Read the Bible

¹ These are the heades of their fathers that were named, which wente vp wt me from Babilon, what tyme as kynge Artaxerses reigned.² Of the childre of Phineas, Gersom: of the children of Ithamar, Daniel: of the children of Dauid, Hattus:³ of the childre of Pareos, Zachary, and the men childre nombred with him, an hundreth and fiftye.⁴ Of the children of Pahath Moab, Eleoenai the sonne of Serahia, and wt him two hundreth males.⁵ Of the children of Sechania, the sonne of Iehasiel, and with him thre hundreth males.⁶ Of the children of Adin Ebed, the sonne of Ionathan, and with him fiftie males.⁷ Of the children of Elam, Iesaia the sonne of Athalia, and with him seuentie males.⁸ Of the children of Sephatia, Sebadia the sonne of Michael, and wt him foure score males.⁹ Op the children of Ioab, Obadia the sonne of Iehiel, and with him two hundreth & eightene men children.¹⁰ Of the children of Selomith, the sonne of Iosiphia, and with him an hundreth and thre score males.¹¹ Of the children of Bebai, Zachary the sonne of Bebai, and with him eight and twentye males.¹² Of the children of Asgad, Iohanan the yongest sonne, and with him an hundreth and ten males.¹³ Of the last children of Adonicam, and these were their names: Eliphelet, Ieiel and Semaia, and with them thre score males.¹⁴ Of the children of Bigeuai, Vthai and Sabud, and with them seue males.¹⁵ And I gathered them together by the water that renneth towarde Aheua, & there abode we thre dayes, And whan I loked amonge the people & the prestes, I founde no Leuites there.¹⁶ The sent I Elieser, Ariel, Semaia, Elnathan, Iarib, Elnathan, Natha, Zachary and Mesullam the rulers, and Ioiarib and Elnathan the teachers,¹⁷ and those sent I vnto Iddo ye chefest at Casiphia, that they shulde fetch us mynysters for the house of oure God, and I tolde them what they shulde saye vnto Iddo and to his brethren the Nethinims at Casiphia.¹⁸ And (acordinge to the good hande of oure God vpon us) they broughte us a wyse man from amonge the children of Maheli the sonne of Leui the sonne of Israel, euen Serebia with his sonnes and brethren, eightene.¹⁹ And Hasabia, and with him Iesaia of the children of Merari, with his brethren & their sonnes, twentye.²⁰ And of the Nethinims, whom Dauid and the princes gaue to mynister vnto the Leuites, two hundreth & twentye, all named by name.

²¹ And euen there at the water besyde Aheua, caused I a fastinge to be proclamed, yt we mighte humble oure selues before oure God, to seke of him a righte waye for us, & oure children and all oure substaunce.²² For I was ashamed to require of the kynge, soudyers & horsmen, to helpe us agaynst the enemye in the waye. For we had sayde vnto the kynge: The hande of oure God is for the best vpon all them that seke him, and his violence and wrath vpon all them that forsake him.²³ So we fasted, and soughte this at oure God, and he herde us.

²⁴ And I toke out twolue of the chefe prestes, Serebia and Hasabia, and ten of their brethren with them,²⁵ and weyed them there the syluer and golde and vessels for the Heueofferinge vnto the house of oure God, which the kynge, and the lordes of his councell and prynces, and all Israel that were at hande, had geuen to the Heue offerynge:²⁶ and there weyed I them vnder their hande sixe hundreth and fiftye talentes of syluer, and in syluer vessell an hundreth talentes, and in golde an hundreth talentes,²⁷ twentye cuppes of golde of a thousande guldens, and two costly ornamentes of good brasse, as cleare as golde,²⁸ and sayde vnto them: Ye are holy vnto the LORDE, therfore are the vessels holy also, and so is the syluer and golde that is geuen of a good wyll vnto the LORDE God of youre fathers:²⁹ Watch ye therfore and kepe it, tyll ye weye it downe before the chefe prestes and Leuites, and awncient fathers of Israel at Ierusalem in the chestes of the house of the LORDE.³⁰ Then toke the prestes and Leuites that weyed syluer and golde & vessell, to brynge it to Ierusalem vnto ye house of oure God.

³¹ So we brake vp, from the water of Aheua on the twolueth daye of the first moneth, to go vnto Ierusalem: and the hande of oure God was vpon us, and delyuered us fro the hande of the enemies and preuy waytinges by the waye.³² And we came to Ierusalem, and abode there thre dayes.³³ But on ye fourth daye was the syluer and golde, and vessell weyed in the house of oure God vnder the hande of Meremoth the sonne of Vrias the prest, and with him Eleasar the sonne of Phineas, and with them Iosabad the sonne of Iesua, and Noadia ye sonne of Benui the Leuites,³⁴ acordinge to the nombre & weight of euery one. And the weight was all wrytten vp at the same tyme.³⁵ And the children of the captiuyte, which were come out of preson, offred burntofferinges vnto ye God of Israel: twolue bullockes for all Israel, sixe and nynetye rammes, seuen and seuentye lambes, and twolue goates for a synofferynge, all to the burnt offeringe of the LORDE.³⁶ And they delyuered the kynges commyssion vnto the kynges officers, & to the Debytes on this syde the water. And they promoted the people and the house of God.