Ezra 8

These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.

1These are the family leaders who came with me from Babylon. Their family lists are written here. Artaxerxes was king at that time.

2Of the sons of Phinehas; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David; Hattush.

2From the family of Phinehas came Gershom. From the family of Ithamar came Daniel. From the family of David came Hattush.

3Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.

3Hattush came from the family of Shecaniah. From the family of Parosh came Zechariah. With him were 150 men on the list.

4Of the sons of Pahathmoab; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.

4From the family of Pahath-moab came Eliehoenai, the son of Zerahiah. He brought 200 men with him.

5Of the sons of Shechaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.

5From the family of Shecaniah came the son of Jahaziel. He brought 300 men with him.

6Of the sons also of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.

6From the family of Adin came Ebed, the son of Jonathan. He brought 50 men with him.

7And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.

7From the family of Elam came Jeshaiah, the son of Athaliah. He brought 70 men with him.

8And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males.

8From the family of Shephatiah came Zebadiah, the son of Michael. He brought 80 men with him.

9Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

9From the family of Joab came Obadiah, the son of Jehiel. He brought 218 men with him.

10And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males.

10From the family of Shelomith came the son of Josiphiah. He brought 160 men with him.

11And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males.

11From the family of Bebai came Zechariah, the son of Bebai. He brought 28 men with him.

12And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten males.

12From the family of Azgad came Johanan, the son of Hakkatan. He brought 110 men with him.

13And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males.

13From the later family of Adonikam came three men. Their names were Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah. They brought 60 men with them.

14Of the sons also of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.

14From the family of Bigvai came Uthai and Zabbud. They brought 70 men with them.

15And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.

15I gathered them all at the canal that flows to Ahava. We camped in tents there for three days. I looked over the people and the priests. I found no Levites there. Levites were men from the family of Levi who helped at God's house.

16Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.

16So I sent for some leaders. They were Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam. I also sent for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers.

17And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.

17I sent them to Iddo, the leader at a place called Casiphia. I told them exactly what to say to Iddo. They were also to speak to his relatives, the temple servants there. They were to ask them to send us men to serve at God's house.

18And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;

18God was kind to us, so they brought us a wise man named Sherebiah. He came from the family of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. Sherebiah brought his sons and his brothers, 18 men in all.

19And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;

19They also brought Hashabiah and Jeshaiah, from the family of Merari. Their brothers and their sons came too, 20 men in all.

20Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.

20They also brought 220 temple servants. Long ago David and his officials had chosen these men to help the Levites. Every one of them was written down by name.

21Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

21There by the Ahava canal I called for a fast. A fast means going without food while you pray. We wanted to be humble before our God. We asked him to keep us safe on the road. We asked this for ourselves, our children, and everything we owned.

22For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

22I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to guard us on the road. We had already told the king that our God helps everyone who looks for him. We had also said that he is angry with all who turn away from him.

23So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.

23So we went without food and prayed about this. And God answered our prayer.

24Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

24Then I chose twelve of the leading priests. Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their relatives were with them.

25And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:

25I weighed out the silver, the gold, and the special dishes and set them in their care. All of it was a gift for the house of our God. The king, his advisers, his officials, and all the Israelites there had given it.

26I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;

26I weighed out into their hands 650 talents of silver. I also gave them silver dishes weighing 100 talents, and 100 talents of gold.

NoteA talent was a large weight, about 75 pounds. So this was a very large amount of silver and gold.

27Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.

27There were also twenty gold bowls worth 1,000 gold coins. And there were two dishes of fine polished bronze, as precious as gold.

NoteThe KJV says "drams," which means gold coins called darics. It also says "fine copper," which means polished bronze.

28And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers.

28Then I said to them, "You are set apart for the LORD. These dishes are set apart too. The silver and the gold are a gift freely given to the LORD, the God of your fathers.

29Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.

29Guard all of it carefully. Keep it until you weigh it out in Jerusalem. Weigh it in the rooms of the LORD's house. Do it in front of the leading priests, the Levites, and the family leaders of Israel."

30So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

30So the priests and the Levites took the silver, the gold, and the dishes that had been weighed. They would carry them to the house of our God in Jerusalem.

31Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.

31We left the Ahava canal on the twelfth day of the first month. We set out for Jerusalem. Our God took care of us on the way. He kept us safe from enemies and from robbers hiding along the road.

32And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.

32We came to Jerusalem. We rested there for three days.

33Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites;

33On the fourth day we weighed the silver, the gold, and the dishes in God's house. We handed them to Meremoth, son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar, son of Phinehas, was with him. So were two Levites, Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.

34By number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.

34Everything was counted and weighed, piece by piece. The whole weight was written down right then.

35Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD.

35The people who had come home from being prisoners gave burnt offerings to the God of Israel. Burnt offerings are animals burned on an altar as a gift to God. They gave 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, and 77 lambs. They also gave 12 male goats as a sin offering, a gift to ask God's forgiveness. All of it was burned as a gift to the LORD.

36And they delivered the king’s commissions unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the house of God.

36They also handed the king's written orders to his officers and governors in that land. Those leaders then helped the people and helped with the work on God's house.

NoteThe KJV says "on this side the river." The river is the Euphrates, and this means the land west of it.