List of the Jews returning with Ezra
1 These are the heads of clans who set out from Babylon with me in the reign of King Artaxerxes – their predecessors are named:
2 Of the clan of Phinehas: Gershom; of the clan of Ithamar: Daniel; of the clan of David: Hattush
3 son of Seca niah; of the clan of Parosh: Zechariah, with whom one hundred and fifty males were registered;
4 of the clan of Pahath-moab: Elie hoenai, son of Zera hiah, and with him two hundred males;
5 of the clan of Zattu: She caniah, son of Ja ha ziel, and with him three hundred males;
6 of the clan of Adin: Ebed, son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males;
7 of the clan of Elam: Je shaiah, son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males;
8 of the clan of She pha tiah: Ze badiah, son of Michael, and with him eighty males;
9 of the clan of Joab: Oba diah, son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males;
10 of the clan of Bani: Shelomith, son of Josiphiah, and with him a hundred and sixty males;
11 of the clan of Bebai: Ze chari ah, son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males;
12 of the clan of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him a hundred and ten males;
13 of the clan of Adonikam: the younger sons, whose names are: Eliphe let, Jeiel and She maiah, and with them sixty males;
14 and of the clan of Bigvai: Uthai, son of Zabud, and with him seventy males.
15 I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we encamped for three days; and having searched among these people, I did not find anyone from the tribe of Levi.
16 Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, She maiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise.
17 I gave them orders con cerning Iddo, the leader who was in Casiphia; I gave them a message to relay to Iddo and his brothers, the helpers, in Casiphia, to send us ministers for the House of our God.
18 As the good hand of God was with us, they brought us Sherebiah, a very sensible man, of the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, and with him were his sons and his brothers, numbering eighteen;
19 Hashabiah and with him Isaiah of the sons of Merari, their brothers and their sons, twenty;
20 and of the helpers whom David and the leaders had placed at the service of the Levites, two hundred twenty-two men, all written down by name.
21 There at the banks of the river Ahava, I proclaimed a fast so we might humble ourselves before our God, to implore him for a safe journey for our selves, our children and our goods.
22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on the way, for we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is for good, upon all who seek him; and the power of his wrath upon all who abandon him.”
23 So we fasted and prayed to our God for this intention, and he listened to us.
24 I chose twelve of the leaders of the priests, besides Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their brothers.
25 I weighed out before them the silver and gold, the consecrated vessels given by the king, his counselors and his leaders, and by all the Israelites who were there, for the House of our God.
26 And I entrusted into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, silver vessels worth a hundred talents,
27 twenty bowls of gold worth a thousand darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as vessels of gold.
28 Then I said to them, “You are consecrated to Yahweh, these vessels are sa cred objects, and the silver and gold are voluntary offerings made to Yahweh, the God of our ancestors.
29 Take care of them and keep them until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests, the Levites and the families of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the House of Yahweh.”
30 Then, the priests and the Levites received all that we had weighed: the silver and gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the House of our God.
31 We left the banks of the river Ahava to go to Jerusalem on the twelfth day of the first month. The hand of God was with us and he kept us from all attacks and ambushes from enemies throughout our journey.
32 We arrived in Jerusalem where we rested for three days.
33 On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver, the gold, and the vessels were weighed into the hands of the priest Meremoth, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar, son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad, son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, son of Binnui.
34 After counting and weighing everything again, the total weight was written down.
35 The Jews who had returned from exile offered sacrifices to the God of Israel: twelve young bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin-offering, twelve he-goats. All these were burnt offerings to Yahweh.
36 And the decrees of the king were delivered to his governors and officials of the province beyond the River, who helped the people and the House of God.
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Comments Ezra, Chapter 8
• 8.21 Note this section where the strict master of the Law, Ezra, appears very human and likable.