Ezra and Nehemiah 8
1 And these
are the heads of their families, the leaders that
went up with me in the reign of Arthasastha the king of Babylon.
2 Of the sons of Phinees; Gerson: of
the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David; Attus.
3 Of the sons of Sachania, and of the
sons of Phoros; Zacharias: and with him a company
of a hundred and fifty.
4 Of the sons of Phaath-Moab; Eliana
the son of Saraia, and with him two hundred that were males.
5 And of the sons of Zathoes;
Sechenias the son of Aziel, and with him three hundred males.
6 And of the sons of Adin; Obeth the
son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.
7 And of the sons of Elam; Isæas the
son of Athelia, and with him seventy males.
8 And of the sons of Saphatia;
Zabadias the son of Michael, and with him eighty males.
9 And of the sons of Joab; Abadia the
son of Jeiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
10 And of the sons of Baani; Selimuth
the son of Josephia, and with him a hundred and sixty males.
11 And of the sons of Babi; Zacharias
the son of Babi, and with him twenty-eight males.
12 And of the sons of Asgad; Joanan
the son of Accatan, and with him a hundred and ten males.
13 And of the sons of Adonicam
were the last, and these
were their names, Eliphalat, Jeel, and Samæa, and
with them sixty males. 14 And of the
sons of Baguæ, Uthai, and Zabud, and with him seventy males.
15 And I gathered them to the river
that comes to Evi, and we encamped there three days: and I reviewed the people
and the priests, and found none of the sons of Levi there.
16 And I sent men of understanding to
Eleazar, to Ariel, to Semeias, and to Alonam, and to Jarib, and to Elnatham,
and to Nathan, and to Zacharias, and to Mesollam, and to Joarim, and to
Elnathan. 17 And I forwarded them to
the rulers with the money of the place, and I put words in their mouth to
speak to their brethren the Athinim with the money of the place, that they
should bring us singers for the house of our God.
18 And they came to us, as the good
hand of our God was upon us, even a man of understanding of the sons of Mooli,
the son of Levi, the son of Israel, and at the commencement came his sons and
his brethren, eighteen. 19 And
Asebia, and Isaia of the sons of Merari, his brethren and his sons, twenty.
20 And of the Nathinim, whom David
and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites
there were two hundred and twenty Nathinim; all were
gathered by their names.
21 And I proclaimed there a fast, at
the river Aüe, that we should humble ourselves before
our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our children, and for
all our property. 22 For I was
ashamed to ask of the king a guard and horsemen to save us from the enemy in
the way: for we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God
is upon all that seek him, for good; but his power
and his wrath are upon all that forsake him.
23 So we fasted, and asked of our God
concerning this; and he hearkened to us.
24 And I gave charge to twelve of the
chiefs of the priests, to Saraia, to Asabia, and ten of their brethren with
them. 25 And I weighed to them the
silver, and the gold, and the vessels of the first-fruits of the house of our
God, which the king, and his councillors, and his princes, and all Israel that
were found, had dedicated. 26 I even
weighed into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and a
hundred silver vessels, and a hundred talents of gold;
27 and twenty golden bowls,
weighing about a thousand drachms, and superior
vessels of fine shining brass, precious as gold.
28 And I said to them, Ye
are holy to the Lord; and the vessels
are holy; and the silver and the gold are
freewill-offerings to the Lord God of our fathers.
29 Be watchful and keep them, until
ye weigh them before the chief priests and the
Levites, and the chiefs of families in Jerusalem, at the chambers of the house
of the Lord. 30 So the priests and
the Levites took the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to
bring to Jerusalem into the house of our God.
31 And we departed from the river of
Aüe on the twelfth day of the first month, to come to Jerusalem: and the hand
of our God was upon us, and delivered us from the hand of the enemy and
adversary in the way. 32 And we came
to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
33 And it came to pass on the fourth
day that we weighed the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, in the house of
our God, into the hand of Merimoth the son of Uria the priest; and with him
was Eleazar the son of Phinees, and with them Jozabad
the son of Jesus, and Noadia the son of Banaia, the Levites.
34 All things
were reckoned by number and weight, and the whole
weight was written down.
35 At that time the children of the
banishment that came from the captivity offered whole-burnt-offerings to the
God of Israel, twelve calves for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven
lambs, twelve goats for a sin-offering: all whole-burnt-offerings to the Lord.
36 And they gave the king's mandate
to the king's lieutenants, and the governors beyond the river: and they
honoured the people and the house of God.