8
1 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:
2 Of the sons of Phinehas,
Gershom.
Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel.
Of the sons of David, Hattush.
3 Of the sons of Shecaniah, of
the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were listed by genealogy
of the males one hundred fifty.
4 Of the sons of Pahathmoab,
Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.
5 Of the sons of Shecaniah, the
son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.
6 Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the
son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.
7 Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah
the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.
8 Of the sons of Shephatiah,
Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him eighty males.
9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah
the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred eighteen males.
10 Of the sons of Shelomith, the
son of Josiphiah; and with him one hundred sixty males.
11 Of the sons of Bebai,
Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males.
12 Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan
the son of Hakkatan; and with him one hundred ten males.
13 Of the sons of Adonikam, who
were the last, their names are: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and
with them sixty males.
14 Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai
and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.
15 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.
16 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.
17 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.
18 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;
19 and
Hashabiah, and
with him Jeshaiah
of the sons
of Merari, his
brothers and their
sons, twenty;
20 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.
21 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.
22 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.”
23 So
we fasted
and begged our God
for this, and
he granted our
request.
24 Then
I set apart twelve
of the chiefs
of the priests,
even Sherebiah, Hashabiah,
and ten of
their brothers with
them,
25 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.
26 I
weighed into their
hand six hundred
fifty talents of
silver,
one hundred
talents of silver
vessels, one
hundred talents of
gold,
27 twenty
bowls of
gold weighing one thousand
darics,
and two vessels
of fine bright
bronze, precious
as gold.
28 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.
29 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.”
30 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.
31 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.
32 We
came to Jerusalem,
and stayed there
three days.
33 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.
34 Everything
was counted and
weighed; and all
the weight was
written at that
time.
35 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.
36 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.