1These are the heads of their families, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, during the reign of King Artaxerxes: 2Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush. 3Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; with him were reckoned by genealogy a hundred fifty men. 4Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred men. 5Of the sons of Zattu, Shechaniah, son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred men. 6Of the sons also of Adin, Ebed, son of Jonathan; and with him fifty men. 7And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah, son of Athaliah; and with him seventy men. 8And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, son of Michael; and with him eighty men. 9Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah, son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred eighteen men. 10And of the sons of Bani, Shelomith, son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and sixty men. 11And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight men. 12And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan, son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred ten men. 13And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty men. 14Of the sons also of Bigvai, Uthai, and Zabbud; and with them seventy men.

15And I gathered them together at Ahava Canal, and there we camped in tents for three days; and I checked among the people and the priests, and found no sons of Levi there. 16Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leaders; and also for Joiarib, and Elnathan, men of understanding. 17And I sent them to Iddo, the leader of Casiphia, and to his brethren, the Nethinim (temple servants) to tell Iddo that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God. 18And since the good hand of our God was upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, Sherebiah, of the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel; and with him, eighteen sons and brethren,; 19And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, of the sons of Merari, with his twenty brothers and their sons,; 20Also two hundred twenty Nethinim, whom David and the leaders had appointed for the service of the Levites; all of them were identified by name.

21Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the Ahava Canal, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to ask from Him a right and safe journey for us, for our little ones, and for all our possessions. 22For I was ashamed to ask the king to protect us with a band of soldiers and horsemen against any enemy in the way; because we had told the king, “The hand of our God is upon all them for good who seek Him; but His power and His wrath is against all those who forsake Him.” 23So we fasted and petitioned our God for this; and He answered our prayer.

24Then I set apart twelve of the chief of the priests - Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers, 25And weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counselors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered: 26I weighed into their hand - six hundred fifty talents of silver, and a hundred talents in silver utensils, and a hundred talents of gold; 27Also, twenty basins of gold, weighing a thousand drams; and two utensils of fine burnished bronze, precious as gold. 28And I said to them, “You are holy unto the LORD; the utensils are also holy; and the silver and gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers. 29Guard and keep them, until you weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and heads of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the Temple of the LORD.” 30So the priests and the Levites took the weight of the silver, gold, and the utensils, to take them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

31Then we departed from the Ahava Canal on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He protected us from the enemies and bandits that lay in wait along the way. 32And we arrived at Jerusalem, and stayed there three days. 33Then, on the fourth day, the silver, the gold and the utensils were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth, son of Uriah, the priest; and with him was Eleazar, son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad, son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, son of Binnui, Levites; 34Every piece was counted and weighed and the number and weight of each one; and the total weight was recorded at that time. 35Also the descendants of those who had been carried away, and returned from the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering; all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD. 36And they delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps (province governors), and to the governors on this side of the river; and they supported the people, and the house of God.