Ezra 8-9
1599 Geneva Bible
8 1 The number of them that returned to Jerusalem with Ezra. 21 He causeth them to fast. 24 He admonisheth the Priests of their duty. 31 What they did when they came to Jerusalem.
1 These are now the chief fathers of them, and the genealogy of them that came up with me from Babel, in the reign of king [a]Artaxerxes.
2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel: of the sons of David, Hattush:
3 Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh, Zechariah, and with him the count of the males, an hundred and fifty.
4 Of the sons of [b]Pahath-Moab, Elihoenai, the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.
5 Of the sons of Shechaniah, the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.
6 And 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 fourscore males.
9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
10 And of the sons of Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males.
11 And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him eight and twenty males.
12 And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten males.
13 And of the sons of Adonikam, that were the [c]last, whose names are these: Eliphelet, Jehiel and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males.
14 And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.
15 And I gathered them to the [d]river that goeth toward Ahava, and there abode we three days: then I viewed the people, and the Priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.
16 Therefore sent I to Eliezer, to Ariel, to Shemeiah, and to Elnathan, and to Jarib, and to Elnathan, and to Nathan, and to Zechariah, and to Meshullam the chief, and to Joiarib, and to Elnathan men of understanding,
17 And I gave them commandment, to Iddo the [e]chiefest at the place of Casiphia, and I [f]told them the words that they should speak to Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinim at the place of Casiphia, that they should cause the ministers of the house of our God to come unto us.
18 So by the good hand of our God, which was upon us, they brought us a man of understanding of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi the son of Israel, and Sherebiah with his sons and his brethren, even eighteen.
19 Also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brethren, and their sons twenty.
20 And of the [g]Nethinim, whom David had set, and the Princes for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty of the Nethinim, which all were named by name.
21 And there at the river, by Ahava, I proclaimed a fast, that we might humble [h]ourselves before our God, and seek of him a right way for us, and for our children, and for all our substance.
22 For I was [i]ashamed to require of the king an army and horsemen, to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him in goodness, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
23 So we fasted, and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.
24 Then I separated twelve of the chief of the Priests, Sherebiah, and Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,
25 And weighed them the silver and the gold and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king and his counselors and his Princes, and all Israel that were present had offered.
26 And I weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty [j]talents of silver, and in silver vessel an hundred talents, and in gold, an hundred talents,
27 And twenty basins of gold, of a thousand [k]drams, and two vessels of shining brass very good, and precious as gold.
28 ¶ And I said unto them, Ye are consecrated unto the Lord, and the vessels are consecrated, and the gold and the silver are freely offered unto the Lord God of your fathers.
29 Watch ye, and keep them until ye weigh them before the chief Priests and the Levites, and the chief fathers of Israel in Jerusalem in the chambers of the house of the Lord.
30 So the Priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver, and of the gold, and of the vessels to bring them to Jerusalem, unto the house of our God.
31 ¶ Then we departed from the river of Ahavah on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us, and delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as laid [l]wait by the way.
32 And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
33 And on the fourth day was the silver weighed, and the gold, and the vessel, in the house of our God, by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah 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 Binnui the [m]Levites,
34 By number and by weight of every one, and all the weight was written at the same time.
35 Also the children of the captivity, which were come out of captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, and twelve he goats for sin: all was a burnt offering of the Lord.
36 And they delivered the King’s commission unto the King’s officers, and to the captains beyond the river: and they promoted the people, and the house of God.
9 1 Ezra complaineth on the people that had turned themselves from God, and married with the Gentiles. 5 He prayeth unto God.
1 When as these things were done, the rulers came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the Priests, and the Levites are not [n]separated from the people of the lands (as touching their abominations) to wit, of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
2 For they have taken their daughters to themselves, and to their sons, and they have mixed the holy seed with the people of the lands, and the hand of the [o]Princes and rulers have been chief in this trespass.
3 But when I heard this saying, I rent my clothes and my garment, and plucked off the hair of mine head, and of my beard, and sat down [p]astonied.
4 And there assembled unto me all that feared the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of them of the captivity. And I sat down astonied until the (A)evening sacrifice.
5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from mine heaviness, and when I had rent my clothes and my garment, I fell upon my knees, and spread out mine hands unto the Lord my God,
6 And said, O my God, I am confounded and ashamed to lift up mine eyes unto thee my God: for our iniquities are increased over [q]our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the [r]heaven.
7 From the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day, and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our Priests been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, unto the sword, into captivity, into a spoil, and into confusion of face, as appeareth this day.
8 And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the Lord our God, in causing a remnant to escape, and in giving us a [s]nail in his holy place, that our God may light our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our servitude.
9 For though we were bondmen, yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath inclined mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us life, and to erect the house of our God, and to redress the desolate places thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
10 And now, our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
11 Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the Prophets, saying, (B)The land whereunto ye go to possess it, is an unclean land, because of the filthiness of the people of the lands, which by their abominations, and by their uncleanness have filled it from corner to corner.
12 Now therefore shall ye not give your daughters unto their sons, neither shall ye take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their (C)peace nor wealth forever, that ye may be strong and eat the goodness of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your sons forever.
13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespasses, (seeing that thou our God hast stayed us from being beneath [t]for our iniquities, and hast given us such deliverance.)
14 Should we return to break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of such abominations? wouldest not thou be angry toward us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor any escaping?
15 O Lord God of Israel, thou art just, for we have been [u]reserved to escape, as appeareth this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespass: therefore we cannot stand before thee because of it.
Footnotes
- Ezra 8:1 Read Ezra 7.
- Ezra 8:4 Or, captains of Moab.
- Ezra 8:13 That came to go with Ezra.
- Ezra 8:15 To that place of Euphrates, where Ahava the river entereth into it.
- Ezra 8:17 He was the chiefest that taught there the Law of God unto the Levites.
- Ezra 8:17 Hebrew, put words in their mouth.
- Ezra 8:20 Read Ezra 2:43.
- Ezra 8:21 He showeth that the end of fasting, is to humble the body to the spirit, which must proceed of the heart lively touched, or else it is but hypocrisy.
- Ezra 8:22 He thought it better to commit himself to the protection of God, than by seeking these ordinary means to give occasion to others to think that he did doubt of God’s power.
- Ezra 8:26 Read 1 Kings 9:14.
- Ezra 8:27 Read Ezra 2:29.
- Ezra 8:31 This declared that their journey was full of danger, and yet God delivered them according to their prayer.
- Ezra 8:33 This was a token of a good conscience and of his integrity, that he would have witnesses of his fidelity.
- Ezra 9:1 From the time they came home under Zerubbabel until the coming of Ezra, they had degenerated contrary to the Law of God, and married where it was not lawful, Deut. 7:3.
- Ezra 9:2 That is, the governors are the chief beginners hereof.
- Ezra 9:3 As one doubting whether God would continue his benefits towards us, or else destroy this which he had begun.
- Ezra 9:6 That is, we are drowned in sin.
- Ezra 9:6 They so exceed that they cannot grow greater.
- Ezra 9:8 In giving us a resting place. It is a similitude taken of them that remain still in a place, which smite nails to hang things upon, Isa. 22:23.
- Ezra 9:13 Hast not utterly cast us down and destroyed us for our sins, Deut. 28:13.
- Ezra 9:15 He showeth that God is just in punishing his people, and yet merciful in reserving a residue in whom he showeth favor.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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