the Fourth Week of Advent
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Complete Jewish Bible
Ezra 8
1 These are the heads of their fathers' clans, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Bavel during the reign of Artach'shashta the king:
2 of the descendants of Pinchas: Gershom;
of the descendants of Itamar: Dani'el;
of the descendants of David: Hatush;
3 of the descendants of Sh'khanyah:
of the descendants of Par‘osh: Z'kharyah,
and with him 150 males officially registered;
4 of the descendants of Pachat-Mo'av: Ely'ho‘einai the son of Z'rachyah,
and with him 200 males;
5 of the descendants of Sh'khanyah: the son of Yachazi'el,
and with him 300 males;
6 of the descendants of ‘Adin: ‘Eved the son of Yonatan,
and with him 50 males;
7 of the descendants of ‘Eilam: Yesha‘yah the son of ‘Atalyah,
and with him 70 males;
8 of the descendants of Sh'fatyah: Z'vadyah the son of Mikha'el,
and with him 80 males;
9 of the descendants of Yo'av: ‘Ovadyah the son of Yechi'el,
and with him 218 males;
10 of the descendants of Shlomit: the son of Yosifyah,
and with him 160 males;
11 of the descendants of Bevai: Z'kharyah the son of Bevai,
and with him 28 males;
12 of the descendants of ‘Azgad: Yochanan the son of HaKatan,
and with him 110 males;
13 of the descendants of Adonikam: the younger ones, whose names were Elifelet,
Ye‘i'el and Sh'ma‘yah,
and with them 60 males; and
14 of the descendants of Bigvai: ‘Utai and Zakur,
and with them 70 males.
15 I assembled them by the river that runs to Ahava, and we camped there three days. I reviewed the people and the cohanim but found no L'vi'im there. 16 So I sent for Eli‘ezer, Ari'el, Sh'ma‘yah, Elnatan, Yariv, Elnatan, Natan, Z'kharyah and Meshulam, who were leaders, and also for Yoyariv and Elnatan, who were men of discernment. 17 I gave them instructions for Iddo, the leading man in a place called Kasifya, and told them what to say to Iddo and his brother, who were in charge of Kasifya, so that they would bring us men to minister in the house of our God. 18 Since the good hand of our God was on us, they brought us Ish-Sekhel from the descendants of Machli the son of Levi, the son of Isra'el; Sherevyah with eighteen of his sons and kinsmen; 19 Hashavyah, with Yesha‘yah, from the descendants of M'rari, and twenty of his kinsmen and their sons; 20 and from the temple servants, whom David and the princes had assigned to serve the L'vi'im, two hundred temple servants, all recorded by name.
21 Then, there at the Ahava River, I proclaimed a fast; so that we could humble ourselves before our God and ask a safe journey of him for ourselves, our little ones and all our possessions. 22 For I would have been ashamed to ask the king for a detachment of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies along the road, since we had said to the king, "The hand of our God is on all who seek him, for good; but his power and fury is against all who abandon him." 23 So we fasted and asked our God for this, and he answered our prayer.
24 Then I separated twelve of the chief cohanim, along with Sherevyah, Hashavyah and ten of their kinsmen. 25 I weighed out to them the silver, the gold and the utensils for the house of our God contributed by the king, his counselors, his princes and all Isra'el present there. 26 I weighed out and handed over to them twenty-one-and-a-half tons of silver, three-and-a-third tons of silver articles, three-and-a-third tons of gold, 27 twenty gold bowls weighing twenty-one pounds, and two vessels of fine burnished bronze as precious as gold. 28 Then I told them, "You are consecrated to Adonai, the articles are holy, and the silver and gold are a voluntary offering for Adonai the God of your ancestors. 29 Guard them carefully, until you weigh them before the chief cohanim and L'vi'im and the leaders of the fathers' clans in Yerushalayim, in the rooms of the house of Adonai." 30 So the cohanim and L'vi'im received the consignment of silver and gold and the articles to bring to Yerushalayim, to the house of our God.
31 On the twelfth day of the first month, we left the Ahava River to go to Yerushalayim. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and surprise attacks along the road. 32 In time, we arrived at Yerushalayim, where we rested for three days. 33 On the fourth day, the silver, gold and articles were weighed in the house of our God and handed over to M'remot the son of Uriyah the cohen; with him was El‘azar the son of Pinchas; and with them were Yozavad the son of Yeshua and No‘adyah the son of Binui, who were L'vi'im. 34 The entire consignment was numbered and weighed, and at the same time the total weight was recorded.
35 The exiles who had returned from captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Isra'el — twelve young bulls for all Isra'el, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering; all this was a burnt offering for Adonai.
36 They also delivered the king's orders to the king's viceroys and governors beyond the [Euphrates] River; and these gave their support to the people and to the house of God.
