1 ¶ These are the leaders of the clans, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, during the reign of Artaxerxes the king.

2 Of the family of Phinehas; Gershom: of the family of Ithamar; Daniel: of the family of David; Hattush.

3 The son of Shechaniah, of the family of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him one hundred and fifty men of his clan.

4 Of the family of Pahath-moab; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred men.

5 Of the sons of Zattu, Shechaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.

6 Of the sons of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.

7 And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.

8 And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him eighty males.

9 Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

10 And of the family of Bani, Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him one hundred and sixty males.

11 And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males.

12 And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred and ten males.

13 And of the family of Adonikam, the last to come, their names are, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males.

14 Of the sons of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.

15 And I gathered them together at the river flowing to Ahava; and we remained there in tents for three days: and I searched among the people, and the priests, and found no descendants of Levi there.

16 Then I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, who were leading men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, who were men of understanding.

17 And I sent them with a message to Iddo the head man at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say to Iddo, and to his relatives the temple workers, at Casiphia, that they should bring us serving men to work in the temple of our God.

18 And by the good hand of God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, a descendant of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his eighteen sons and brethren;

19 And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the descendants of Merari, and twenty of his relatives and sons;

20 Also two hundred and twenty temple workers, whom David and the princes had appointed to attend the Levites: all of them were mentioned by name.

21 ¶ Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, so that we might humble ourselves before our God, to ask from him a safe journey for us, and for our little ones, and for all our goods.

22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from any enemy along the way: because we had said to the king, The hand of our God is for good upon all who seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him.

23 So we fasted and pleaded with God for safety: and he heard us.

24 ¶ Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brethren,

25 And weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels, used for offerings in the house of our God, that had been given by the king, and his counselors, and his officials, and all the Israelites who were there:

26 I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels worth one hundred talents, and one hundred talents of gold;

27 Also twenty basins of gold, weighing a thousand drachmas; and two vessels of fine bright copper, as valuable as gold.

28 And I said to them, You are holy to the LORD; the vessels are also holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD God of your fathers.

29 Guard and keep them, until you weigh them before the chief priests and Levites, and heads of the clans of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.

30 So the priests and the Levites received the silver, and the gold, and the vessels weighed out to them, to take them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

31 ¶ Then we left the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and from such as lay in wait by the way.

32 And we arrived at Jerusalem, and remained there three days.

33 Then on the fourth day the silver, the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God and placed in the care of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui;

34 Every piece was counted and weighed: and the total weight was recorded at that time.

35 The children of those who had been carried away, who had returned from captivity, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering to the LORD.

36 And they delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors on this side of the river: who then helped the people, and the temple of God.