Ezra 8:1-36

  • List of those returning with Ezra (1-14)

  • Preparations for the journey (15-30)

  • Departure from Babylon and arrival in Jerusalem (31-36)

8  Now these were the heads of their paternal houses and the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me out of Babylon during the reign of King Ar·ta·xerxʹes:+  of the sons of Phinʹe·has,+ Gerʹshom; of the sons of Ithʹa·mar,+ Daniel; of the sons of David, Hatʹtush;  of the sons of Shec·a·niʹah, of the sons of Paʹrosh, Zech·a·riʹah, and with him there was an enrollment of 150 males;  of the sons of Paʹhath-moʹab,+ Elʹie·ho-eʹnai the son of Zer·a·hiʹah, and with him 200 males;  of the sons of Zatʹtu,+ Shec·a·niʹah the son of Ja·ha·ziʹel, and with him 300 males;  of the sons of Aʹdin,+ Eʹbed the son of Jonʹa·than, and with him 50 males;  of the sons of Eʹlam,+ Je·shaʹiah the son of Ath·a·liʹah, and with him 70 males;  of the sons of Sheph·a·tiʹah,+ Zeb·a·diʹah the son of Miʹcha·el, and with him 80 males;  of the sons of Joʹab, O·ba·diʹah the son of Je·hiʹel, and with him 218 males; 10  of the sons of Baʹni, She·loʹmith the son of Jo·si·phiʹah, and with him 160 males; 11  of the sons of Beʹbai,+ Zech·a·riʹah the son of Beʹbai, and with him 28 males; 12  of the sons of Azʹgad,+ Jo·haʹnan the son of Hakʹka·tan, and with him 110 males; 13  of the sons of Ad·o·niʹkam,+ those who were the last, and these were their names: E·liphʹe·let, Je·iʹel, and She·maiʹah, and with them 60 males; 14  and of the sons of Bigʹvai,+ Uʹthai and Zabʹbud, and with them 70 males. 15  I assembled them at the river that comes to A·haʹva,+ and we camped there for three days. But when I examined the people and the priests, I did not find any of the Levites there. 16  So I sent for E·li·eʹzer, Arʹi·el, She·maiʹah, El·naʹthan, Jaʹrib, El·naʹthan, Nathan, Zech·a·riʹah, and Me·shulʹlam, who were leading men, and for Joiʹa·rib and El·naʹthan, who were instructors. 17  Then I gave them a command concerning Idʹdo the leader in the place called Ca·si·phiʹa. I told them to tell Idʹdo and his brothers, the temple servants* who were in Ca·si·phiʹa, to bring to us ministers for the house of our God. 18  Since the good hand of our God was upon us, they brought a discreet man from the sons of Mahʹli+ the grandson of Leʹvi the son of Israel, namely, She·re·biʹah,+ and his sons and his brothers, 18 men; 19  and Hash·a·biʹah, and with him Je·shaʹiah from the Me·rarʹites,+ his brothers and their sons, 20 men. 20  And there were 220 of the temple servants,* whom David and the princes gave to the service of the Levites, all of whom had been designated by name. 21  Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river A·haʹva, to humble ourselves before our God, to seek guidance from him for our journey, for us and for our children and for all our goods. 22  I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemies along the way, because we had said to the king: “The good hand of our God is over all those seeking him,+ but his strength and his anger are against all those abandoning him.”+ 23  So we fasted and made request of our God concerning this, and he listened to our entreaty.+ 24  I now set apart 12 of the chiefs of the priests, namely, She·re·biʹah and Hash·a·biʹah,+ along with ten of their brothers. 25  Then I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the utensils, the contribution that the king and his advisers and his princes and all the Israelites who were present there had made to the house of our God.+ 26  Thus I weighed out into their hand 650 talents* of silver, 100 silver utensils worth 2 talents, 100 talents of gold, 27  20 small gold bowls worth 1,000 darics,* and 2 utensils of fine copper, gleaming red, as desirable as gold. 28  Then I said to them: “You are holy to Jehovah,+ and the utensils are holy, and the silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to Jehovah the God of your forefathers. 29  Guard them carefully until you weigh them out before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and the princes of the paternal houses of Israel in Jerusalem,+ in the chambers* of the house of Jehovah.” 30  And the priests and the Levites took the silver and the gold and the utensils that had been weighed out to them, in order to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God. 31  Finally we pulled away from the river A·haʹva+ on the 12th day of the first month+ to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was over us, and he rescued us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the way. 32  So we came to Jerusalem+ and stayed there for three days. 33  And on the fourth day, we weighed out the silver and the gold and the utensils in the house of our God+ and handed them over to Merʹe·moth+ son of U·riʹjah the priest, and with him was El·e·aʹzar son of Phinʹe·has, and with them were the Levites Joʹza·bad+ son of Jeshʹu·a and No·a·diʹah son of Binʹnu·i.+ 34  Everything was numbered and weighed, and all the weight was recorded. 35  Those coming out of the captivity, the former exiles, presented burnt sacrifices to the God of Israel, 12 bulls+ for all Israel, 96 rams,+ 77 male lambs, and 12 male goats+ as a sin offering; all of this was a burnt offering to Jehovah.+ 36  Then we gave the decrees of the king+ to the satraps* of the king and the governors of the region Beyond the River,*+ and they supported the people and the house of the true God.+

Footnotes

Or “the Nethinim.” Lit., “the given ones.”
Or “the Nethinim.” Lit., “the given ones.”
A talent equaled 34.2 kg (1,101 oz t). See App. B14.
A daric was a Persian gold coin. See App. B14.
Or “dining halls.”
Title meaning “protectors of the realm,” here applied to governors of provinces in the Persian Empire.
Or “of Trans-Euphrates.”