1Now these are the chiefs of their divisions, and this is the genealogy of those that went up with me, in the reign of king Artaxerxes, from Babylon.

2Of these sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Chattush;

3Of the sons of Shechanyah, [who was] of the sons of Par'osh, Zechariah; and with him were recorded by genealogy of males one hundred and fifty.

4Of the sons of Pachath-moab, Elyeho'enai the son of Zerachyah, and with him were two hundred males.

5Of the sons of Shechanyah, the son of Yachaziel, and with him were three hundred males.

6And of the sons of 'Adin, 'Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him were fifty males.

7And of the sons of 'Elam, Jesha'yah the son of 'Athalyah, and with him were seventy males.

8And of the sons of Shephatyath, Zebadyah the son of Michael, and with him were eighty males.

9Of the sons of Joab, 'Obadiah the son of Jechiel, and with him were two hundred and eighteen males.

10And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Jossiphyah, and with him were one hundred and sixty males.

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

12And the sons of 'Azgad, Jochanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him were one hundred and ten males.

13And of the sons of Adonikam the last; and those are their names, Eliphelet, Je'iel, and Shema'yah, and with them were sixty males.

14And of the sons of Bigvai, 'Uthai, and Zabbur, and with them were seventy males.

15And I gathered them together to the river that runneth into the Ahava, and we encamped there three days: and I looked about among the people, and the priests, but of the sons of Levi I found none there.

16Then sent I for Eli'ezer, for Ariel, for Shema'yah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, the head men; also for Joyarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.

17And I sent them with a charge unto Iddo the chief at the place Cassiphia, and I laid the words in their mouth to speak unto Iddo, and to his brother, who were appointed at the place Cassiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.

18And they brought unto us according to the good hand of our God upon us a man of intelligence, of the sons of Machli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely, Sherebyah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen;

19And Chashabyah, and with him Jesha'yah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty.

20Also of the temple-servants, whom David and the princes had assigned for the service of the Levites two hundred and twenty temple-servants, all of whom were expressed by names.

21Then did I proclaim a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to request from him a prosperous journey for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

22For I was ashamed to ask of the king an army and horsemen to assist us against an enemy on the way; because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all those that seek him for good; but his power and his wrath are against all those that forsake him.

23So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he suffered himself to be entreated by us.

24Then set I apart of the chiefs of the priests twelve persons, Sherebyah, Chashabyah, and with them ten of their brethren.

25And I weighed out unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered.

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

27Also twenty cups of gold, of a thousand drachms; and two vessels of fine polished copper, valuable as gold.

28And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord; and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord the God of your fathers.

29Watch ye, and guard them, until ye weigh them out before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of the divisions of Israel, at Jerusalem, into the chambers of the house of the Lord.

30And the priests and the Levites accepted what was weighed out of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring the same to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

31And we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was over us, and he delivered us from the hand of any enemy, and of such as lie in wait on the way.

32And we came to Jerusalem, and remained there three days.

33And on the fourth day were the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriyah the priest; and with him was El'azar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua', and No'adyah the son of Binnui, the Levites;

34By number and by weight of everything: and all the weight was written down at the same time.

35Those that came out of the captivity, the children of the exile, offered burnt-offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven sheep, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all as burnt-offerings unto the Lord.

36And they delivered the king's commands unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side of the river; and these endowed the people, and the house of God.