Chapter 8
1 Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king :
2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.
3 Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were listed by genealogy of the males one hundred and fifty.
4 Of the sons of Pahathmoab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.
5 Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.
6 Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.
7 Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.
8 Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him eighty males.
9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
10 Of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him one hundred and sixty males.
11 Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males.
12 Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him one hundred and ten males.
13 Of the sons of Adonikam, who were the last, their names are: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males.
14 Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.
15 I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava; and there we encamped three days . Then I looked around at the people and the priests , and found there were none of the sons of Levi .
16 Then I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah , for Elnathan, for Jarib , for Elnathan, for Nathan , for Zechariah , and for Meshullam , chief men ; also for Joiarib and for Elnathan, who were teachers.
17 I sent them out to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia ; and I told them what they should tell Iddo and his brothers the temple servants at the place Casiphia , that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.
18 According to the good hand of our God on us they brought us a man of discretion , of the sons of Mahli , the son of Levi , the son of Israel , namely Sherebiah , with 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 of the temple servants , whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites , two hundred and twenty temple servants . All of them were mentioned by name .
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for us , for our little ones , and for all our possessions .
22 For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way , because we had spoken to the king , saying, " The hand of our God is on all those who seek him , for good ; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him ."
23 So we fasted and begged our God for this , and he granted our request .
24 Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests , even Sherebiah , Hashabiah , and ten of their brothers with them ,
25 and weighed to them the silver , the gold , and the vessels , even the offering for the house of our God, which the king , his counsellors , his princes , and all Israel there present , had offered .
26 I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver , one hundred talents of silver vessels , one hundred talents of gold ,
27 twenty bowls of gold weighing one thousand darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze , precious as gold .
28 I said to them , "You are holy to the LORD , and the vessels are holy . The silver and the gold are a free will offering to the LORD , the God of your fathers.
29 Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the chiefs of the priests , the Levites , and the princes of the fathers’ households of Israel at Jerusalem , in the rooms of the LORD ’s house ."
30 So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver , the gold , and the vessels , to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
31 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 the bandits by the way .
32 We came to Jerusalem , and stayed there three days .
33 On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest ; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas ; and with them were Jozabad the son of Jeshua , and Noadiah the son of Binnui , the Levites .
34 Everything was counted and weighed ; and all the weight was written at that time .
35 The children of the captivity , who had come out of exile , offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel : twelve bulls for all Israel , ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs , and twelve male goats for a sin offering . All this was a burnt offering to the LORD .
36 They delivered the king ’s commissions to the king ’s local governors and to the governors beyond the River . So they supported the people and God ’s house .