The Book of Ezra

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 8 -

These are the family heads and genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:

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

of the descendants of Shecaniah; from the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men;

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

from the descendants of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel,(a) and with him 300 men;

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

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

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

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

from the descendants of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah,(b) and with him 160 men;

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

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

from the later (c) descendants of Adonikam, these were their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men;

and from the descendants of Bigvai, both Uthai and Zaccur,(d) and with them 70 men.

Ezra Sends for the Levites

Now I assembled these exiles at the canal that flows to Ahava, and we camped there three days. And when I searched among the people and priests, I found no Levites there.

Then I summoned the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan,(e) Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, as well as the teachers Joiarib and Elnathan.

And I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia, with a message for him and his kinsmen, the temple servants

(f)

at Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.

And since the gracious hand of our God was upon us, they brought us Sherebiah—a man of insight from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel—along with his sons and brothers, 18 men;

also Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah, from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, 20 men.

They also brought 220 of the temple servants, all designated by name. David and the officials had appointed them to assist the Levites.

Fasting for Protection

And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.

For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.”

So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He granted our request.

Priests to Guard the Offerings

Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, together with Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers,

and I weighed out to them the contribution of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites there had offered for the house of our God.

I weighed out into their hands 650 talents of silver,(g) articles of silver weighing 100 talents,(h) 100 talents of gold,(i)

20 gold bowls valued at 1,000 darics,(j) and two articles of fine polished bronze, as precious as gold.

Then I told them, “You are holy to the LORD, and these articles are holy. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.

Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the LORD in Jerusalem before the leading priests, Levites, and heads of the Israelite families.”

So the priests and Levites took charge of the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.

On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us to protect us from the hands of the enemies and bandits along the way.

Arrival in Jerusalem

So we arrived at Jerusalem and rested there for three days.

On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and sacred articles into the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, along with the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.

Everything was verified by number and weight, and the total weight was recorded at that time.

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

They also delivered the king’s edicts to the royal satraps (k) and governors of the region west of the Euphrates,(l) who proceeded to assist the people and the house of God.

Footnotes

(a)8:5 Some LXX manuscripts (see also 1 Esdras 8:32); Hebrew from the descendants of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel

(b)8:10 Some LXX manuscripts (see also 1 Esdras 8:36); Hebrew from the descendants of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah

(d)8:14 LXX, Syriac, and an alternate MT reading; the other alternate reads Zabbud.

(e)8:16 Elnathan appears three times in verse, either as a repetition for emphasis or as a record of multiple men with this name.

(f)8:17 Hebrew the Nethinim; also in verse 20

(g)8:26 650 talents is approximately 24.5 tons or 22.2 metric tons of silver.

(h)8:26 100 talents is approximately 3.77 tons or 3.42 metric tons of silver articles.

(i)8:26 100 talents is approximately 3.77 tons or 3.42 metric tons of gold.

(j)8:27 Or worth 1,000 drachmas; that is, approximately 18.5 pounds or 8.4 kilograms of gold

(k)8:36 A satrap was a Persian official.

(l)8:36 Hebrew governors beyond the River

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:

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

Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were listed by genealogy of the males one hundred fifty.

Of the sons of Pahathmoab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.

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

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

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

Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him eighty males.

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

Of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him one hundred sixty males.

Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males.

Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him one hundred ten males.

Of the sons of Adonikam, who were the last, their names are: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males.

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

Ezra Sends for the Levites

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.

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.

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.

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;

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

and of the temple servants, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred twenty temple servants. All of them were mentioned by name.

Fasting for Protection

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.

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.”

So we fasted and begged our God for this, and he granted our request.

Priests to Guard the Offerings

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

and weighed to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, his counselors, his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered.

I weighed into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver,(a) one hundred talents of silver vessels, one hundred talents of gold,

twenty bowls of gold weighing one thousand darics,(b) and two vessels of fine bright bronze, precious as gold.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

Arrival in Jerusalem

We came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days.

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.

Everything was counted and weighed; and all the weight was written at that time.

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.

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.

Footnotes

(a)8:26 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces

(b)8:27 a daric was a gold coin issued by a Persian king, weighing about 8.4 grams or about 0.27 troy ounces each.