Ezra 8

1Now these are the heads of their fathers’houses, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:

1These are the leaders of the family groups and the list of those who traveled with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:

2Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.

2From the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom; from the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel; from the descendants of David, Hattush;

3Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males a hundred and fifty.

3from the descendants of Shecaniah, through the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him 150 men were officially listed;

4Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.

4from the descendants of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men;

5Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.

5from the descendants of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men;

6And of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.

6from the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men;

7And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.

7from the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;

8And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him fourscore males.

8from the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men;

9Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

9from the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men;

10And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and threescore males.

10from the descendants of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men;

11And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty and eight males.

11from the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men;

12And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred and ten males.

12from the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men;

13And of the sons of Adonikam, that were the last; and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them threescore males.

13from the last group of the descendants of Adonikam, Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men;

14And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.

14and from the descendants of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them 70 men.

15And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there we encamped three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.

15I gathered these people at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there for three days. When I checked the people and the priests, I didn't find any Levites there.

16Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, who were teachers.

16So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders; I also sent for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise teachers.

17And I sent them forth unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and his brethren the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.

17I sent them to Iddo, the leader at the place called Casiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his relatives, the temple servants at Casiphia, so they would send us ministers for the house of our God.

18And according to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;

18Because our God was being kind to us, they brought us Sherebiah, a wise man from the descendants of Mahli (who was a son of Levi and grandson of Israel). They also brought 18 of his sons and relatives;

19and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;

19and Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and 20 of his relatives and their sons.

20and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of them were mentioned by name.

20They also brought 220 temple servants. King David and his officials had originally appointed these workers to help the Levites. Each one was listed by name.

21Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

21There by the Ahava Canal, I announced a fast so that we would humble ourselves before our God. We prayed for him to give us a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our belongings.

22For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

22I was embarrassed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road. We had already told the king, 'Our God looks after everyone who trusts him, but his great power and anger are against those who abandon him.'

23So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.

23So we fasted and prayed to our God for protection, and he answered our prayer.

24Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

24Then I chose twelve of the leading priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their relatives—

25and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered:

25and I weighed out the silver, the gold, and the bowls. These were the gifts that the king, his advisors, his officials, and all the Israelites there had given for the house of our God.

26I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels a hundred talents; of gold a hundred talents;

26I weighed into their hands about 25 tons of silver, 3,750 pounds of silver items, and 3,750 pounds of gold.

27and twenty bowls of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold.

27I also gave them 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 gold coins, and two beautiful items of polished bronze that were as valuable as gold.

28And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto Jehovah, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill-offering unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers.

28I said to them, 'You are set apart for the LORD, and these items are holy. The silver and gold are voluntary gifts to the LORD, the God of your ancestors.

29Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers’ houses of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.

29Guard them carefully until you weigh them out before the leading priests, the Levites, and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem. You will do this in the storerooms of the LORD’s temple.'

30So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

30So the priests and Levites took charge of the silver, the gold, and the items that had been weighed, to carry them to the house of our God in Jerusalem.

31Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the lier-in-wait by the way.

31On the twelfth day of the first month, we left the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. Our God was with us and protected us from enemies and bandits along the way.

32And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.

32When we arrived in Jerusalem, we rested for three days.

33And 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 was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levites)—

33On the fourth day, we weighed out the silver, gold, and sacred items in the house of our God. We gave them to Meremoth son of Uriah the priest. With him were Eleazar son of Phinehas and the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.

34the whole by number and by weight: and all the weight was written at that time.

34Everything was counted and weighed, and the total weight was recorded right then.

35The children of the captivity, that were come out of exile, offered burnt-offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all this was a burnt-offering unto Jehovah.

35Then the people who had returned from captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They sacrificed 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and 12 male goats as a sin offering. All of this was a burnt offering to the LORD.

36And they delivered the king’s commissions unto the king’s satraps, and to the governors beyond the River: and they furthered the people and the house of God.

36They also delivered the king’s orders to the royal high officials and the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River. These officials then gave their support to the people and the house of God.