Leaders Who Returned with Ezra

8 These are the leaders of the family groups who returned with me. And it is a listing of those who were with them. They came back from Babylon during the rule of King Artaxerxes.

² From the descendants of Phinehas, there was Gershom.

From the descendants of Ithamar, there was Daniel.

From the descendants of David, there was Hattush ³ of the descendants of Shecaniah.

From the descendants of Parosh, there was Zechariah. And 150 men came with him.

⁴ From the descendants of Pahath-Moab, there was Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, with 200 men.

⁵ From the descendants of Zattu, there was Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, with 300 men.

⁶ From the descendants of Adin, there was Ebed son of Jonathan, with 50 men.

⁷ From the descendants of Elam, there was Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, with 70 men.

⁸ From the descendants of Shephatiah, there was Zebadiah son of Michael, with 80 men.

⁹ From the descendants of Joab, there was Obadiah son of Jehiel, with 218 men.

¹⁰ From the descendants of Bani, there was Shelomith son of Josiphiah, with 160 men.

¹¹ From the descendants of Bebai, there was Zechariah son of Bebai, with 28 men.

¹² From the descendants of Azgad, there was Johanan son of Hakkatan, with 110 men.

¹³ From the descendants of Adonikam, these were the last ones: Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah. With them were 60 men.

¹⁴ From the descendants of Bigvai, there were Uthai and Zaccur, with 70 men.

The Return to Jerusalem

¹⁵ I, Ezra, called all those people together at the canal. It flows toward Ahava. We camped there for three days. I checked all the people and the priests. But I did not find any Levites. ¹⁶ So I called these leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam. And I called Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers. ¹⁷ I sent those men to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his relatives, who are the Temple servants in Casiphia. I sent them to bring servants to us for the Temple of our God. ¹⁸ Our God was helping us. So Iddo’s relatives gave us Sherebiah, a wise man from the descendants of Mahli. Mahli was the son of Levi. And Levi was the son of Israel. And they brought Sherebiah’s sons and brothers. In all there were 18 men. ¹⁹ And they brought to us Hashabiah and Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari. And they also brought his brothers and nephews. In all there were 20 men. ²⁰ They also brought 220 of the Temple servants. This is a group David and the officers had set up to help the Levites. All of those men were listed by name.

²¹ There by the Ahava Canal, I announced we would all give up eating. We would make ourselves humble before our God. And we would ask God for a safe trip for ourselves, our children and all our possessions. ²² I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen. They could have protected us from enemies on the road. But we had said to the king, “Our God helps everyone who obeys him. But God is very angry with all who reject him.” ²³ So we gave up eating and prayed to our God about our trip. He answered our prayers.

²⁴ Then I chose 12 of the priests who were leaders. They were Sherebiah and Hashabiah and 10 of their relatives. ²⁵ I weighed the offering of silver and gold. And I weighed the things given for the Temple of our God. I gave them to the 12 priests I had chosen. The king, the people who advised him, his officers and all the Israelites there with us had given these things for the Temple. ²⁶ I weighed out and gave them about 50,000 pounds of silver, about 7,500 pounds of silver objects and about 7,500 pounds of gold. ²⁷ I gave them 20 gold bowls that weighed about 19 pounds. And I gave them 2 fine pieces of polished bronze that were as valuable as gold.

²⁸ Then I said to the priests, “You and these things belong to the Lord for his service. The silver and gold are gifts to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. ²⁹ Guard these things carefully. In Jerusalem, weigh them in front of the leading priests, Levites and the leaders of the family groups of Israel. Do this in the rooms of the Temple of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and Levites took the silver, the gold and the special things that had been weighed out. They were to take them to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem.

³¹ On the twelfth day of the first month we left the Ahava Canal. We started toward Jerusalem. Our God helped us. He protected us from enemies and robbers along the way. ³² Then we arrived in Jerusalem. We rested there three days.

³³ On the fourth day we weighed out the silver, the gold and the special things in the Temple of our God. We handed them to the priest Meremoth son of Uriah. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with Meremoth. Also the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui were with them. ³⁴ We checked everything by number and by weight. And the total weight was written down at that time.

³⁵ Then the captives who returned made burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They sacrificed 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 male sheep and 77 male lambs. All these animals were burned as sacrifices to the Lord. For a sin offering to the Lord there were 12 male goats. ³⁶ They took King Artaxerxes’ orders to the royal officers and to the governors west of the Euphrates. Then these men gave help to the people and the Temple of God.