1This is a list of the family leaders and genealogical records of those who came back with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
2From the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. From the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. From the sons of David, Hattush,
3son of Shecaniah. From the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him 150 men were registered.
4From the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men.
5From the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men.
6From the sons of Adin, Ebed, son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men.
7From the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah, son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men.
8From the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, son of Michael, and with him 80 men.
9From the sons of Joab, Obadiah, son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men.
10From the sons of Bani, Shelomith, son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men.
11From the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, son of Bebai, and with him 28 men.
12From the sons of Azgad, Johanan, son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men.
13From the sons of Adonikam, those who were last, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men.
14From the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.
15I gathered the returning exiles together at the Ahava Canal. We camped there for three days while I reviewed who had come—the ordinary people, the priests, and the Levites. I discovered there wasn't a single Levite
16so I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men with good insight.
17I told them to go to Iddo, the leader of the Temple servants at Casiphia, asking him and his relatives to send us ministers for the Temple of our God.
18Since our gracious God was with us, they brought us Sherebiah, a man with good insight from the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, together with his sons and brothers, a total of eighteen men;
19and Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, from the sons of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, a total of twenty men.
20In addition they brought 220 of the Temple servants, a group appointed by David and his officials to help the Levites. These were all registered by name.
21At the Ahava Canal I called for a fast so we could confess our sins before God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, along with all our possessions.
22I had been reluctant to ask the king to give us a military escort to protect us from enemies on the way. We had told the king, “Our gracious God takes care of everyone who follows him, but shows his anger against anyone who abandons him.”
23So we fasted and asked God to protect us, and he answered our prayers.
24Then I designated twelve of the leading priests, and Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers,
25and I weighed out and handed them the donations of silver and gold, and the items that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the people of Israel there had given for the Temple of our God.
26I weighed out and placed in their hands 650 talents of silver, silver Temple items weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold,
2720 gold bowls worth 1,000 darics, and two articles of highly-polished bronze, as valuable as gold.
28I told them, “You are set apart for the Lord, and these Temple items are too. The silver and gold are a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of your forefathers.
29You are to guard them and keep them safe until you hand them over, weighing them before the high priests, the Levites and the family leaders in Israel at Jerusalem, in the treasury rooms within the Lord's Temple.”
30The priests and Levites took responsibility for the silver and gold and the Temple items that had been weighed out to be brought to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem.
31On the twelfth day of the first month, we left the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and our God was with us to protect us from enemy ambushes along the way.
32Eventually we arrived in Jerusalem and rested there for three days.
33On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the Temple items were weighed out in the Temple of our God and handed over to Meremoth, son of Uriah the priest, accompanied by Eleazar, son of Phinehas. Also present were the Levites, Jozabad, son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, son of Binnui.
34Everything was checked, both by number and weight, and the total weight was written down at the time.
35Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel—twelve bulls for all of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and a sin offering of twelve goats. All were sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord.
36They also delivered the king's decrees to the chief officers of the king and the governors of the province west of the Euphrates, who then provided assistance to the people and to God's Temple.
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