gezezra 8

Now these are the heads of their fathers' houses, with the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:

Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush;

of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were enrolled by genealogy a hundred and fifty males;

of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males;

and of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males;

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

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

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

of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males;

and of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him a hundred and sixty males;

and of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males;

and of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him a hundred and ten males;

and of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males;

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

And I gathered them together at the river that runs to Ahava; and we encamped there three days. And I surveyed the people and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.

Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Hallonam, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leading men; and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers;

and I sent them to Iddo the leading man at the place Casiphia; and I put words in their mouths to speak to Iddo and his brothers the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that they should bring us ministers for the house of our God.

And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen;

and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty;

and of the temple servants whom David and the leaders had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty temple servants; all of them were mentioned by name. And I gathered them each by name.

Then I proclaimed a fast there by the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a straight way for ourselves, our little ones, and all our possessions.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to deliver us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, The hand of our God is for good upon all who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all who forsake Him.

So we fasted and besought our God concerning this, and He was entreated of us.

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

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

I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, a hundred talents of silver vessels, a hundred talents of gold,

twenty gold basins worth a thousand darics, and two vessels of fine, bright bronze, precious as gold.

And I said to them, You are holy to Jehovah, and these vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Jehovah the God of your fathers.

Watch therefore and keep them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.

So the priests and the Levites received by weight the silver, the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

Then we set out from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from those who lay in wait by the way.

And we came to Jerusalem, and remained there three days.

And on the fourth day the silver, the gold, and the vessels were weighed out 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 the Levites Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui.

Everything was counted and weighed, and the whole weight was recorded at that time.

And the children of the captivity who had come out of exile offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats for a sin offering—all as a burnt offering to Jehovah.

And they delivered the king's decrees to the king's satraps and to the governors beyond the River; and these supported the people and the house of God.