Ezra On The Lineage Of the Levites

Ezra’s fast to beseech Hashem for favorable passage of the Children of Israel.

Hashem granted as they fasted and prayed.

“Heads Of The Family”

“Ezra’s Fast For Favorable Passage”

“Burnt Offerings”

I proclaimed a fast [there], on the River Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God and beseech Him for favorable passage for us, for our young children and for all our possessions.
8:21
… since we had told the king that the hand of our God is benevolent to all who seek Him, and His might and anger befall all who forsake Him.
:22
So we fasted and beseeched our God for this, and He granted our prayers.
:23
I said to them, “You are sacred to Hashem, and the vessels are sacred; and the silver and the gold are contributions to Hashem, God of your forefathers.
:28
We departed from the River Ahava on the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God assisted us, and He saved us from the hand of [any] enemy and ambush along the way.
:31

1 And these are the heads of their father’s houses and the lineage of those who ascended with me in the kingdom of King Artaxerxes from Babylon.
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 Parosh, Zechariah, and with him one hundred and fifty males traced their lineage.
4 Of the sons of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai 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 eighty 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 Josephiah, and with him a hundred and sixty males.
11 And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males.
12 And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him a hundred and ten males.
13 And of the sons of Adonikam the last ones, and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them were sixty males.
14 And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them were seventy males.
15 And I gathered them to the flowing river, to Ahavah, and we encamped there for three days, and I surveyed the people and the priests, and of the sons of Levi I did not find there.
16 And I sent to Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, the heads, and Joiarib and Elnathan, the wise men.
17 And I commanded them to [go to] Iddo, the head in the place Casiphia, and I put words into their mouth to speak to Iddo [and] to Ahiv, who were settled in the place Casiphia to bring us servants for the House of our God.
18 And they brought us according to the hand of our God, which was good over us, a man of intellect, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah and his sons and his brothers, eighteen.
19 And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty.
20 And of the Nethinites, whom King David had appointed, and the chiefs, for the service of the Levites, Nethinites [were] two hundred and twenty-all of them specified by name.
21 And I proclaimed there a fast by the river Ahava, to fast before our God, to beseech Him for a straight way for us and for our children and for all our belongings.
22 For I was ashamed to request of the king an army and horsemen to aid us from enemies on the way, for we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is upon all who seek Him for good, and His power and His wrath are upon all who forsake Him.”
23 And we fasted and beseeched our God concerning this, and He accepted our prayer.
24 And I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them, ten of their brothers.
25 And I weighed out for them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the House of our God, which the king, his advisers, his chiefs, and all Israel who were present, had offered.
26 And I weighed out upon their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and one hundred silver vessels by talents, [and] one hundred talents of gold.
27 And twenty sprinkling bowls of gold of one thousand darics, and two vessels of fine golden copper, precious as gold.
28 And I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a donation to the Lord God of your forefathers.
29 Hasten and guard [them] until you weigh [them] out before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of the fathers’ [houses] of Israel in Jerusalem, [to deposit in] the chambers of the House of the Lord.”
30 And the priests and the Levites received by weight the silver, the gold, and the vessels, to bring to Jerusalem for the House of our God.
31 Then we traveled from the river Ahava on the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us, and He saved us from the clutches of the enemy and those who lie in wait on the way.
32 And we came to Jerusalem and stayed there three days.
33 And on the fourth day, the silver, the gold, and the vessels were weighed in the House of our God onto the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them Josebad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levites.
34 Everything was counted and weighed and the entire weight was written at that time.
35 Those coming from captivity, the people of the exile, offered up burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve he-goats for sin-offerings, all this was a burnt offering to the Lord.