Ezra 8 (ARST) · Opened

1“This is a list of the names of the clan leaders, along with the names of their clans, who traveled{ to Jerusalem} with me from Babylonia when Artaxerxes was king{ of Persia}:These are the family heads and genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:

2Gershom from the clan descended from{ Aaron’ s grandson} Phinehas. Daniel from the clan descended from{ Aaron’ s son} Ithamar. Hattush from the clan descended from{ King} David.from the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom; from the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel; from the descendants of David, Hattush

3{ Hattush was also} a descendant of Shecaniah. Zechariah and 150 other men from the clan descended from Parosh.of the descendants of Shecaniah; from the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men;

4Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah and 200 other men from the clan descended from Pahath- Moab.from the descendants of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men;

5Shecaniah son of Jahaziel and 300 other men from the clan descended from{ Zattu}.from the descendants of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men;

6Ebed son of Jonathan and 50 other men from the clan descended from Adin.from the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men;

7Jeshaiah son of Athaliah and 70 other men from the clan descended from Elam.from the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;

8Zebadiah son of Michael and 80 other men from the clan descended from Shephatiah.from the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men;

9Obadiah son of Jehiel and 218 other men from the clan descended from Joab.from the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men;

10Shelomith son of Josiphiah and 160 other men from the clan descended from{ Bani}.from the descendants of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men;

11Zechariah son of Bebai and 28 other men from the clan descended from{ another man whose name was} Bebai.from the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men;

12Johanan son of Hakkatan and 110 other men from the clan descended from Azgad.from the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men;

13Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah and 60 other men from the clan descended from Adonikam. They were the last three leaders from the clan descended from Adonikam{ that had not returned earlier with Zerubbabel}.from the later descendants of Adonikam, these were their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men;

14Uthai and Zaccur and 70 other men from the clan descended from Bigvai.and from the descendants of Bigvai, both Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.

15{ This is an account of how we traveled to Jerusalem.} I gathered together all of these Israelites at the canal that goes from Babylon to Ahava. We set up our tents and stayed there for three days.{ During that time} I interviewed the people and the priests and discovered that there were no Levites among us.Now I assembled these exiles at the canal that flows to Ahava, and we camped there three days. And when I searched among the people and priests, I found no Levites there.

16So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib,{ another man named} Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were all leaders of the people. I also summoned Joiarib and{ a third man named} Elnathan, who were wise.Then I summoned the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, as well as the teachers Joiarib and Elnathan.

17I sent them all to Iddo, a Levite leader who was living in a place called Kasiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and to his fellow Levites, the{ descendants of} temple workers whom he oversaw there. I wanted them to send us some men who would{ go with us to} work in the temple of our God.And I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia, with a message for him and his kinsmen, the temple servants at Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.

18Because God acted kindly toward us, they brought us a very wise man named Sherebiah and 18 of his sons and other relatives. He was a descendant of Mahli, who was a grandson of Levi, the son of Israel.And since the gracious hand of our God was upon us, they brought us Sherebiah—a man of insight from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel—along with his sons and brothers, 18 men;

19{ They} also{ sent to us} Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, and 20 of his brothers and their sons. Both men were descendants of Merari{ the son of Levi}.also Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah, from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, 20 men.

20They also sent 220 other men to work in the temple. King David and his officials had apppointed the ancestors of these men to assist the Levites. I listed the names of all of these men.They also brought 220 of the temple servants, all designated by name. David and the officials had appointed them to assist the Levites.

21There alongside the Ahava Canal, I announced a time for all of us to abstain from eating food{ and to pray}.{ I told them that this was a time} to humble ourselves in the presence of our God and to pray that God would protect us, our children, and our possessions while we traveled.And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.

22Previously we had told the king that our God takes care of all those who truly trust in him, but that he powerfully punishes everyone who refuses to obey him. So I would have been ashamed to ask the king to send soldiers and men riding on horses to protect us from our enemies while we were traveling along the road.For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, 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 forsake Him.”

23So we abstained from eating food and we asked our God to protect us. We prayed to him, and he answered our prayer.So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He granted our request.

24I chose 12 of the leaders of the priests and brought them together with Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of the other Levites.Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, together with Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers,

25I assigned to each of them a portion of the gifts of silver and gold and the other valuable items{ to transport to Jerusalem}. These were the items that the king and his advisors and other officials, and the Israelite people who were living in Babylonia, had contributed for the temple of our God.and I weighed out to them the contribution of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites there had offered for the house of our God.

26As I gave these various items to those men, I weighed each of the items. This was the total: about 21 and one half metric tons of silver, items made from silver that altogether weighed three and one third metric tons, three and one third metric tons of gold,I weighed out into their hands 650 talents of silver, articles of silver weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold,

2720 gold bowls that altogether weighed about eight and one- half kilograms, and two items made of beautiful polished bronze that were as valuable as ones made of gold.20 gold bowls valued at 1,000 darics, and two articles of fine polished bronze, as precious as gold.

28I said to those priests and Levites,‘I have set you apart from the others to serve Yahweh in a special way. The people have also set apart these valuable things for only him. The people also gave the silver and the gold voluntarily as an offering to Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors worshiped.Then I told them, “You are holy to the LORD, and these articles are holy. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.

29So guard them carefully. When we arrive in Jerusalem, weigh them out where the leading priests and Levites and the other leaders of the Israelite clans can see them.{ They will then put them} in the storerooms in the temple of Yahweh.’Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the LORD in Jerusalem before the leading priests, Levites, and heads of the Israelite families.”

30So these priests and Levites said that they would be responsible to transport all of the{ gifts of} silver and gold and other valuable items to the temple of our God in Jerusalem.So the priests and Levites took charge of the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.

31On the twelfth day of the first month, we left the Ahava Canal and started to travel to Jerusalem. Our God took care of us, and while we traveled, he prevented any enemies from attacking or robbing us.On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us to protect us from the hands of the enemies and bandits along the way.

32After we arrived in Jerusalem, we rested for three days.So we arrived at Jerusalem and rested there for three days.

33Then on the fourth day we went to the temple of our God. There the priests and Levites weighed out the silver and gold and the other items and gave them to the leaders there. The leaders there were two priests, Meremoth the son of Uriah and Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and two Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui.On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and sacred articles into the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, along with the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.

34They counted everything, and wrote down how much each item weighed, and wrote a description of each one as they received it.Everything was verified by number and weight, and the total weight was recorded at that time.

35The Babylonian soldiers had captured our ancestors and taken them away to Babylon, but now we who are their descendants have safely returned{ to Israel}. So we offered sacrifices of burnt offerings to our God: 12 bulls,{ one} for{ each of the 12 tribes of} the Israelite people, 96 rams, and 77 lambs. We also sacrificed 12 male goats to atone for the sins{ that all of the Israelite people had committed}. We offered all of these sacrifices to Yahweh by putting them on the fire{ of the altar}.Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and a sin offering of 12 male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD.

36Some of us who had returned from Babylonia took the letter that the king had given to us to the governors of the king’ s provinces and to the officials of the province west of the Euphrates River.{ After they read the letter,} they did what the king commanded for us{ Israelite} people and for the temple of God.”They also delivered the king’s edicts to the royal satraps and governors of the region west of the Euphrates, who proceeded to assist the people and the house of God.

Ezra 8

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Ezra 8

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