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The clans that returned with Ezra to Jerusalem
8 This is a list of the names of the leaders of the clans who came with me up to Jerusalem from Babylonia when Artaxerxes was the king of Persia:
Ezra and the others prepared to return to Jerusalem
15 I gathered all of them together at the canal that goes from Babylon to Ahava town. We set up our tents there and stayed there for three days. During that time I checked the lists of names and found out that there were priests going with us, but no other descendants of Levi who could help them in the temple. 16 So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, two men whose names were Elnathan, and Jarib, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were all leaders of the people. I also summoned Joiarib and another Elnathan, who were wise. 17 I sent them all to Iddo, the leader of the descendants of Levi, who was living in Casiphia town, to request that he and his relatives and other men who had worked in the temple send to us some men who would go/come with us to work in God’s new temple in Jerusalem.
18 Because God was kind to us, they brought to us a man named Sherebiah and 18 of his sons and other relatives. Sherebiah was a very wise man, a descendant of Mahli, who was a grandson of Levi. 19 They also sent to us Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, descendants of Levi’s son Merari, and 20 of their relatives. 20 They also sent 220 other men to work in the temple. Those men’s ancestors had been appointed by King David to assist the descendants of Levi who helped the priests in the temple. I listed/wrote the names of all those men.
21 There alongside the Ahava Canal, I told them that we all would ◄fast/abstain from eating food► and pray. I also told them that we should humble ourselves in the presence of our God. We prayed that God would protect us while we traveled, and also protect our children and our possessions/belongings. 22 Previously we had told the king that our God takes care of all those who truly trust in him, but that he becomes very angry with those who refuse to obey him. So I would have been ashamed if I had asked the king to send soldiers and men riding on horses to protect us from our enemies while we were traveling along the road. 23 So we ◄fasted/abstained from eating food► and requested God to protect us, and he ◄answered our prayers/did what we requested.►
The gifts for the temple
24 I chose twelve of the leaders of the priests, Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their relatives. 25 I appointed them to supervise carrying to Jerusalem the gifts of silver and gold and the other valuable items that the king and his advisors and other officials, and the Israeli people who were living in Babylonia, had contributed for the temple of our God. 26 As I gave these various items to those priests, I weighed each of the items. This was the total: 25 tons of silver, 100 items made from silver that altogether weighed 7,500 pounds, ◄7,500 pounds/3,400 kg.► of gold, 27 20 gold bowls that altogether weighed ◄19 pounds/8.6 kg.►, and two items made of polished bronze that were as valuable as ones made of gold.
28 I said to those priests, “You belong to Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors ◄worshiped/also belonged to►, and these valuable things also belong to him. The people themselves gave these things to be offerings to Yahweh ◄voluntarily/because they wanted to►. 29 So guard them carefully, and when we arrive in Jerusalem, weigh them in the presence of the priests, the descendants of Levi who will help the priests, and the other Israeli leaders there. They will then put them in the storerooms in the new temple.” 30 So the priests and other descendants of Levi took from me all the gifts of silver and gold and the other valuable items, in order to carry them to the temple in Jerusalem.
They returned to Jerusalem
31 On April 19, we left the Ahava Canal and started to travel to Jerusalem. Our God took care of us, and while we traveled, he prevented our enemies and bandits from ◄ambushing us/suddenly attacking us►. 32 After we arrived in Jerusalem, we rested for three days. 33 Then on the fourth/next day we went to the temple. There the silver and gold and the other items were weighed and given to the priest Meremoth, the son of Uriah. Eleazar the son of Phinehas and two descendants of Levi, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui, were with him.
34 They counted everything, and wrote down how much they weighed, and wrote a description of each item.
35 We who had returned from Babylonia offered to God sacrifices on the altar. We offered twelve bulls for all us Israeli people. We also offered 96 rams and 27 lambs. We also sacrificed twelve goats to atone for the sins that all the people had committed. These were all completely burned on the altar. 36 Some of us who returned from Babylonia took to the governors and other officials of the province west of the Euphrates River the letter that the king had given to us. After they read the letter, they did all that they were able to do for us Israeli people and for the temple of God.