CHAPTER 8
1 Therefore these be the princes of meines, and this is the genealogy of them, that were in the realm of Artaxerxes, the king, and went up with me from Babylon.
2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush, (the son of Shechaniah);
3 of the sons of Shechaniah and of the sons of Pharosh, Zechariah, and with him were numbered an hundred and fifty men; (of the sons of Pharosh, Zech-ariah, and with him were listed a hundred and fifty men;)
4 of the sons of Pahath, Moab, and 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 men;
6 of the sons of Adin, Ebed, the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty men;
7 of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah, the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy men;
8 of the sons of Shephatiah, Zeba-diah, the son of Michael, and with him fourscore men;
9 of the sons of Joab, Obadiah, the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen men;
10 of the sons of Bani, Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and sixty men;
11 of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight men;
12 of the sons of Azgad, Johanan, the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten men;
13 of the sons of Adonikam, that were the last, and these be the names of them, Eliphelet, and Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty men;
14 of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy men.
15 And I gathered all these men at the flood, that runneth down to Ahava; and we dwelled there three days. And I sought among the people, and in the priests, of the sons of Levi, and I found not there.
16 Therefore I sent Eliezer, and Ariel, and Shemaiah, and Elnathan, and Jarib, and another Elnathan, and Nathan, and Zechariah, and Meshullam, princes; and Joiarib, and Elnathan, wise men;
17 and I sent them to Iddo, that is the chief in the place of Casiphia, and I put in the mouth of them the words, which they should speak to Iddo, and to his brethren, Nethinims, in the place of Casiphia, for to bring to us the ministers of the house of our God.
18 And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought a full wise man of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and they brought Sherebiah, and his sons, twenty, and his brethren, were eighteen;
19 and Hashabiah, and Jeshaiah came with him of the sons of Merari, they brought his brethren, and his sons, twenty;
20 and of [the] Nethinims, which David and the princes had given to the services of deacons [or Levites], they brought two hundred and twenty Nethinims; all these were called by their names.
21 And I preached there fasting beside the flood of Ahava, that we should be tormented before the Lord our God, and that we should ask of him the right way to us, and to our sons, and to all our substance.
22 For I shamed to ask of the king help, and horsemen, which should defend us from our enemies in the way, for we had said to the king, The hand of our God is upon all men that seek him in goodness; and his lordship, and his strength, and his strong vengeance, be on all men that forsake him.
23 And we fasted, and prayed our God for this thing, and it befelled to us wellsomely.
24 And I separated twelve of the princes of priests, Sherebiah, and Hash-abiah, and ten of their brethren with them;
25 and I betook under certain weight and number to them the silver and gold, and the hallowed vessels of the house of our God, which the king had offered, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all the men that were found of Israel.
26 And I betook under certain weight and number into the hands of them six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and an hundred silveren vessels; an hundred talents of gold,
27 and twenty golden cups, or basins, which had in weight a thousand pieces of gold; and two fair vessels of best brass, shining as gold.
28 And I said to them, Ye be the holy men of the Lord; and therefore wake ye, and keepeth the holy vessels, and the silver and gold, that is offered by free will to the Lord God of our fathers,
29 till ye yield under certain weight and number before the princes of priests, and of deacons [or Levites], and before dukes of meines of Israel in Jerusalem, into the chamber of God’s house.
30 And the priests and deacons [or Levites] took the weight of silver, and of gold, and of vessels, for to bear them into Jerusalem, into the house of our God.
31 Therefore we moved forth from the flood of Ahava, in the twelfth day of the first month, for to go into Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and delivered us from the hand of [the] enemy, and of the ambusher in the way.
32 And we came to Jerusalem, and we dwelled there three days.
33 Forsooth in the fourth day the silver was yielded [up] under certain weight and number, and the gold, and the vessels, in the house of our God, by the number and weight of all things, by the hand of Meremoth, the son of Uriah, priest; and with him was Eleazar, the son of Phinehas, and with them were Jozabad, the son of Joshua, and Noadiah, the son of Binnui, deacons [or Levites];
34 and all the weight was described in that time.
35 But also the sons of transmigration, that came from captivity, offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord God of Israel, twelve calves for all the people of Israel, ninety and six rams, seven and seventy lambs, twelve bucks of goats for sin; all these were offered into burnt sacrifice to the Lord.
36 Forsooth they gave the command-ments of the king to the princes, that were in the sight of the king, and to the dukes beyond the flood; and they raised up the people, and the house of God.