EZRA 8

1 These are the heads of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Baḇel, in the reign of Sovereign Artaḥshashta:

2 of the sons of Phineḥas, Gĕreshom; of the sons of Ithamar, Dani’ĕl; of the sons of Dawiḏ, Ḥattush;

3 of the sons of Sheḵanyah, of the sons of Parosh, Zeḵaryah, and registered with him were one hundred and fifty males;

4 of the sons of Paḥath-Mo’aḇ, Elyaho’ĕynai son of Zeḥaryah, and with him two hundred males;

5 of the sons of Sheḵanyah, son of Yaḥazi’ĕl, and with him three hundred males;

6 and of the sons of Aḏin, Eḇeḏ son of Yahonathan, and with him fifty males;

7 and of the sons of Ĕylam, Yeshayah son of Athalyah, and with him seventy males;

8 and of the sons of Shephatyah, Zeḇaḏyah son of Miḵa’ĕl, and with him eighty males;

9 of the sons of Yo’aḇ, Oḇaḏyah son of Yeḥi’ĕl, and with him two hundred and eighteen males;

10 and of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Yosiphyah, and with him one hundred and sixty males;

11 and of the sons of Bĕḇai, Zeḵaryah son of Bĕḇai, and with him twenty-eight males;

12 and of the sons of Azgaḏ, Yoḥanan son of Haqqatan, and with him one hundred and ten males;

13 and of the last sons of Aḏoniqam, whose names are these; Eliphelet, Ye’i’ĕl, and Shemayah, and with them sixty males;

14 and of the sons of Biḡwai, Uthai and Zabbuḏ, and with them seventy males.

15 And I assembled them at the river that flows to Ahawa, and we camped there three days. And I looked among the people and the kohenim, and did not find any of the sons of Lĕwi there.

16 Then I sent for Eli’ezer, for Ari’ĕl, for Shemayah, and for Elnathan, and for Yariḇ, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zeḵaryah, and for Meshullam, leaders – also for Yoyariḇ and Elnathan, men of understanding.

17 And I gave them a command for Iddo the chief man at the place Kasiphya, and put in their mouth words to speak to Iddo and his brothers the Nethinim at the place Kasiphya, to bring us servants for the House of our Elohim.

18 Then, by the good hand of our Elohim upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Maḥli son of Lĕwi, son of Yisra’ĕl, and Shĕrĕḇyah, with his sons and brothers, eighteen;

19 and Ḥashaḇyah, and with him Yeshayah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty;

20 and of the Nethinim, whom Dawiḏ and the leaders had appointed for the service of the Lĕwites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them designated by name.

21 I then proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahawa, to humble ourselves before our Elohim, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions,

22 for I was ashamed to ask of the sovereign a group of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the sovereign, saying, “The hand of our Elohim is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.”

23 So we fasted and prayed to our Elohim for this, and He answered our prayer.

24 And I separated twelve of the leaders of the kohenim: Shĕrĕḇyah, Ḥashaḇyah, and ten of their brothers with them;

25 and weighed out to them the silver, and the gold, and the utensils, the contribution for the House of our Elohim which the sovereign and his counsellors and his heads, and all Yisra’ĕl who were there, had presented.

26 Thus I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty kiḵars of silver, and silver objects of one hundred kiḵars, one hundred kiḵars of gold,

27 and twenty gold basins of a thousand draḵmas, and two utensils of fine polished bronze, precious as gold.

28 And I said to them, “You are qodesh to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and the objects are qodesh. And the silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 Elohim of your fathers.

29 “Watch and guard them until you weigh them before the leaders of the kohenim and the Lĕwites and heads of the fathers’ houses of Yisra’ĕl in Yerushalayim, in the rooms of the House of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.”

30 So the kohenim and the Lĕwites took the weight of the silver and the gold and the utensils, to bring them to Yerushalayim to the House of our Elohim.

31 Then we departed from the Ahawa River on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Yerushalayim. And the hand of our Elohim was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the way.

32 And when we came to Yerushalayim, we dwelt there three days.

33 And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the utensils were weighed in the House of our Elohim by the hand of Merĕmoth son of Uriyah the kohĕn, and with him was El’azar son of Pineḥas. And with them were the Lĕwites, Yozaḇaḏ son of Yĕshua and No’aḏyah son of Binnui,

34 with the number and weight of all. And all the weight was written down at that time.

35 The sons of the exile, who had come from the captivity, brought burnt offerings to the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl: twelve bulls for all Yisra’ĕl, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering – all as a burnt offering to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.

36 And they gave the sovereign’s orders to the sovereign’s viceroys and the governors beyond the River. And they lifted up the people and the House of Elohim.