³¹ Then we left the Ahava River on the twelfth day of the first month^[a] to go to Jerusalem. The power of our God was with us; he saved us from the power of the enemy and ambushes along the way.

Finishing the journey

³² After arriving in Jerusalem, we rested there three days. ³³ On the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the equipment were weighed out in our God’s house into the care of the priest named Meremoth, Uriah’s son, together with Eleazar, Phinehas’ son; and the Levites, Jozabad, Jeshua’s son, and Noadiah, Binnui’s son. ³⁴ Everything was counted and weighed, and the total weight was recorded.

³⁵ At that time, those who had come from the captivity, the returned exiles, offered as entirely burned offerings to the God of Israel twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a purification offering. All this was an entirely burned offering to the Lord. ³⁶ They also delivered the king’s orders to the royal chief administrators and governors of the province Beyond the River, who supported the people and God’s house.