Ezra 8
Legacy Standard Bible
Genealogical Records
8 Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households and the genealogical records 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 records;
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, [a]Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and 60 males with them;
14 and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai, and [b]Zabbud, and 70 males with [c]them.
Ezra Sends for Levites
15 Now I gathered them at (D)the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days. And I [d]observed the people and the priests, but I (E)did not find any Levites there. 16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, [e]chief men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, teachers. 17 I sent them out to Iddo the [f]chief man at the place Casiphia; and I put words in their mouths to say to [g]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)So, 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 [h]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.
God’s Protection Sought
21 Then I called for (J)a fast there at (K)the river of Ahava, that we might (L)humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a [i]direct journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to ask from the king for a military force and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “(M)The hand of our God is upon all those who seek Him, for their good, but (N)His strength and His anger are against all those who (O)forsake Him.” 23 So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He [j](P)was moved by our entreaty.
24 Then I [k]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 contribution 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 [l]650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth 100 talents, and 100 gold talents, 27 and 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 [m]darics, and two utensils of fine shiny bronze, precious as gold. 28 Then I said to them, “(V)You are holy to Yahweh, and the (W)utensils are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh, the God of your fathers. 29 Watch and keep them (X)until you weigh them before the officials of the priests, the Levites and the officials of the fathers’ households of Israel at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Yahweh.” 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 set out 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 upon 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.
Silver, Gold, and Utensils Weighed
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 written down at that time.
35 (AF)The exiles who had come from the captivity brought burnt offerings near 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 Yahweh. 36 Then (AH)they gave the king’s edicts to (AI)the king’s satraps and to the governors in the provinces beyond the [n]River, and they supported the people and the house of God.
Footnotes
- Ezra 8:13 Or Jeuel
- Ezra 8:14 Or Zakkur
- Ezra 8:14 Or him
- Ezra 8:15 Lit understood, discerned
- Ezra 8:16 Lit heads
- Ezra 8:17 Lit head
- Ezra 8:17 As in Gr; Heb Iddo his brother
- Ezra 8:19 As in Gr; Heb with him Jeshaiah
- Ezra 8:21 Lit straight way
- Ezra 8:23 Lit was entreated by us
- Ezra 8:24 Lit separated
- Ezra 8:26 Approx. 24 tons or 22 metric tons, a talent was approx. 75 lb. or 34 kg
- Ezra 8:27 A Persian gold coin weighing approx. 0.3 oz. or 8 gm
- Ezra 8:36 The Euphrates River
Ezra 8
Evangelical Heritage Version
The List of Family Heads Who Returned With Ezra
8 These are the heads of their families who went up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes, listed according to their registration in the genealogy:
2 from the descendants of Phinehas: Gershom,
from the descendants of Ithamar: Daniel,
from the descendants of David: Hattush 3 from the sons of Shekaniah,[a]
from the descendants of Parosh: Zechariah, also registered with him in the genealogy were 150 males,
4 from the descendants of Pahath Moab: Elihoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him were 200 males,
5 from the descendants of Zattu:[b] Shekaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him were 300 males,
6 and from the descendants of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him were 50 males,
7 and from the descendants of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him were 70 males,
8 and from the descendants of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him were 80 males,
9 from the descendants of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him were 218 males,
10 and from the descendants of Bani:[c] Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him were 160 males,
11 and from the descendants of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him were 28 males,
12 and from the descendants of Azgad: Jonathan son of Hakkatan, and with him were 110 males,
13 and from the descendants of Adonikam—they were the last descendants[d]—these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them were 60 males,
14 and from the descendants of Bigvai: Uthai and Zakkur,[e] and with him were 70 males.
The Journey to Jerusalem
15 So I gathered them together at the canal[f] that runs to Ahava, and we camped there three days. I looked over the people and the priests who were there, but I did not find any Levites among them. 16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers. 17 I sent them to Iddo, the leader serving in the place called Kasiphia, and I gave them a message to speak to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants in the place called Kasiphia, so that they would bring us ministers for the house of our God.
18 So, since the good hand of our God was resting upon us, they brought us the following people: Sherebiah, a discerning man from the descendants of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, along with his sons and his brothers,[g] eighteen men; 19 also Hashabiah and with him Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari and his brothers and their sons, twenty men; 20 and from the temple servants whom David and the leaders appointed to the service of the Levites, two hundred twenty temple servants. All of them were registered by name.
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the Ahava Canal in order to humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey—for us, for our children, and for all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and cavalry to help protect us against enemies on the journey, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God rests upon all who seek him, for their good, but his power and anger are against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and we sought help from our God concerning this, and he granted our request.
24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests to be with Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their brothers with them. 25 I weighed out for them the silver and the gold and the vessels—the special contribution for the house of our God, which had been contributed by the king and his advisors and officials and by all the Israelites who were present there.
26 I weighed out and placed into their hands six hundred fifty talents[h] of silver, silver vessels worth one hundred talents, one hundred talents of gold, 27 and twenty gold bowls worth one thousand darics,[i] and two finely polished bronze vessels, as precious as gold.
28 Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of our fathers. 29 Guard them carefully until you weigh them again in front of the leaders of the priests and Levites and the leaders of the families[j] of Israel in Jerusalem, before placing them into the storerooms of the House of the Lord.”
30 So the priests and the Levites received the full weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels in order to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
31 Then, on the twelfth day of the first month, we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of enemies and from ambushes on the way. 32 We arrived in Jerusalem and stayed there three days.
Ezra Begins His Mission
33 Then on the fourth day, in the house of our God we weighed out the silver and gold and the vessels before handing them over to Meremoth son of Uriah the priest. Also with him was Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them were Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui, the Levites. 34 Everything was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded at that time.
35 The exiles who had come from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve goats for a sin offering—all offered as a burnt offering to the Lord.
36 They also delivered the king’s laws to the king’s satraps[k] and the governors of Trans-Euphrates, and they supported the people and the house of God.
Footnotes
- Ezra 8:3 It is uncertain if this phrase completes the previous verse, or if it is a new group with no personal name specified.
- Ezra 8:5 Zattu is supplied from the Greek text.
- Ezra 8:10 Bani is supplied from the Greek.
- Ezra 8:13 Or those who came later
- Ezra 8:14 The translation follows the Hebrew reading from the margin and some ancient versions. The main Hebrew reading is Zabud.
- Ezra 8:15 Literally river. Many of the “rivers of Babylon” were actually canals that ran off the Tigris and Euphrates.
- Ezra 8:18 In this list brothers may have the wider meaning of relatives or colleagues.
- Ezra 8:26 A talent is about seventy-five pounds.
- Ezra 8:27 A daric is a unit of weight that appears in post-exilic books. It is a Persian term, equal to the Greek drachma, about a third of an ounce. It is also the name of the standard Persian gold coin.
- Ezra 8:29 Literally the officials of the fathers
- Ezra 8:36 Satraps were the rulers of large provinces or groups of smaller provinces within the Persian Empire.
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