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¹ And these [are] heads of their fathers, and the genealogy of those going up with me, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king, from Babylon.² From the sons of Phinehas: Gershom; from the sons of Ithamar: Daniel; from the sons of David: Hattush;³ from the sons of Shechaniah, from the sons of Pharosh: Zechariah, and with him, reckoning themselves by genealogy, of males one hundred and fifty.⁴ From the sons of Pahath-Moab: Elihoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred who are males.⁵ From the sons of Shechaniah: the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred who are males.⁶ And from the sons of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him fifty who are males.⁷ And from the sons of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him seventy who are males.⁸ And from the sons of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him eighty who are males.⁹ From the sons of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen who are males.¹⁰ And from the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him one hundred and sixty who are males.¹¹ And from the sons of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight who are males.¹² And from the sons of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred and ten who are males.¹³ And from the younger sons of Adonikam—and these [are] their names—Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty who are males.¹⁴ And from the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them seventy who are males.¹⁵ And I gather them to the river that is going to Ahava, and we encamp there three days; and I consider about the people, and about the priests, and of the sons of Levi I have found none there;¹⁶ and I send for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, heads, and for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding;¹⁷ and I charge them for Iddo the head, in the place Casiphia, and put in their mouth words to speak to Iddo, [and] his brothers the Nethinim, in the place Casiphia, to bring to us servants for the house of our God.¹⁸ And they bring to us, according to the good hand of our God on us, a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, and Sherebiah, and his sons, and his brothers, eighteen;¹⁹ and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, of the sons of Merari, his brothers, and their sons, twenty;²⁰ and from the Nethinim, whom David and the heads gave for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them defined by name.

²¹ And I proclaim there a fast, by the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our infants, and for all our substance,²² for I was ashamed to ask from the king a force and horsemen to help us because of the enemy in the way, for we spoke to the king, saying, "The hand of our God [is] on all seeking Him for good, and His strength and His wrath [is] on all forsaking Him."²³ And we fast, and seek from our God for this, and He accepts our plea.

²⁴ And I separate from the heads of the priests, twelve, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them of their brothers ten,²⁵ and I weigh to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, a raised-offering of the house of our God, that the king, and his counselors, and his heads, and all Israel—those present—lifted up;²⁶ and I weigh to their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and one hundred talents of vessels of silver, one hundred talents of gold,²⁷ and twenty basins of gold, of one thousand drams, and two vessels of good shining bronze, desirable as gold.²⁸ And I say to them, "You [are] holy to YHWH, and the vessels [are] holy, and the silver and the gold [are] a willing-offering to YHWH, God of your fathers;²⁹ watch, and keep, until you weigh before the heads of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the fathers of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of YHWH."³⁰ And the priests and the Levites took the weight of the silver, and of the gold, and of the vessels, to bring to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

³¹ And we journey from the river Ahava, on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God has been on us, and He delivers us from the hand of the enemy and the one lying in wait by the way;³² and we come to Jerusalem, and dwell there three days.³³ And on the fourth day has been weighed the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, in the house of our God, to the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest, and with him Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them Jozabad son of Jeshua, and Noadiah son of Binnui, the Levites:³⁴ by number, by weight of everyone, and all the weight is written at that time.³⁵ Those coming in of the captives—sons of the expulsion—have brought burnt-offerings near to the God of Israel: twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve young male goats for a sin-offering—the whole a burnt-offering to YHWH;³⁶ and they give the laws of the king to the lieutenants of the king and the governors beyond the river, and they have lifted up the people and the house of God.