Heads of Families Who Returned with Ezra
1 Thesearethe heads of their fathers’houses,andthisisthe genealogy 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,Hattush;
3 of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons ofParosh, Zechariah; and registered with himwereone hundred and fifty males;
4 of the sons ofPahath-Moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males;
5 of the sons of Shechaniah, Ben-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 and eighteen males;
10 of the sons of Shelomith, Ben-Josiphiah, and with him one hundred and sixty males;
11 of the sons ofBebai, 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 and ten males;
13 of the last sons of Adonikam, whose namesarethese—Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah—and with them sixty males;
14 also of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.
Servants for the Temple
15 Now I gathered them by the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped there three days. And I looked among the people and the priests, and found none of thesons of Levi there.
16 Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, andMeshullam, leaders; also for Joiarib and Elnathan, men of understanding.
17 And I gave them a command for Iddo the chief man at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say to Iddoandhis brethren the Nethinim at the place Casiphia—that they should bring us servants for the house of our God.
18 Then, by the good hand of our God upon us, theybrought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and brothers, eighteen men;
19 andHashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty men;
20 also of the Nethinim, whom David and the leaders had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim. All of them were designated by name.
Fasting and Prayer for Protection
21 Then Iproclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we mighthumble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him theright way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.
22 ForI was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying,“The hand of our Godisupon all those forgood who seek Him, but His power and His wrathareagainst all those whoforsake Him.”
23 So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and Heanswered our prayer.
Gifts for the Temple
24 And I separated twelve of the leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them—
25 and weighed out to themthe silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israelwhowerepresent, had offered.
26 I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, silver articlesweighingone hundred talents, one hundred talents of gold,
27 twenty gold basinswortha thousand drachmas, and two vessels of fine polished bronze, precious as gold.
28 And I said to them, “Youareholy to theLord; the articlesareholy also; and the silver and the goldarea freewill offering to theLordGod of your fathers.
29 Watch and keepthemuntil you weighthembefore the leaders of the priests and the Levites andheads of the fathers’housesof Israel in Jerusalem,inthe chambers of the house of theLord.”
30 So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the articles by weight, to bringthemto Jerusalem to the house of our God.
The Return to Jerusalem
31 Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfthdayof the first month, to go to Jerusalem. Andthe hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road.
32 So wecame to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days.
33 Now on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the articles wereweighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with himwasEleazar the son of Phinehas; with themwerethe Levites,Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui,
34 with the numberandweight of everything. All the weight was written down at that time.
35 The children of those who had beencarried away captive, who had come from the captivity,offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goatsasa sin offering. Allthiswasa burnt offering to theLord.
36 And they delivered the king’sorders to the king’s satraps and the governorsintheregionbeyond the River. So they gave support to the people and the house of God.