Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
1These are the family heads and the genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes: | 1Here is a list of the family leaders and the genealogies of those who came with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes: |
2Gershom, from Phinehas's descendants; Daniel, from Ithamar's descendants; Hattush, from David's descendants, | 2From the family of Phinehas: Gershom. From the family of Ithamar: Daniel. From the family of David: Hattush, |
3who was of Shecaniah's descendants; Zechariah, from Parosh's descendants, and 150 men with him who were registered by genealogy; | 3a descendant of Shecaniah. From the family of Parosh: Zechariah and 150 other men were registered. |
4Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah from Pahath-moab's descendants, and 200 men with him; | 4From the family of Pahath-moab: Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah and 200 other men. |
5Shecaniah son of Jahaziel from Zattu's descendants, and 300 men with him; | 5From the family of Zattu : Shecaniah son of Jahaziel and 300 other men. |
6Ebed son of Jonathan from Adin's descendants, and 50 men with him; | 6From the family of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan and 50 other men. |
7Jeshaiah son of Athaliah from Elam's descendants, and 70 men with him; | 7From the family of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah and 70 other men. |
8Zebadiah son of Michael from Shephatiah's descendants, and 80 men with him; | 8From the family of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael and 80 other men. |
9Obadiah son of Jehiel from Joab's descendants, and 218 men with him; | 9From the family of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel and 218 other men. |
10Shelomith son of Josiphiah from Bani's descendants, and 160 men with him; | 10From the family of Bani : Shelomith son of Josiphiah and 160 other men. |
11Zechariah son of Bebai from Bebai's descendants, and 28 men with him; | 11From the family of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai and 28 other men. |
12Johanan son of Hakkatan from Azgad's descendants, and 110 men with him; | 12From the family of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan and 110 other men. |
13these are the last ones, from Adonikam's descendants, and their names are Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and 60 men with them; | 13From the family of Adonikam, who came later : Eliphelet, Jeuel, Shemaiah, and 60 other men. |
14Uthai and Zaccur from Bigvai's descendants, and 70 men with them. | 14From the family of Bigvai: Uthai, Zaccur, and 70 other men. Ezra’s Journey to Jerusalem |
15I gathered them at the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I searched among the people and priests, but found no Levites there. | 15I assembled the exiles at the Ahava Canal, and we camped there for three days while I went over the lists of the people and the priests who had arrived. I found that not one Levite had volunteered to come along. |
16Then I summoned the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, as well as the teachers Joiarib and Elnathan. | 16So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders of the people. I also sent for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of discernment. |
17I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia, with a message for him and his brothers, the temple servants at Casiphia, that they should bring us ministers for the house of our God. | 17I sent them to Iddo, the leader of the Levites at Casiphia, to ask him and his relatives and the Temple servants to send us ministers for the Temple of God at Jerusalem. |
18Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah--a man of insight from the descendants of Mahli, a descendant of Levi son of Israel--along with his sons and brothers, 18 men, | 18Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they sent us a man named Sherebiah, along with eighteen of his sons and brothers. He was a very astute man and a descendant of Mahli, who was a descendant of Levi son of Israel. |
19plus Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, 20 men. | 19They also sent Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and twenty of his sons and brothers, |
20There were also 220 of the temple servants, who had been appointed by David and the leaders for the work of the Levites. All were identified by name. | 20and 220 Temple servants. The Temple servants were assistants to the Levites—a group of Temple workers first instituted by King David and his officials. They were all listed by name. |
21I proclaimed a fast by the Ahava River, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us, our dependents, and all our possessions. | 21And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled. |
22I did this because I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and cavalry to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, "The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek him, but his fierce anger is against all who abandon him." | 22For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.” |
23So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and he was receptive to our prayer. | 23So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer. |
24I selected twelve of the leading priests, along with Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers. | 24I appointed twelve leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten other priests— |
25I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles--the contribution for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites who were present had offered. | 25to be in charge of transporting the silver, the gold, the gold bowls, and the other items that the king, his council, his officials, and all the people of Israel had presented for the Temple of God. |
26I weighed out to them 24 tons of silver, silver articles weighing 7,500 pounds, 7,500 pounds of gold, | 26I weighed the treasure as I gave it to them and found the totals to be as follows: 24 tons of silver, 7,500 pounds of silver articles, 7,500 pounds of gold, |
27twenty gold bowls worth a thousand gold coins, and two articles of fine gleaming bronze, as valuable as gold. | 2720 gold bowls, equal in value to 1,000 gold coins, 2 fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold. |
28Then I said to them, "You are holy to the LORD, and the articles are holy. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD God of your fathers. | 28And I said to these priests, “You and these treasures have been set apart as holy to the LORD. This silver and gold is a voluntary offering to the LORD, the God of our ancestors. |
29Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the LORD's house before the leading priests, Levites, and heads of the Israelite families in Jerusalem." | 29Guard these treasures well until you present them to the leading priests, the Levites, and the leaders of Israel, who will weigh them at the storerooms of the LORD’s Temple in Jerusalem.” |
30So the priests and Levites took charge of the silver, the gold, and the articles that had been weighed out, to bring them to the house of our God in Jerusalem. | 30So the priests and the Levites accepted the task of transporting these treasures of silver and gold to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem. |
31We set out from the Ahava River on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. We were strengthened by our God, and he kept us from the grasp of the enemy and from ambush along the way. | 31We broke camp at the Ahava Canal on April 19 and started off to Jerusalem. And the gracious hand of our God protected us and saved us from enemies and bandits along the way. |
32So we arrived at Jerusalem and rested there for three days. | 32So we arrived safely in Jerusalem, where we rested for three days. |
33On the fourth day the silver, the gold, and the articles were weighed out in the house of our God into the care of the priest Meremoth son of Uriah. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him. The Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui were also with them. | 33On the fourth day after our arrival, the silver, gold, and other valuables were weighed at the Temple of our God and entrusted to Meremoth son of Uriah the priest and to Eleazar son of Phinehas, along with Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui—both of whom were Levites. |
34Everything was verified by number and weight, and the total weight was recorded at that time. | 34Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the total weight was officially recorded. |
35The exiles who had returned from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, and seventy-seven lambs, along with twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering for the LORD. | 35Then the exiles who had come out of captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They presented twelve bulls for all the people of Israel, as well as ninety-six rams and seventy-seven male lambs. They also offered twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was given as a burnt offering to the LORD. |
36They also delivered the king's edicts to the royal satraps and governors of the region west of the Euphrates, so that they would support the people and the house of God. | 36The king’s decrees were delivered to his highest officers and the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, who then cooperated by supporting the people and the Temple of God. |
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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