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Families Who Returned

¹ These are the leaders of family groups and the family names of those who went up with me from Babylon during the rule of King Artaxerxes: ² there was Gershom of the sons of Phinehas, Daniel of the sons of Ithamar, and from the house of David, Hattush, ³ the son of Shecaniah. There was Zechariah of the sons of Parosh, and with him were 150 men whose family names were written down. ⁴ Of the sons of Pahath-moab, there was Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and 200 men with him. ⁵ Of the sons of Zattu, there was Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and 300 men with him. ⁶ Of the sons of Adin, there was Ebed the son of Jonathan, and fifty men with him. ⁷ Of the sons of Elam, there was Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and seventy men with him. ⁸ Of the sons of Shephatiah, there was Zebadiah the son of Michael, and eighty men with him. ⁹ Of the sons of Joab, there was Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and 218 men with him. ¹⁰ Of the sons of Shelomith there was the son of Josiphiah, and 160 men with him. ¹¹ Of the sons of Bebai, there was Zechariah the son of Bebai, and twenty-eight men with him. ¹² Of the sons of Azgad, there was Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and 110 men with him. ¹³ Of the sons of Adonikam, the last to come, there were Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and sixty men with them. ¹⁴ Of the sons of Bigvai, there were Uthai and Zabbud, and seventy men with them.

Ezra Finds Levites for the House of God

¹⁵ I gathered them at the river that flows to Ahava, where we had our camp for three days. When I saw the people and the religious leaders, I did not find any Levites there. ¹⁶ So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers. ¹⁷ I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his brothers, servants in the house of worship at Casiphia. They were to bring men to us to care for the house of our God. ¹⁸ And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of wisdom, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. His name is Sherebiah, and with him came his sons and brothers, eighteen men. ¹⁹ They also brought Hashabiah and Jeshaiah of the sons of Morari, with his brothers and their sons, twenty men. ²⁰ They brought 220 men to work in the house of God, whom David and the leaders had chosen to help the Levites. All of them were chosen by name.

The People Pray

²¹ Then I set apart a time there at the river of Ahava when we would not eat any food. This was so we might put away our pride before our God, and pray that He would keep us and our children and all our things safe as we traveled. ²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to keep us safe from those who hate us on the way, because we had said to the king, "The hand of our God brings good to all who look for Him. But His power and His anger are against all who turn away from Him." ²³ So we did not eat, and prayed to God about this. And He listened to our prayer.

Gifts for the House of God

²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the head religious leaders: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers. ²⁵ And I weighed and gave to them the silver, the gold and the dishes and objects, which had been given for the house of our God by the king and his wise men and leaders, and all the people of Israel who were there. ²⁶ I gave them silver weighing as much as 650 men, silver dishes and objects weighing as much as 100 men, and gold weighing as much as 100 men. ²⁷ I gave them twenty deep, gold dishes, worth 1,000 gold-pieces, and two pots of fine shining brass, worth as much as gold. ²⁸ Then I said to them, "You are holy to the Lord, and these objects are holy. The silver and the gold are a free-will gift to the Lord God of your fathers. ²⁹ Watch and keep them until you weigh them in front of the head religious leaders, the Levites, and the heads of the family groups of Israel at Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord." ³⁰ So the religious leaders and the Levites took the weight of silver and gold and objects, to bring them to the house of our God at Jerusalem.

³¹ Then we left the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. And God helped us and kept us safe from those who hated us and from those who hid waiting to fight us on the way. ³² We came to Jerusalem and stayed there for three days. ³³ On the fourth day the silver and gold and objects were weighed in the house of our God and given to Meremoth the son of Uriah the religious leader. 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.

³⁵ The people who had returned from Babylon gave burnt gifts in worship to the God of Israel. They gave 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and 12 male goats for a sin gift. All this was a burnt gift to the Lord. ³⁶ Then they let the king's rulers and leaders in the lands on the other side of the River know what the king said for them to do. And they helped the people and the house of God.