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
New Living Translation
Exiles Who Returned with Ezra
8 Here is a list of the family leaders and the genealogies of those who came with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
2 From the family of Phinehas: Gershom.
From the family of Ithamar: Daniel.
From the family of David: Hattush, 3 a descendant of Shecaniah.
From the family of Parosh: Zechariah and 150 other men were registered.
4 From the family of Pahath-moab: Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah and 200 other men.
5 From the family of Zattu[a]: Shecaniah son of Jahaziel and 300 other men.
6 From the family of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan and 50 other men.
7 From the family of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah and 70 other men.
8 From the family of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael and 80 other men.
9 From the family of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel and 218 other men.
10 From the family of Bani[b]: Shelomith son of Josiphiah and 160 other men.
11 From the family of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai and 28 other men.
12 From the family of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan and 110 other men.
13 From the family of Adonikam, who came later[c]: Eliphelet, Jeuel, Shemaiah, and 60 other men.
14 From the family of Bigvai: Uthai, Zaccur,[d] and 70 other men.
Ezra’s Journey to Jerusalem
15 I assembled the exiles at the Ahava Canal, and we camped there for three days while I went over the lists of the people and the priests who had arrived. I found that not one Levite had volunteered to come along. 16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders of the people. I also sent for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of discernment. 17 I sent them to Iddo, the leader of the Levites at Casiphia, to ask him and his relatives and the Temple servants to send us ministers for the Temple of God at Jerusalem.
18 Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they sent us a man named Sherebiah, along with eighteen of his sons and brothers. He was a very astute man and a descendant of Mahli, who was a descendant of Levi son of Israel.[e] 19 They also sent Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and twenty of his sons and brothers, 20 and 220 Temple servants. The Temple servants were assistants to the Levites—a group of Temple workers first instituted by King David and his officials. They were all listed by name.
21 And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen[f] to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.” 23 So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.
24 I appointed twelve leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten other priests— 25 to be in charge of transporting the silver, the gold, the gold bowls, and the other items that the king, his council, his officials, and all the people of Israel had presented for the Temple of God. 26 I weighed the treasure as I gave it to them and found the totals to be as follows:
24 tons[g] of silver,
7,500 pounds[h] of silver articles,
7,500 pounds of gold,
27 20 gold bowls, equal in value to 1,000 gold coins,[i]
2 fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold.
28 And I said to these priests, “You and these treasures have been set apart as holy to the Lord. This silver and gold is a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of our ancestors. 29 Guard these treasures well until you present them to the leading priests, the Levites, and the leaders of Israel, who will weigh them at the storerooms of the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem.” 30 So the priests and the Levites accepted the task of transporting these treasures of silver and gold to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem.
31 We broke camp at the Ahava Canal on April 19[j] and started off to Jerusalem. And the gracious hand of our God protected us and saved us from enemies and bandits along the way. 32 So we arrived safely in Jerusalem, where we rested for three days.
33 On the fourth day after our arrival, the silver, gold, and other valuables were weighed at the Temple of our God and entrusted to Meremoth son of Uriah the priest and to Eleazar son of Phinehas, along with Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui—both of whom were Levites. 34 Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the total weight was officially recorded.
35 Then the exiles who had come out of captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They presented twelve bulls for all the people of Israel, as well as ninety-six rams and seventy-seven male lambs. They also offered twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was given as a burnt offering to the Lord. 36 The king’s decrees were delivered to his highest officers and the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River,[k] who then cooperated by supporting the people and the Temple of God.
Footnotes
- 8:5 As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 1 Esdras 8:32); Hebrew lacks Zattu.
- 8:10 As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 1 Esdras 8:36); Hebrew lacks Bani.
- 8:13 Or who were the last of his family.
- 8:14 As in Greek and Syriac versions and an alternate reading of the Masoretic Text; the other alternate reads Zabbud.
- 8:18 Israel is the name that God gave to Jacob.
- 8:22 Or charioteers.
- 8:26a Hebrew 650 talents [22 metric tons].
- 8:26b Hebrew 100 talents [3,400 kilograms]; also in 8:26c.
- 8:27 Hebrew 1,000 darics, about 19 pounds or 8.6 kilograms in weight.
- 8:31 Hebrew on the twelfth day of the first month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was April 19, 458 B.c.; also see note on 6:15.
- 8:36 Hebrew the province beyond the river.
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