8:1 These are the leaders¹ and those by genealogy enrolled with them, who were coming up with me from Babylon during the reign of Artaxerxes the king:

8:2 from the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom;

from the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel;

from the descendants of David, Hattush 8:3 the son of Shecaniah;²

from the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were enrolled by genealogy 150 men;

8:4 from the descendants of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 males;

8:5 from the descendants of Zattu,³ Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 males;

8:6 from the descendants of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 males;

8:7 from the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 males;

8:8 from the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 males;

8:9 from the descendants of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 males;

8:10 from the descendants of Bani,⁴ Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 males;

8:11 from the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him 28 males;

8:12 from the descendants of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 males;

8:13 from the descendants of Adonikam there were the latter ones. Their names were Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and with them 60 males;

8:14 from the descendants of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur,⁵ and with them 70 males.

8:15 I gathered them at the canal⁶ that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I observed the presence of the people and the priests, but I found no Levites there. 8:16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers, 8:17 and I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them⁷ what to speak to Iddo and his brethren,⁸ who were the temple servants in the place called Casiphia, so that they might bring to us attendants for the temple of our God.

8:18 Due to the fact that the good hand of our God was on us, they brought to us a skilled man, from the descendants of Mahli the son of Levi, who was the son of Israel. This⁹ Sherebiah came, along with his sons and brothers, 18 men, 8:19 and Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, 20 men, 8:20 and some of the temple servants that David and the chiefs had established for the work of the Levites—220 of them. All of them were designated by name.

8:21 I called for a fast there by the Ahava Canal, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and so that we might seek from him a safe journey for us, for our children, and for all our property. 8:22 I was embarrassed to request from the king soldiers and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The good hand of our God is on everyone who is seeking him, but his great anger¹⁰ is on everyone who forsakes him.” 8:23 So we fasted and prayed to our God about this, and he answered us.

8:24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, together with¹¹ Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers, 8:25 and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels intended for the temple of our God—things that the king, his advisers, his officials, and all Israel who were present had contributed. 8:26 I weighed out to them¹² 650 talents of silver, silver vessels worth 100 talents, 100 talents of gold, 8:27 20 golden bowls worth 1,000 darics, and two exquisite vessels of gleaming bronze, as valuable as gold. 8:28 Then I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD, just as these vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers. 8:29 Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the head priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, in the store rooms of the temple of the LORD.”

8:30 Then the priests and the Levites received the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out to bring to Jerusalem to the temple of our God. 8:31 On the twelfth day of the first month we began traveling from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from our enemy and from ruffians¹³ along the way. 8:32 So we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there for three days. 8:33 On the fourth day we weighed out the silver, the gold, and the vessels in the house of our God into the care¹⁴ of Meremoth the son of Uriah, the priest, and Eleazar the son of Phinehas, who were accompanied by Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui, who were Levites. 8:34 Everything was verified by number and by weight, and all the weight was written down at that time.

8:35 The exiles who were coming from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel—12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 male lambs, and 12 male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD. 8:36 Then they presented the decrees of the king to the satraps of the king and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates. They gave help to the people and to the temple of God.