1 These are now the chiefe fathers of them, and the genealogie of them that came vp with mee from Babel, in the reigne of King Artahshashte. 2 Of the sonnes of Phinehas, Gershom: of the sonnes of Ithamar, Daniel: of the sonnes of Dauid, Hattush: 3 Of the sonnes of Shechaniah, of the sonnes of Pharosh, Zechariah, and with him the count of the males, an hundreth and fiftie. 4 Of the sonnes of Pahath Moab, Elihoenai, the sonne of Zerahiah, and with him two hundreth males. 5 Of the sonnes of Shechaniah, the sonne of Iahaziel, and with him three hundreth males. 6 And of the sonnes of Adin, Ebed the sonne of Ionathan, and with him fiftie males. 7 And of the sonnes of Elam, Ieshaiah the sonne of Athaliah, and with him seuentie males. 8 And of the sonnes of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the sonne of Michael, and with him fourescore males. 9 Of the sonnes of Ioab, Obadiah the sonne of Iehiel, and with him two hundreth and eighteene males. 10 And of the sonnes of Shelomith the sonne of Iosiphiah, and with him an hundreth and threescore males. 11 And of the sonnes of Bebai, Zechariah the sonne of Bebai, and with him eight and twentie males. 12 And of the sonnes of Azgad, Iohanan the sonne of Hakkatan, and with him an hundreth and ten males. 13 And of the sonnes of Adonikam, that were the last, whose names are these: Eliphelet, Iehiel and Shemaiah, and with them three score males. 14 And of the sonnes of Biguai, Vthai, and Zabbud, and with them seuentie males. 15 And I gathered them to the Riuer that goeth toward Ahaua, and there abode we three dayes: then I viewed the people, and the Priests, and found there none of the sonnes of Leui. 16 Therefore sent I to Eliezer, to Ariel, to Shemeiah, and to Elnathan, and to Iarib, and to Elnathan, and to Nathan, and to Zechariah, and to Meshullam the chiefe, and to Ioiarib and to Elnathan, men of vnderstanding, 17 And I gaue them commandement, to Iddo the chiefest at the place of Casiphia, and I told them the words that they should speake to Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims at the place of Casiphia, that they should cause the ministers of the house of our God to come vnto vs. 18 So by the good hande of our God which was vpon vs, they brought vs a man of vnderstanding of the sonnes of Mahali the sonne of Leui the sonne of Israel, and Sherebiah with his sonnes and his brethren, euen eighteene. 19 Also Hashabiah, and with him Ieshaiah of the sonnes of Merari, with his brethren, and their sonnes twentie. 20 And of the Nethinims, whom Dauid had set, and the Princes for the seruice of the Leuites, two hundreth and twentie of the Nethinims, which all were named by name. 21 And there at the Riuer, by Ahaua, I proclaimed a fast, that we might humble our selues before our God, and seeke of him a right way for vs, and for our children, and for all our substance. 22 For I was ashamed to require of the King an armie and horsemen, to helpe vs against the enemie in the way, because we had spoken to the King, saying, The hande of our God is vpon all them that seeke him in goodnesse, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. 23 So we fasted, aud besought our God for this: and he was intreated of vs. 24 Then I separated twelue of the chiefe of the Priests, Sherebiah, and Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them, 25 And weighed them the siluer and the gold, and the vessels, euen the offring of ye house of our God, which the King and his counselers, and his Princes, and all Israel that were present had offred. 26 And I weighed vnto their hand sixe hundreth and fiftie talents of siluer, and in siluer vessel, an hundreth talents, and in golde, an hundreth talents: 27 And twentie basins of golde, of a thousand drammes, and two vessels of shining brasse very good, and precious as golde. 28 And I said vnto them, Ye are consecrate vnto the Lord, and the vessels are consecrate, and the gold and the siluer are freely offred vnto the Lord God of your fathers. 29 Watch ye, and keepe them vntill ye weigh them before the chiefe Priestes and the Leuites, and the chiefe fathers of Israel in Ierusalem in the chambers of the house of the Lord. 30 So the Priests and the Leuites receiued the weight of the siluer and of the golde, and of the vessels to bring them to Ierusalem, vnto the house of our God. 31 Then we departed from the Riuer of Ahauah on the twelft day of the first moneth, to go vnto Ierusalem, and the hand of our God was vpon vs, and deliuered vs from the hand of the enemie, and of such as layde waite by the way. 32 And we came to Ierusalem, and abode there three dayes. 33 And on ye fourth day was the siluer weighed, and the golde and the vessell in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the sonne of Vriah the Priest, and with him was Eleazar the sonne of Phinehas, and with them was Iozabad the sonne of Ieshua, and Noadiah the sonne of Binnui the Leuites, 34 By number and by weight of euery one, and all the weight was written at the same time. 35 Also the children of the captiuitie, which were come out of captiuitie, offred burnt offrings vnto the God of Israel, twelue bullockes for all Israel, ninetie and sixe rammes, seuentie and seuen lambes, and twelue hee goates for sinne: all was a burnt offring of the Lord. 36 And they deliuered the Kings commission vnto the Kings officers, and to the captaines beyond the Riuer: and they promoted the people, and the house of God.
The People Who Returned from Exile
1 This is the list of the heads of the clans who had been in exile in Babylonia and who returned with Ezra to Jerusalem when Artaxerxes was emperor:
2-14 Gershom, of the clan of PhinehasDaniel, of the clan of IthamarHattush son of Shecaniah, of the clan of DavidZechariah, of the clan of Parosh, with 150 men of his clan (there were records of their family lines)Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, of the clan of Pahath Moab, with 200 menShecaniah son of Jahaziel, of the clan of Zattu, with 300 menEbed son of Jonathan, of the clan of Adin, with 50 menJeshaiah son of Athaliah, of the clan of Elam, with 70 menZebadiah son of Michael, of the clan of Shephatiah, with 80 menObadiah son of Jehiel, of the clan of Joab, with 218 menShelomith son of Josiphiah, of the clan of Bani, with 160 menZechariah son of Bebai, of the clan of Bebai, with 28 menJohanan son of Hakkatan, of the clan of Azgad, with 110 menEliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, of the clan of Adonikam, with 60 men (they returned at a later date)Uthai and Zaccur, of the clan of Bigvai, with 70 men
Ezra Finds Levites for the Temple
15 I assembled the entire group by the canal that runs to the town of Ahava, and we camped there three days. I found that there were priests in the group, but no Levites. 16 I sent for nine of the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, and for two teachers, Joiarib and Elnathan. 17 I sent them to Iddo, head of the community at Casiphia, to ask him and his associates, the Temple workers, to send us people to serve God in the Temple. 18 Through God's grace they sent us Sherebiah, an able man, a Levite from the clan of Mahli; and eighteen of his sons and brothers came with him. 19 They also sent Hashabiah and Jeshaiah of the clan of Merari, with twenty of their relatives. 20 In addition there were 220 Temple workers whose ancestors had been designated by King David and his officials to assist the Levites. They were all listed by name.
Ezra Leads the People in Fasting and Prayer
21 There by the Ahava Canal I gave orders for us all to fast and humble ourselves before our God and to ask him to lead us on our journey and protect us and our children and all our possessions. 22 I would have been ashamed to ask the emperor for a troop of cavalry to guard us from any enemies during our journey, because I had told him that our God blesses everyone who trusts him, but that he is displeased with and punishes anyone who turns away from him. 23 So we fasted and prayed for God to protect us, and he answered our prayers.
The Gifts for the Temple
24 From among the leading priests I chose Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten others. 25 Then I weighed out the silver, the gold, and the utensils which the emperor, his advisers and officials, and the people of Israel had given to be used in the Temple, and I gave it to the priests. 26-27 This is what I gave them:
silver - 25 tons100 silver utensils - 150 poundsgold - 7,500 pounds20 gold bowls - 270 ounces2 fine bronze bowls, equal in value to gold bowls
28 I said to them, “You are sacred to the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and so are all the silver and gold utensils brought to him as freewill offerings. 29 Guard them carefully until you reach the Temple. There in the priests' rooms weigh them and turn them over to the leaders of the priests and of the Levites, and to the leaders of the people of Israel in Jerusalem.” 30 So the priests and the Levites took charge of the silver, the gold, and the utensils, to take them to the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Return to Jerusalem
31 It was on the twelfth day of the first month that we left the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. Our God was with us and protected us from enemy attacks and from ambush as we traveled. 32 When we reached Jerusalem, we rested three days. 33 Then on the fourth day we went to the Temple, weighed the silver, the gold, and the utensils, and turned them over to Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah. With him were Eleazar son of Phinehas and two Levites, Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui. 34 Everything was counted and weighed, and a complete record was made at the same time.
35 All those who had returned from exile then brought offerings to be burned as sacrifices to the God of Israel. They offered 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, and 77 lambs; they also offered 12 goats to purify themselves from sin. All these animals were burned as sacrifices to the Lord. 36 They also took the document the emperor had given them and gave it to the governors and officials of West-of-Euphrates Province, who then gave their support to the people and the Temple worship.