 1 Now these are the chief of their fathers and the genealogy of those who went with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes. 2 From the sons of Phinehas came Gershom. From the sons of Ithamar came Daniel. From the sons of David came Hattush. 3 From the sons of Shechaniah and from the sons of Parosh came Zechariah, and with him were counted 150 males by genealogy. 4 From the sons of Pahathmoab came Elihoenai, the son of Zerahiah, and 200 males with him. 5 From the sons of Shechaniah came the son of Jahaziel and 300 males with him. 6 From the sons of Adin came Ebed, the son of Jonathan, and 50 males with him. 7 From the sons of Elam came Jeshaiah, the son of Athaliah, and 70 males with him. 8 From the sons of Shephatiah came Zebadiah, the son of Michael, and 80 males with him. 9 From the sons of Joab came Obadiah, the son of Jehiel, and 218 males with him. 10 From the sons of Shelomith came the son of Josiphiah and 160 with him. 11 From the sons of Bebai came Zechariah the son of Bebai and 28 males with him. 12 From the sons of Azgad came Johanan the son of Hakkatan and a 110 males with him. 13 From the last sons of Adonikam came these: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, 60 males with them. 14 From the sons of Bigvai came Uthai and Zabbud and 70 males with them. 15 I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and we stayed in tents there three days. Then I looked over the people and the priests and did not find any there of the sons of Levi. 16 Then I sent 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. 17 I sent them with command to Iddo the chief of the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say to Iddo, to his brothers the temple slaves, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God. 18 By the good hand of our God on us they brought us a man of understanding, from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen; 19 and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah from the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty; 20 also of the temple slaves whom David and the rulers had chosen for the service of the Levites, 220 temple slaves. All of them were called by name. 21 Then I called a fast there at the river Ahava, so that we might humble ourselves before our God, in order to seek from Him a right way for us and for our little children, and for all our goods. 22 For I was ashamed to ask of the king troops and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the king saying, The hand of our God is on all those who seek Him for good. But His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him. 23 So we fasted and prayed to our God for good. And He was pleased to hear us. 24 Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them. 25 I weighed to them the silver and gold and the vessels for the offering in the house of our God, for which the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel who were there had offered. 26 I weighed to them 650 talents of silver and silver vessels of 100 talents and gold 100 talents 27 and twenty basins of gold of a thousand drams and two vessels of fine copper as desirable as gold. 28 I said to them, You are holy to the Lord and the vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a free will offering to the Lord God of your fathers. 29 Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and the chief of the fathers of Israel at Jerusalem in the rooms 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 them to Jerusalem to the house of our God. 31 We departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was on us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and from ambushers by the way. 32 We came to Jerusalem and stayed there three days. 33 On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were 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. 34 They were weighed by number and by weight of every one and all the weight was written at that time. 35 The sons of those who had been exiled, who had come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve young bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, 12 he goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. 36 They delivered the king's orders to the king's lieutenants and to the governors of the province beyond the River and they helped the people and the house of God.
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