24 Then I chose twelve of the leaders of the priests along with Sherevyah and Hashavyah and ten of the other Levites, 25 and as they watched, I weighed out the gold and silver, and the valuable utensils—the offering for the house of our god that the king, and his counsellors and officials, and all the exiled Israelis who could be contacted, had offered. 26 It came to three tonnes of gold, twenty-one tonnes of silver, and another three tonnes of silver containers, 27 as well as twenty gold bowls that weighed another eight kilograms, and two polished bronze containers that were as valuable as gold.

28 “You are sacred to Yahweh,” I told them all, “and the containers and utensils are sacred, and the gold and silver are a freewill offering to Yahweh, the god of your ancestors. 29 Look after them all carefully until you weigh them out in front of the leaders of the priests and Levites and the leaders of the Israeli elders in the chambers of Yahweh’s house in Yerushalem.” 30 So the priests and the Levites accepted the receipt of the gold and silver, and the containers, to take them to Yerushalem—to the house of our god.