Ezra 8
New English Translation
The Leaders Who Returned with Ezra
8 These are the leaders[a] and those enrolled with them by genealogy who were coming up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
2 from the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom;
from the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel;
from the descendants of David, Hattush 3 the son of Shecaniah;[b]
from the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were enrolled by genealogy 150 men;
4 from the descendants of Pahath Moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men;
5 from the descendants of Zattu,[c] Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men;
6 from the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men;
7 from the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;
8 from the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men;
9 from the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men;
10 from the descendants of Bani,[d] Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men;
11 from the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men;
12 from the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men;
13 from the descendants of Adonikam there were the latter ones.[e] Their names were Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men;
14 from the descendants of Bigvai, Uthai, and Zaccur,[f] and with them[g] 70 men.
The Exiles Travel to Jerusalem
15 I had them assemble[h] at the canal[i] that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I observed that the people and the priests were present, but I found no Levites there. 16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan,[j] Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers. 17 I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them[k] what to say to Iddo and his relatives,[l] who were the temple servants in[m] Casiphia, so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God.
18 Due to the fact that the good hand of our God was on us, they brought us a skilled man, from the descendants of Mahli the son of Levi son of Israel. This man was Sherebiah,[n] who was accompanied by his sons and brothers,[o] 18 men; 19 and Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, 20 men; 20 and some of the temple servants that David and his officials had established for the work of the Levites—220 of them. They were all designated by name.
21 I called for a fast there by the Ahava Canal, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and seek from him a safe journey[p] for us, our children, and all our property. 22 I was embarrassed to request soldiers and horsemen from the king to protect us from the enemy[q] along the way, because we had said to the king, “The good hand of our God is on everyone who is seeking him, but his great anger[r] is against everyone who forsakes him.” 23 So we fasted and prayed to our God about this, and he answered us.
24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, together with[s] Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers,[t] 25 and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels intended for the temple of our God—items that the king, his advisers, his officials, and all Israel who were present had contributed. 26 I weighed out to them:[u] 650 talents of silver, silver vessels worth 100 talents,[v] 100 talents of gold, 27 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and 2 exquisite vessels of gleaming bronze, as valuable as gold. 28 Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, just as these vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. 29 Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.
30 Then the priests and the Levites took charge of[w] the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to transport them to Jerusalem to the temple of our God.
31 On the twelfth day of the first month we began traveling from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from our enemies and from bandits[x] along the way. 32 So we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there for three days. 33 On the fourth day we weighed out the silver, the gold, and the vessels in the house of our God into the care[y] of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest, and Eleazar son of Phinehas, who were accompanied by Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui, who were Levites. 34 Everything was verified[z] by number and by weight, and the total weight was written down at that time.
35 The exiles who were returning from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel—twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male lambs, along with twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. 36 Then they presented the decrees of the king to the king’s satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who assisted the people and the temple of God.
Footnotes
- Ezra 8:1 tn Heb “the heads of their families.”
- Ezra 8:3 tc The MT reads here “from the sons of Shecaniah” with no descendant identified in what follows, contrary to the pattern of the context elsewhere. However, it seems better to understand the first phrase of v. 3 with the end of v. 2; the phrase would then modify the name “Hattush.” This understanding requires emending the reading מִבְּנֵי (mibbene, “from the sons of”) in the MT to בֵּן (ben, “[the] son of”). Cf. NAB, TEV, CEV, NLT.
- Ezra 8:5 tc The MT lacks “of Zattu.” The translation adopted above follows the LXX in including the words.
- Ezra 8:10 tc The MT lacks “Bani.” It is restored on the basis of certain LXX mss.
- Ezra 8:13 tn Or “those who came later.” The exact meaning of this Hebrew phrase is uncertain. It may refer to the last remaining members of Adonikam’s family who were in Babylon. So, for example, H. G. M. Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah (WBC), 108; cf. NASB, NIV, NCV. The phrase has also been taken to mean “the younger sons (so NAB), or the ones who “returned at a later date” (so TEV).
- Ezra 8:14 tc The translation reads with the Qere, the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate וְזַּכּוּר (vezakkur, “and Zaccur”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, וְזַבוּד (vezavud, “and Zabbud”).
- Ezra 8:14 tn The MT has “with him” (so NAB). The present translation (“with them”) is based on the reading of many medieval Hebrew mss, the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate (so also KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Ezra 8:15 tn Or “I gathered them.”
- Ezra 8:15 tn Heb “river.” So also in vv. 21, 31.
- Ezra 8:16 tc The name “Elnathan” occurs twice in this list. Some, assuming an accidental repetition, would include it only once (cf. NAB).
- Ezra 8:17 tn Heb “I placed in their mouth words.”
- Ezra 8:17 tc The translation reads with the LXX and Vulgate וְאֶחָיו (veʾekhayv, “and his brethren” = “relatives”; so NCV, NLT) rather than the reading אָחִיו (ʾakhiv, “his brother”) of the MT.
- Ezra 8:17 tn Heb “in the place called.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Ezra 8:18 tn Heb “and Sherebiah.” The words “this man was” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
- Ezra 8:18 tn Or “relatives” (so CEV; NRSV “kin”); also in v. 19.
- Ezra 8:21 tn Heb “a straight way.”
- Ezra 8:22 tn A number of modern translations regard this as a collective singular and translate “from enemies” (also in v. 31).
- Ezra 8:22 tn Heb “his strength and his anger.” The expression is a hendiadys (one concept expressed through two terms).
- Ezra 8:24 tc The translation reads וַחֲשַׁבְיָה וְשֵׁרֵבְיָה (veshereveyah vakhashavyah, “and Sherebiah and Hashabiah”) rather than the reading חֲשַׁבְיָה לְשֵׁרֵבְיָה (leshereveyah khashavyah, “to Sherebiah Hashabiah”) of the MT.
- Ezra 8:24 tn Or “relatives”; or “colleagues” (cf. NLT “ten other priests”).
- Ezra 8:26 tn Heb “upon their hand.”
- Ezra 8:26 tn Possibly “100 silver vessels worth [?] talents” or “silver vessels weighing 100 talents.”
- Ezra 8:30 tn Heb “received.”
- Ezra 8:31 tn Heb “from the hand of the enemy and the one who lies in wait.” Some modern English versions render the latter phrase as “ambushes” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
- Ezra 8:33 tn Heb “upon the hand of.”
- Ezra 8:34 tn The words “was verified” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
Ezra 8
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
8 Now these are the chiefs of families, and the genealogy of them, who came up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.
2 Of the sons of Phinees, Gersom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattus.
3 Of the sons of Sechenias, the son of Pharos, Zacharias, and with him were numbered a hundred and fifty men.
4 Of the sons of Phahath Moab, Eleoenai the son of Zareha, and with him two hundred men.
5 Of the sons of Sechenias, the son of Ezechiel, and with him three hundred men.
6 Of the sons of Adan, Abed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty men.
7 Of the sons of Alam, Isaias the son of Athalias, and with him seventy men.
8 Of the sons of Saphatia: Zebodia the son of Michael, and with him eighty men.
9 Of the sons of Joab, Obedia the son of Jahiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen men.
10 Of the sons of Selomith, the son of Josphia, and with him a hundred and sixty men.
11 Of the sons of Bebai, Zacharias the son of Bebai: and with him eight and twenty men.
12 Of the sons of Azgad, Joanan the son of Eccetan, and with him a hundred and ten men.
13 Of the sons of Adonicam, who were the last: and these are their names: Eliphelet, and Jehiel, and Samaias, and with them sixty men.
14 Of the sons of Begui, Uthai and Zachur, and with them seventy men.
15 And I gathered them together to the river, which runneth down to Ahava, and we stayed there three days: and I sought among the people and among the priests for the sons of Levi, and found none there.
16 So I sent Eliezer, and Ariel, and Semeias, and Elnathan, and Jarib, and another Elnathan, and Nathan, and Zacharias, and Mosollam, chief men: and Joiarib, and Elnathan, wise men.
17 And I sent them to Eddo, who is chief in the place of Chasphia, and I put in their mouth the words that they should speak to Eddo, and his brethren the Nathinites in the place of Chasphia, that they should bring us ministers of the house of our God.
18 And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a most learned man of the sons of Moholi the son of Levi the son of Israel, and Sarabias and his sons, and his brethren eighteen,
19 And Hasabias, and with him Isaias of the sons of Merari, and his brethren, and his sons twenty.
20 And of the Nathinites, whom David, and the princes gave for the service of the Levites, Nathinites two hundred and twenty: all these were called by their names.
21 And I proclaimed there a fast by the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before the Lord our God, and might ask of him a right way for us and for our children, and for all our substance.
22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for aid and for horsemen, to defend us from the enemy in the way: because we had said to the king: The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him in goodness: and his power and strength, and wrath upon all them that forsake him.
23 And we fasted, and besought our God for this: and it fell out prosperously unto us.
24 And I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sarabias, and Hasabias, and with them ten of their brethren,
25 And I weighed unto them the silver and gold, and the vessels consecrated for the house of our God, which the king and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel, that were found had offered.
26 And I weighed to their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and a hundred vessels of silver, and a hundred talents of gold,
27 And twenty cups of gold, of a thousand solids, and two vessels of the best shining brass, beautiful as gold.
28 And I said to them: You are the holy ones of the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and gold, that is freely offered to the Lord the God of our fathers.
29 Watch ye and keep them, till you deliver them by weight before the chief of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the families of Israel in Jerusalem, into the treasure of the house of the Lord.
30 And the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and gold, and the vessels, to carry them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
31 Then we set forward 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 delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.
32 And we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there three days.
33 And on the fourth day the silver and the gold, and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Urias the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinees, and with them Jozabad the son of Josue, and Noadaia the son of Benoi, Levites.
34 According to the number and weight of every thing: and all the weight was written at that time.
35 Moreover the children of them that had been carried away that were come out of the captivity, offered holocausts to the God of Israel, twelve calves for all the people of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve he goats for sin: all for a holocaust to the Lord.
36 And they gave the king's edicts to the lords that were from the king's court, and the governors beyond the river, and they furthered the people and the house of God.
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