1These are the heads of their families and the family lines of those who came with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
2From the descendants of Phinehas: Gershom. From the descendants of Ithamar: Daniel. From the descendants of David: Hattush.
3From the descendants of Shecaniah, who was from the descendants of Parosh: Zechariah, and 150 men were listed with him by genealogy.
4From the descendants of Pahathmoab: Eliehoenai, son of Zerahiah, and 200 men with him.
5From the descendants of Shecaniah: the son of Jahaziel, and 300 men with him.
6From the descendants of Adin: Ebed, son of Jonathan, and 50 men with him.
7From the descendants of Elam: Jeshaiah, son of Athaliah, and 70 men with him.
8From the descendants of Shephatiah: Zebadiah, son of Michael, and 80 men with him.
9From the descendants of Joab: Obadiah, son of Jehiel, and 218 men with him.
10From the descendants of Shelomith: the son of Josiphiah, and 160 men with him.
11From the descendants of Bebai: Zechariah, son of Bebai, and 28 men with him.
12From the descendants of Azgad: Johanan, son of Hakkatan, and 110 men with him.
13From the descendants of Adonikam, who were the last to arrive, these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and 60 men with them.
14From the descendants of Bigvai: Uthai and Zabbud, and 70 men with them.
15I gathered them at the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped there for three days. When I examined the people and the priests, I found no Levites there.
16Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders; also for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers.
17I sent them to Iddo, the chief man at Casiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his relatives, the temple servants, at Casiphia, so they would bring us ministers for the house of our God.
18Because our God was helping us, they brought us a wise man named Sherebiah, from the descendants of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, along with his sons and brothers, a total of eighteen.
19and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah from the family of Merari, his relatives and their sons, twenty in all;
20and from the temple servants, whom David and the leaders had assigned to help the Levites, there were two hundred twenty temple servants. All of them were listed by name.
21Then, by the Ahava Canal, I declared a time of fasting so we could humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us, our children, and all our possessions.
22I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the journey, because we had told the king, “The hand of our God protects all who look to him for good, but his power and anger are against all who abandon him.”
23So we fasted and prayed to our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
24Then I selected twelve of the leading priests, along with Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their relatives.
25I weighed out to them the silver, gold, and the vessels, which were an offering for the house of our God, donated by the king, his advisors, his officials, and all the Israelites present.
26I weighed for them six hundred fifty talents of silver, one hundred talents of silver vessels, one hundred talents of gold,
27twenty gold bowls weighing one thousand darics, and two vessels of fine, shiny bronze, as valuable as gold.
28I told them, “You are holy to Yahweh, and these vessels are holy. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh, the God of your ancestors.
29Guard and keep them until you weigh them in Jerusalem before the leading priests and Levites, and the heads of the Israelite families, in the rooms of Yahweh’s house.”
30So the priests and Levites received the weighed silver, gold, and vessels to take them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.
31We left the Ahava Canal on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way.
32We arrived in Jerusalem and stayed there for three days.
33On the fourth day, the silver, gold, and vessels were weighed in the house of our God and entrusted to Meremoth son of Uriah the priest; with him was Eleazar son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui, the Levite.
34Everything was counted and weighed, and the total weight was recorded at that time.
35The people who had returned from captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering. All of these were burnt offerings to Yahweh.
36They delivered the king’s orders to the king’s governors and the leaders in the region beyond the Euphrates River. And these officials supported the people and the house of God.