¶ These are now the chief¹ of their fathers, and this is the genealogy² of them that went up³ with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.

Of the sons of Phinehas⁴; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David⁵; Hattush.

Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh⁶; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.

Of the sons of Pahathmoab⁸; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.

Of the sons of Shechaniah⁹; the son of Jahaziel¹⁰, and with him three hundred males.

Of the sons also of Adin¹¹; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.

And of the sons of Elam¹²; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.

And of the sons of Shephatiah¹³; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males.

Of the sons of Joab¹⁴; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

¶ And of the sons of Shelomith¹⁵; the son of Josiphiah¹⁶, and with him an hundred and threescore males.

And of the sons of Bebai¹⁷; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males.

And of the sons of Azgad¹⁸; Johanan the son of Hakkatan¹⁹, and with him an hundred and ten males.

And of the last sons of Adonikam²⁰, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males.

Of the sons also of Bigvai²¹; Uthai, and Zabbud²², and with them seventy males.

And I gathered them together to the river that runneth²³ to Ahava²⁴; and there abode²⁵ we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.

Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah²⁶, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan²⁷, and for Zechariah²⁸, and for Meshullam, chief men²⁹; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding³⁰.

And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia³¹, and I told them³² what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims³³, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers³⁴ for the house of our God.

And by the good hand³⁵ of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding³⁶, of the sons of Mahli³⁷, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah³⁸, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;

And Hashabiah³⁹, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari⁴⁰, his brethren and their sons, twenty;

¶ Also of the Nethinims⁴¹, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them⁴² were expressed by name.

¶ Then I proclaimed⁴³ a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves⁴⁴ before our God, to seek⁴⁵ of him a right way for us, and for our little ones⁴⁶, and for all our substance.

For I was ashamed⁴⁷ to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand⁴⁸ of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath⁴⁹ is against all them that forsake him.

So we fasted⁵⁰ and besought⁵¹ our God for this: and he was intreated⁵² of us.

¶ Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah⁵³, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

And weighed⁵⁴ unto them the silver⁵⁵, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:

I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;

Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper⁵⁶, precious⁵⁷ as gold.

And I said unto them, Ye are holy⁵⁸ unto the LORD; the vessels⁵⁹ are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers.

Watch ye,⁶⁰ and keep them, until ye weigh them before⁶¹ the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.

¶ So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God⁶².

¶ Then we departed from the river of Ahava⁶³ on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand⁶⁴ of our God was upon us, and he delivered⁶⁵ us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.

⁶⁶And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.

Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed⁶⁷ in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth⁶⁸ the son of Uriah⁶⁹ the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui⁷¹, Levites;

By number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.

Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt⁷² offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks⁷³ for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD.

And they delivered the king's commissions⁷⁴ unto the king's lieutenants⁷⁵, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered⁷⁶ the people, and the house of God.