Ezra 8:1-28 ▼

1 Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households and the genealogical records 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 who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah and with him 150 males who were in the genealogical records;

4 of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and 200 males with him;

5 of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel and 300 males with him;

6 and of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan and 50 males with him;

7 and of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and 70 males with him;

8 and of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael and 80 males with him;

9 of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel and 218 males with him;

10 and of the sons of Bani, Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah and 160 males with him;

11 and of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai and 28 males with him;

12 and of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 males with him;

13 and of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, these being their names, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and 60 males with them;

14 and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai, and Zabbud, and 70 males with them.

15 Now I gathered them at the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days. And I observed the people and the priests, but I did not find any Levites there.

16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, chief men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, teachers.

17 I sent them out to Iddo the chief man at the place Casiphia; and I put words in their mouths to say to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that is, to bring ministers to us for the house of our God.

18 So, according to the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of insight of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, 18 men;

19 and Hashabiah and Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, 20 men;

20 and 220 of the temple servants, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, all of them designated by name.

21 Then I called for a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a direct journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.

22 For I was ashamed to ask from the king for a military force and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is upon all those who seek Him, for their good, but His strength and His anger are against all those who forsake Him.”

23 So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He was moved by our entreaty.

24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers;

25 and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the utensils, the contribution for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes and all Israel present there had offered.

26 Thus I weighed into their hands 650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth 100 talents, and 100 gold talents,

27 and 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and two utensils of fine shiny bronze, precious as gold.

28 Then I said to them, “You are holy to Yahweh, and the utensils are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh, the God of your fathers.