Now these are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:
Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.
Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males a hundred and fifty.
Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.
Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.
And of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.
And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.
And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him fourscore males.
Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and threescore males.
And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty and eight males.
And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred and ten males.
And of the sons of Adonikam, that were the last; and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them threescore males.
And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and {Another reading is, Zaccur.}Zabbud; and with them seventy males.
And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there we encamped 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 Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, {Or, who had understanding}who were teachers.
And {Another reading is, I gave them commandment.}I sent them forth unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should say unto {The text, as pointed has, Iddo, his brother.}Iddo, and his brethren the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.
And according to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us {Or, Ish-sechel}a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;
and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;
and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of them were mentioned by name.
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
For I was ashamed to ask 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 hand of our God is upon all them that seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.
Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the {In Nehemiah 12:24, Levites.}priests, {Or, besides}even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,
and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered:
I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels a hundred talents; of gold a hundred talents;
and twenty bowls of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold.
And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto Jehovah, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill-offering unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers.
Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers' houses of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.
So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.
Then 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 upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the lier-in-wait by the way.
And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God {Or, by}into 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 Levites) —
the whole by number and by weight: and all the weight was written at that time.
The children of the captivity, that were come out of exile, offered burnt-offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks 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 Jehovah.
And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's satraps, and to the governors beyond the River: and they furthered the people and the house of God.
Querverweise zu Esra 8,36 Esra 8,36
And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers that are beyond the River, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence,
unto a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred {Aramaic: cors.}measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll, upon them.
And in the days of {Hebrew: Artahshashta.}Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the {Or, Aramaic.}Syrian character, and set forth in the {Or, Aramaic.}Syrian tongue.
{Chapter 4:8-6, 18 is in Aramaic.}Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:
then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the Dinaites, and the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites, the Dehaites, the Elamites,
and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over, and set in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River, and so forth.
This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto Artaxerxes the king: Thy servants the men beyond the River, and so forth.
Be it known unto the king, that the Jews that came up from thee are come to us unto Jerusalem; they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and have finished the walls, and repaired the foundations.
Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful unto the kings.
Now because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not meet for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore have we sent and certified the king;
that search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time; for which cause was this city laid waste.
We certify the king that, if this city be builded, and the walls finished, by this means thou shalt have no portion beyond the River.
Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and {Or, unto the rest beyond &c.}in the rest of the country beyond the River: Peace, and so forth.
The letter which ye sent unto us hath been {Or, translated}plainly read before me.
And I decreed, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.
There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the country beyond the River; and tribute, custom, and toll, was paid unto them.
Make ye now a decree to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until a decree shall be made by me.
And take heed that ye be not slack herein: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?
Then when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.
Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, {Or, because of that which &c.}because that Darius the king had sent, did accordingly with all diligence.
The copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai, and his companions the Apharsachites, who were beyond the River, sent unto Darius the king;
they sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus: Unto Darius the king, all peace.
Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls; and this work goeth on with diligence and prospereth in their hands.
Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall?
We asked them their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were at the head of them.
And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and finished.
But {Or, because that}after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.
But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God.
And the gold and silver vessels also of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor;
and he said unto him, Take these vessels, go, put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in its place.
Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not completed.
Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure-house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.
Also the foreigners that join themselves to Jehovah, to minister unto him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast my covenant;
even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
And when he was minded to pass over into Achaia, the brethren encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him: and when he was come, he {Or, helped much through grace them that had believed}helped them much that had believed through grace;
And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth.