Genealogy of Those Who Returned with Ezra
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These are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:
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Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of 1Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, 2Hattush.
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Of the sons of Shecaniah, who was of the sons of 3Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150 men.
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Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men.
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Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men.
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Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men.
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Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men.
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Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men.
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Of the sons of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men.
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Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.
Ezra Sends for Levites
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I gathered them to the river that runs to 6Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there 7none of the sons of Levi.
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Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and 8Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight,
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and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers andc the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God.
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And 9by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of 10Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18;
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also 11Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of 12the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20;
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13besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all 14mentioned by name.
Fasting and Prayer for Protection
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15Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river 16Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, 17to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.
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For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, 18"The hand of our God is for good on 19all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him."
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So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.
Priests to Guard Offerings
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Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: 20Sherebiah, 21Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them.
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And I weighed out to them the 22silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his 23counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered.
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24I weighed out into their hand 650 talentsd of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents,e and 100 talents of gold,
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And I said to them, 25"You are holy to the LORD, and 26the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.
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Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, 27within the chambers of the house of the LORD."
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So the priests and the Levites 28took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.
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Then we departed from the river Ahava 29on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. 30The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way.
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On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were 32weighed into the hands of 33Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, 34Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of 35Binnui.
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The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)