People Who Went with Ezra

8 Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households and the genealogical enrollment 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, ^(A)Hattush; ³ of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of ^(B)Parosh, Zechariah and with him 150 males who were in the genealogical list; 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 ^(C)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, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and 60 males with them; ¹⁴ and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and ^[a]Zabbud, and 70 males with ^[b]them.

Ezra Sends for Levites

¹⁵ Now I assembled them at ^(D)the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days; and when I observed the people and the priests, I ^(E)did not find any Levites there. ¹⁶ So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, ^[c]leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, teachers. ¹⁷ I sent them to Iddo the ^[d]leading man at the place Casiphia; and I ^[e]told them what to say to ^[f]Iddo and his brothers, ^(F)the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that is, to bring ministers to us for the house of our God. ^18 (G)According to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a ^(H)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 ^[g]Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, 20 men; ²⁰ and 220 of ^(I)the temple servants, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, all of them designated by name.

Protection of God Invoked

²¹ Then I proclaimed ^(J)a fast there at ^(K)the river of Ahava, that we might ^(L)humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a ^[h]safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. ²² For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to ^[i]protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “^(M)The hand of our God is ^[j]favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but ^(N)His power and His anger are against all those who ^(O)forsake Him.” ²³ So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He ^[k](P)listened to our entreaty.

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, ^(Q)Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers; ²⁵ and I ^(R)weighed out to them ^(S)the silver, the gold and the utensils, the offering for the house of our God which the king and ^(T)his counselors and his princes and all Israel present there had offered. ^26 (U)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, “^(V)You are holy to the Lord, and the ^(W)utensils are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers. ²⁹ Watch and keep them ^(X)until you weigh them before the leading priests, the Levites and the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites ^(Y)accepted the weighed out silver and gold and the utensils, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

³¹ Then we journeyed from ^(Z)the river Ahava on ^(AA)the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and ^(AB)the hand of our God was over us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the way. ^32 (AC)Thus we came to Jerusalem and remained there three days.

Treasure Placed in the Temple

³³ On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the utensils ^(AD)were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of ^(AE)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. ³⁴ Everything was numbered and weighed, and all the weight was recorded at that time.

^35 (AF)The exiles who had come from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: ^(AG)12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, 12 male goats for a sin offering, all as a burnt offering to the Lord. ³⁶ Then ^(AH)they delivered the king’s edicts to ^(AI)the king’s satraps and to the governors in the provinces beyond the ^[l]River, and they supported the people and the house of God.

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.

A Psalm of David.

Message to Sardis

3 “To the angel of the church in ^(A)Sardis write:

He who has ^(B)the seven Spirits of God and ^(C)the seven stars, says this: ‘^(D)I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, ^[a]but you are ^(E)dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. ³ So ^(F)remember ^[b]what you have received and heard; and keep it, and ^(G)repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, ^(H)I will come ^(I)like a thief, and you will not know at ^(J)what hour I will come to you. ⁴ But you have a few ^[c](K)people in ^(L)Sardis who have not ^(M)soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me ^(N)in white, for they are worthy. ^5 (O)He who overcomes will thus be clothed in ^(P)white garments; and I will not ^(Q)erase his name from the book of life, and ^(R)I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ^6 (S)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Message to Philadelphia

⁷ “And to the angel of the church in ^(T)Philadelphia write:

^(U)He who is holy, ^(V)who is true, who has ^(W)the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:

⁸ ‘^(X)I know your ^[d]deeds. Behold, I have put before you ^(Y)an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and ^(Z)have not denied My name. ⁹ Behold, I ^[e]will cause those of ^(AA)the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them ^(AB)come and bow down ^[f]at your feet, and make them know that ^(AC)I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have ^(AD)kept the word of ^(AE)My ^[g]perseverance, ^(AF)I also will keep you from the hour of ^[h](AG)testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole ^[i](AH)world, to ^[j]test ^(AI)those who dwell on the earth. ^11 (AJ)I am coming quickly; ^(AK)hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your ^(AL)crown. ^12 (AM)He who overcomes, I will make him a ^(AN)pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the ^(AO)name of My God, and ^(AP)the name of the city of My God, ^(AQ)the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My ^(AR)new name. ^13 (AS)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Message to Laodicea

¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in ^(AT)Laodicea write:

^(AU)The Amen, ^(AV)the faithful and true Witness, ^(AW)the ^[k]Beginning of the creation of God, says this:

¹⁵ ‘^(AX)I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; ^(AY)I wish that you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will ^[l]spit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, “^(AZ)I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, ¹⁸ I advise you to ^(BA)buy from Me ^(BB)gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and ^(BC)white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that ^(BD)the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ^19 (BE)Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and ^(BF)repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand ^(BG)at the door and ^(BH)knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, ^(BI)I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ^21 (BJ)He who overcomes, I will grant to him ^(BK)to sit down with Me on My throne, as ^(BL)I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. ^22 (BM)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”