Ezra 8

1 This is a list of the names of the leaders of the clans who came with me up [to Jerusalem] from Babylonia when Artaxerxes was the king [of Persia]:

These are now the chiefe fathers of them, and the genealogie of them that came vp with mee from Babel, in the reigne of King Artahshashte.

2 Gershom, from the clan descended from [Aaron’s grandson] Phinehas Daniel, from the clan descended from [Aaron’s son] Ithamar Hattush, the son of Shecaniah, from the clan descended from King David

Of the sonnes of Phinehas, Gershom: of the sonnes of Ithamar, Daniel: of the sonnes of Dauid, Hattush:

3 Zechariah and 150 [other] men from the clan descended from Parosh

Of the sonnes of Shechaniah, of the sonnes of Pharosh, Zechariah, and with him the count of the males, an hundreth and fiftie.

4 Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and 200 other men from the clan descended from Pahath-Moab

Of the sonnes of Pahath Moab, Elihoenai, the sonne of Zerahiah, and with him two hundreth males.

5 Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel and 300 other men from the clan descended from Zattu

Of the sonnes of Shechaniah, the sonne of Iahaziel, and with him three hundreth males.

6 Ebed the son of Jonathan and 50 other men from the clan descended from Adin

And of the sonnes of Adin, Ebed the sonne of Ionathan, and with him fiftie males.

7 Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and 70 other men from the clan descended from Elam

And of the sonnes of Elam, Ieshaiah the sonne of Athaliah, and with him seuentie males.

8 Zebadiah the son of Michael and 80 other men from the clan descended from Shephatiah

And of the sonnes of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the sonne of Michael, and with him fourescore males.

9 Obadiah the son of Jehiel and 218 other men from the clan descended from Joab

Of the sonnes of Ioab, Obadiah the sonne of Iehiel, and with him two hundreth and eighteene males.

10 Shelomith the son of Josiphiah and 160 other men from the clan descended from Bani

And of the sonnes of Shelomith the sonne of Iosiphiah, and with him an hundreth and threescore males.

11 Zechariah the son of Bebai and 28 other men from the clan descended from [another man whose name was] Bebai

And of the sonnes of Bebai, Zechariah the sonne of Bebai, and with him eight and twentie males.

12 Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 other men from the clan descended from Azgad

And of the sonnes of Azgad, Iohanan the sonne of Hakkatan, and with him an hundreth and ten males.

13 Also Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, who returned [here] later with 60 men from the clan descended from Adonikam

And of the sonnes of Adonikam, that were the last, whose names are these: Eliphelet, Iehiel and Shemaiah, and with them three score males.

14 And Uthai and Zaccur and 70 other men from the clan descended from Bigvai.

And of the sonnes of Biguai, Vthai, and Zabbud, and with them seuentie males.

15 I gathered all of them together at the canal that goes [from Babylon] to Ahava [town]. We set up our tents there and stayed there for three days. [During that time] I checked the lists of names and found out that there were priests [going with us], but no [other] descendants of Levi [who could help them in the temple].

And I gathered them to the Riuer that goeth toward Ahaua, and there abode we three dayes: then I viewed the people, and the Priests, and found there none of the sonnes of Leui.

16 So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, two men whose names were Elnathan, and Jarib, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were all leaders [of the people]. I also summoned Joiarib and another Elnathan, who were wise.

Therefore sent I to Eliezer, to Ariel, to Shemeiah, and to Elnathan, and to Iarib, and to Elnathan, and to Nathan, and to Zechariah, and to Meshullam the chiefe, and to Ioiarib and to Elnathan, men of vnderstanding,

17 I sent them all to Iddo, the leader of the descendants of Levi, who was living in Casiphia [town], to request that he and his relatives and other men who had worked in the temple send to us some men who would [go/come with us to] work in God’s new temple [in Jerusalem].

And I gaue them commandement, to Iddo the chiefest at the place of Casiphia, and I told them the words that they should speake to Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims at the place of Casiphia, that they should cause the ministers of the house of our God to come vnto vs.

18 Because God was kind to us, they brought to us a man named Sherebiah and 18 of his sons and other relatives. Sherebiah was a very wise man, a descendant of Mahli, [who was a grandson] of Levi.

So by the good hande of our God which was vpon vs, they brought vs a man of vnderstanding of the sonnes of Mahali the sonne of Leui the sonne of Israel, and Sherebiah with his sonnes and his brethren, euen eighteene.

19 They also sent to us Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, descendants of [Levi’s son] Merari, and 20 of their relatives.

Also Hashabiah, and with him Ieshaiah of the sonnes of Merari, with his brethren, and their sonnes twentie.

20 They also sent 220 other men to work in the temple. Those men’s ancestors had been appointed by King David to assist the descendants of Levi [who helped the priests in the temple]. I listed/wrote the names of all those men.

And of the Nethinims, whom Dauid had set, and the Princes for the seruice of the Leuites, two hundreth and twentie of the Nethinims, which all were named by name.

21 There alongside the Ahava Canal, I told them that we all would (fast/abstain from eating food) and pray. I also told them that we should humble ourselves in the presence of our God. We prayed that God would protect us while we traveled, and also protect our children and our possessions/belongings.

And there at the Riuer, by Ahaua, I proclaimed a fast, that we might humble our selues before our God, and seeke of him a right way for vs, and for our children, and for all our substance.

22 Previously we had told the king that our God takes care of all those who truly trust in him, but that he becomes very angry with those who refuse to obey him. So I would have been ashamed if I had asked the king to send soldiers and men riding on horses to protect us from our enemies while we were traveling along the road.

For I was ashamed to require of the King an armie and horsemen, to helpe vs against the enemie in the way, because we had spoken to the King, saying, The hande of our God is vpon all them that seeke him in goodnesse, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

23 So we (fasted/abstained from eating food) and requested God to protect us, and he (answered our prayers/did what we requested.)

So we fasted, aud besought our God for this: and he was intreated of vs.

24 I chose twelve of the leaders of the priests, Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their relatives.

Then I separated twelue of the chiefe of the Priests, Sherebiah, and Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

25 I appointed them to supervise carrying to Jerusalem the gifts of silver and gold and the other valuable items that the king and his advisors and other officials, and the Israeli people [who were living in Babylonia], had contributed for the temple of our God.

And weighed them the siluer and the gold, and the vessels, euen the offring of ye house of our God, which the King and his counselers, and his Princes, and all Israel that were present had offred.

26 As I gave these various items to those priests, I weighed each of the items. This was the total: 25 tons of silver, 100 items made from silver that altogether weighed 7,500 pounds, (7,500 pounds/3,400 kg.) of gold,

And I weighed vnto their hand sixe hundreth and fiftie talents of siluer, and in siluer vessel, an hundreth talents, and in golde, an hundreth talents:

27 20 gold bowls that altogether weighed (19 pounds/8.6 kg.), and two items made of polished bronze that were as valuable as ones made of gold.

And twentie basins of golde, of a thousand drammes, and two vessels of shining brasse very good, and precious as golde.

28 I said to those priests, “You belong to Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors (worshiped/also belonged to), and these valuable things also belong to him. The people themselves gave these things to be offerings to Yahweh (voluntarily/because they wanted to).

And I said vnto them, Ye are consecrate vnto the Lord, and the vessels are consecrate, and the gold and the siluer are freely offred vnto the Lord God of your fathers.

29 So guard them carefully, and [when we arrive] in Jerusalem, weigh them in the presence of the priests, the descendants of Levi [who will help the priests], and the other Israeli leaders there. They will then put them in the storerooms in the new temple.”

Watch ye, and keepe them vntill ye weigh them before the chiefe Priestes and the Leuites, and the chiefe fathers of Israel in Ierusalem in the chambers of the house of the Lord.

30 So the priests and [other] descendants of Levi took from me all the gifts of silver and gold and the other valuable items, in order to carry them to the temple in Jerusalem.

So the Priests and the Leuites receiued the weight of the siluer and of the golde, and of the vessels to bring them to Ierusalem, vnto the house of our God.

31 On April 19, we left the Ahava Canal and started to travel to Jerusalem. Our God took care of us, and while we traveled, he prevented our enemies and bandits from (ambushing us/suddenly attacking us).

Then we departed from the Riuer of Ahauah on the twelft day of the first moneth, to go vnto Ierusalem, and the hand of our God was vpon vs, and deliuered vs from the hand of the enemie, and of such as layde waite by the way.

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

And we came to Ierusalem, and abode there three dayes.

33 Then on the fourth/next day we went to the temple. There the silver and gold and the other items were weighed and given to the priest Meremoth, the son of Uriah. Eleazar the son of Phinehas and two descendants of Levi, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui, were with him.

And on ye fourth day was the siluer weighed, and the golde and the vessell in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the sonne of Vriah the Priest, and with him was Eleazar the sonne of Phinehas, and with them was Iozabad the sonne of Ieshua, and Noadiah the sonne of Binnui the Leuites,

34 They counted everything, and wrote down how much they weighed, and wrote [a description of] each item.

By number and by weight of euery one, and all the weight was written at the same time.

35 We who had returned from Babylonia offered to God sacrifices on the altar. We offered twelve bulls for all us Israeli people. We also offered 96 rams and 27 lambs. We also sacrificed twelve goats [to atone] for the sins that all the people had committed. These were all completely burned on the altar.

Also the children of the captiuitie, which were come out of captiuitie, offred burnt offrings vnto the God of Israel, twelue bullockes for all Israel, ninetie and sixe rammes, seuentie and seuen lambes, and twelue hee goates for sinne: all was a burnt offring of the Lord.

36 Some of us who returned [from Babylonia] took to the governors and other officials of the province west of the [Euphrates] River the letter that the king had given to us. [After they read the letter, ] they did all [that they were able to do] for us Israeli people and for the temple of God.

And they deliuered the Kings commission vnto the Kings officers, and to the captaines beyond the Riuer: and they promoted the people, and the house of God.