Lectionary Calendar

Wednesday, December 4th, 2024
the First Week of Advent

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EzraEzr 7 EzraEzr EzraEzr 9

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Genealogical Records

¹ 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, ^(C1)Hattush;³ of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of ^(C1)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 ^(C1)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, ^(F1)Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and 60 males with them;¹⁴ and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai, and ^(F1)Zabbud, and 70 males with ^(F2)them.

Ezra Sends for Levites

¹⁵ Now I gathered them at the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days. And I observed the people and the priests, but I did not find any Levites there.¹⁶ So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, chief men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, teachers.¹⁷ I sent them out to Iddo the chief man at the place Casiphia; and I put words in their mouths to say to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that is, to bring ministers to us for the house of our God.¹⁸ So, according to the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a 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 Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, 20 men;²⁰ and 220 of 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 ^(C1)a fast there at ^(C2)the river of Ahava, that we might ^(C3)humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a ^(F1)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, "^(C1)The hand of our God is upon all those who seek Him, for their good, but ^(C2)His strength and His anger are against all those who ^(C3)forsake Him."²³ So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He ^(F1)^(C1)was moved by our entreaty.

²⁴ Then I ^(F1)set apart twelve of the leading priests, ^(C1)Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers;²⁵ and I ^(C1)weighed out to them ^(C2)the silver, the gold, and the utensils, the contribution for the house of our God which the king and ^(C3)his counselors and his princes and all Israel present there had offered.²⁶ ^(C1)Thus I weighed into their hands ^(F1)650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth 100 talents, and 100 gold talents,²⁷ and 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 ^(F1)darics, and two utensils of fine shiny bronze, precious as gold.²⁸ Then I said to them, "^(C1)You are holy to Yahweh, and the ^(C2)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 ^(C1)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 ^(C1)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 ^(C1)the river Ahava on ^(C2)the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and ^(C3)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 ^(C1)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 were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of 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 ^(C1)The exiles who had come from the captivity brought burnt offerings near to the God of Israel: ^(C2)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 ^(C1)they gave the king's edicts to ^(C2)the king's satraps and to the governors in the provinces beyond the ^(F1)River, and they supported the people and the house of God.