of our Lord will be with those who seek him, and will support them in every way.” ⁵³And again we prayed to our Lord about these things, and we found him very merciful.

⁵⁴Then I set apart twelve of the leaders of the priests, Sherebiah and Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them; ⁵⁵and I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the holy vessels of the house of our Lord, which the king himself and his counselors and the nobles and all Israel had given. ⁵⁶I weighed and gave to them six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels worth a hundred talents, and a hundred talents of gold, ⁵⁷and twenty golden bowls, and twelve bronze vessels of fine bronze that glittered like gold. ⁵⁸And I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are vowed to the Lord, the Lord of our fathers. ⁵⁹Be watchful and on guard until you deliver them to the leaders of the priests and the Levites, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of our Lord.” ⁶⁰So the priests and the Levites who took the silver and the gold and the vessels which had been in Jerusalem carried them to the temple of the Lord.