The Leaders in Jerusalem

11 Now the leaders of the people ^(A)lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people ^(B)cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem ^(C)the holy city, while nine out of ten^[a] remained in the other towns. ² And the people blessed all the men ^(D)who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.

^3 (E)These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah ^(F)everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, ^(G)the temple servants, ^(H)and the descendants of Solomon's servants. ⁴ And in Jerusalem lived certain of the sons of Judah and of the sons of Benjamin. Of the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the sons of ^(I)Perez; ⁵ and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, son of the Shilonite. ⁶ All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 valiant men.

⁷ And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah, ⁸ and his brothers, men of valor, 928.^{[b] 9} Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.

¹⁰ Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, ¹¹ Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, ruler of the house of God, ¹² and their brothers who did the work of the house, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, ¹³ and his brothers, heads of fathers' houses, 242; and Amashsai, the son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer, ¹⁴ and their brothers, mighty men of valor, 128; their overseer was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.

¹⁵ And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni; ¹⁶ and Shabbethai and ^(J)Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were over ^(K)the outside work of the house of God; ¹⁷ and ^(L)Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who was the leader of the praise,^[c] who gave thanks, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun. ¹⁸ All the Levites in ^(M)the holy city were 284.

¹⁹ The gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172. ²⁰ And the rest of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, ^(N)every one in his inheritance. ^21 (O)But the temple servants lived on Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.

²² The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the work of the house of God. ^23 (P)For there was a command from the king concerning them, and a fixed provision for the singers, ^(Q)as every day required. ²⁴ And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's side^[d] in all matters concerning the people.

Villages Outside Jerusalem

²⁵ And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in ^(R)Kiriath-arba and its villages, and in Dibon and its villages, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, ²⁶ and in Jeshua and in Moladah and Beth-pelet, ²⁷ in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its villages, ²⁸ in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages, ²⁹ in En-rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, ³⁰ Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they encamped from Beersheba to ^(S)the Valley of Hinnom. ³¹ The people of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages, ³² Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, ³³ Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, ³⁴ Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, ³⁵ Lod, and ^(T)Ono, the valley of craftsmen. ³⁶ And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah were assigned to Benjamin.

Genealogy of Those Who Returned with Ezra

8 These are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king: ² Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of ^(A)Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, ^(B)Hattush. ³ Of the sons of Shecaniah, who was of the sons of ^(C)Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150 men. ^4 (D)Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men. ⁵ Of the sons of Zattu,^[a] Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men. ⁶ Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men. ⁷ Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men. ⁸ Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men. ⁹ Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men. ¹⁰ Of the sons of Bani,^[b] Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men. ^11 (E)Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him 28 men. ¹² Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men. ¹³ Of the sons of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men. ¹⁴ Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.

Ezra Sends for Levites

¹⁵ I gathered them to the river that runs to ^(F)Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there ^(G)none of the sons of Levi. ¹⁶ Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and ^(H)Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, ¹⁷ and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and^[c] the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. ¹⁸ And ^(I)by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of ^(J)Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; ¹⁹ also ^(K)Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of ^(L)the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; ^20 (M)besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all ^(N)mentioned by name.

Fasting and Prayer for Protection

^21 (O)Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river ^(P)Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, ^(Q)to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. ²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ^(R)“The hand of our God is for good on ^(S)all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” ²³ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

Priests to Guard Offerings

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: ^(T)Sherebiah, ^(U)Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. ²⁵ And I weighed out to them the ^(V)silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his ^(W)counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. ^26 (X)I weighed out into their hand 650 talents^[d] of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents,^[e] and 100 talents of gold, ²⁷ 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics,^[f] and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. ²⁸ And I said to them, ^(Y)“You are holy to the Lord, and ^(Z)the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. ²⁹ Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, ^(AA)within the chambers of the house of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites ^(AB)took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

³¹ Then we departed from the river Ahava ^(AC)on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. ^(AD)The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. ^32 (AE)We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. ³³ On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were ^(AF)weighed into the hands of ^(AG)Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, ^(AH)Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of ^(AI)Binnui. ³⁴ The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

³⁵ At that time ^(AJ)those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, ^(AK)twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. ^36 (AL)They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's ^(AM)satraps^[g] and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and the house of God.