1 Now these are the chiefs of their divisions, and this is the genealogy of those that went up with me, in the reign of king Artaxerxes, from Babylon.
2 Of these sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Chattush;
3 Of the sons of Shechanyah, who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were recorded by genealogy of males one hundred and fifty.
4 Of the sons of Pachathmoab, Elyehoenai the son of Zerachyah, and with him were two hundred males.
5 Of the sons of Shechanyah, the son of Yachaziel, and with him were three hundred males.
6 And of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him were fifty males.
7 And of the sons of Elam, Jeshayah the son of Athalyah, and with him were seventy males.
8 And of the sons of Shephatyath, Zebadyah the son of Michael, and with him were eighty males.
9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jechiel, and with him were two hundred and eighteen males.
10 And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Jossiphyah, and with him were one hundred and sixty males.
11 And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him were twenty and eight males.
12 And the sons of Azgad, Jochanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him were one hundred and ten males.
13 And of the sons of Adonikam the last; and those are their names, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemayah, and with them were sixty males.
14 And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai, and Zabbur, and with them were seventy males.
15 And I gathered them together to the river that runneth into the Ahava, and we encamped there three days: and I looked about among the people, and the priests, but of the sons of Levi I found none there.
16 Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemayah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, the head men; also for Joyarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.
17 And I sent them with a charge unto Iddo the chief at the place Cassiphia, and I laid the words in their mouth to speak unto Iddo, and to his brother, who were appointed at the place Cassiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.
18 And they brought unto us according to the good hand of our God upon us a man of intelligence, of the sons of Machli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely, Sherebyah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen;
19 And Chashabyah, and with him Jeshayah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty.
20 Also of the templeservants, whom David and the princes had assigned for the service of the Levites two hundred and twenty templeservants, all of whom were expressed by names.
21 Then did I proclaim a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to request from him a prosperous journey for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
22 For I was ashamed to ask of the king an army and horsemen to assist us against an enemy on the way; because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all those that seek him for good; but his power and his wrath are against all those that forsake him.
23 So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he suffered himself to be entreated by us.
24 Then set I apart of the chiefs of the priests twelve persons, Sherebyah, Chashabyah, and with them ten of their brethren.
25 And I weighed out unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered.
26 And I weighed out into their hand of silver six hundred and fifty talents, and of silver vessels one hundred talents, of gold one hundred talents;
27 Also twenty cups of gold, of a thousand drachms; and two vessels of fine polished copper, valuable as gold.
28 And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord; and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord the God of your fathers.
29 Watch ye, and guard them, until ye weigh them out before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of the divisions of Israel, at Jerusalem, into the chambers of the house of the Lord.
30 And the priests and the Levites accepted what was weighed out of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring the same to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
31 And we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was over us, and he delivered us from the hand of any enemy, and of such as lie in wait on the way.
32 And we came to Jerusalem, and remained there three days.
33 And on the fourth day were the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriyah the priest; and with him was Elazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadyah the son of Binnui, the Levites;
34 By number and by weight of everything: and all the weight was written down at the same time.
35 Those that came out of the captivity, the children of the exile, offered burntofferings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven sheep, twelve hegoats for a sinoffering: all as burntofferings unto the Lord.
36 And they delivered the kings commands unto the kings lieutenants, and to the governors on this side of the river; and these endowed the people, and the house of God.