These are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the
genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign
of Artaxerxes the king: Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the
sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush. Of the sons
of Shecaniah, who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, with whom
were registered 150 men. Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the
son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men. Of the sons of Zattu,
Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men. Of the sons of
Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men. Of the sons of
Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men. Of the
sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80
men. Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him
218 men. Of the sons of Bani, Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and
with him 160 men. Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of
Bebai, and with him 28 men. Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son
of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men. Of the sons of Adonikam, those
who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah,
and with them 60 men. Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and
with them 70 men.
I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we
camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I
found there none of the sons of Levi. Then I sent for Eliezer,
Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and
Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men
of insight, and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place
Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and the
temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers
for the house of our God. And by the good hand of our God on us,
they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son
of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen,
18; also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari,
with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; besides 220 of the temple
servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the
Levites. These were all mentioned by name.
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might
humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey
for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed
to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us
against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand
of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his
wrath is against all who forsake him.” So we fasted and implored
our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.
Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah,
Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. And I weighed out to
them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the
house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and
all Israel there present had offered. I weighed out into their hand
650 talents of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents, and
100 talents of gold, 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two
vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. And I said to
them, “You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy, and the
silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of
your fathers. Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before
the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses
in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the
LORD.” So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the
silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to
the house of our God.
Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the
first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and
he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the
way. We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. On the
fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold
and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest,
son of Uriah, 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. The whole was counted and weighed, and the
weight of everything was recorded.
At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned
exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls
for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin
offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the
LORD. They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's
satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and
they aided the people and the house of God.
