New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 These are their family heads, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of King Artaxerxes:
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Now these are the heads of families who were listed of those who went up with me from Babylon, when Artaxerxes was king.
2 Of the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom. Of Ithamar, Daniel. Of David, Hattush,
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Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush;
3 of the descendants of Shecaniah. Of Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered one hundred fifty males.
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Of the sons of Shecaniah; of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were listed a hundred and fifty males.
4 Of the descendants of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.
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Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.
5 Of the descendants of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.
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Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.
6 Of the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.
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And of the sons of Adin, Ebed, the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.
7 Of the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.
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And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah; the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.
8 Of the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him eighty males.
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And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, the son of Michael; and with him eighty males.
9 Of the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred eighteen males.
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Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah, the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
10 Of the descendants of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him one hundred sixty males.
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And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and sixty males.
11 Of the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males.
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And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males.
12 Of the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred ten males.
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And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan, the son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred and ten males.
13 Of the descendants of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males.
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And of the sons of Adonikam, the last, whose names were Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males.
14 Of the descendants of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them seventy males.
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And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.
15 I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the descendants of Levi.
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And I made them come together by the river flowing to Ahava; and we were there in tents for three days: and after viewing the people and the priests I saw that no sons of Levi were there.
16 Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise,
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Then I sent for Eliezer and Ariel and Shemaiah and Elnathan Jarib and Elnathan and Nathan and Zechariah and Meshullam, all responsible men; and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise men.
17 and sent them to Iddo, the leader at the place called Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his colleagues the temple servants at Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God.
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And I sent them to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and gave them orders what to say to Iddo and his brothers the Nethinim at the place Casiphia, so that they might come back to us with men to do the work of the house of our God.
18 Since the gracious hand of our God was upon us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the descendants of Mahli son of Levi son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and kin, eighteen;
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And by the help of our God they got for us Ish-sechel, one of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah with his sons and brothers, eighteen;
19 also Hashabiah and with him Jeshaiah of the descendants of Merari, with his kin and their sons, twenty;
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And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty;
20 besides two hundred twenty of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.
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And of the Nethinim, to whom David and the captains had given the work of helping the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them specially named.
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might deny ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions.
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Then I gave orders for a time of going without food, there by the river Ahava, so that we might make ourselves low before our God in prayer, requesting from him a straight way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance.
22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and cavalry to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king that the hand of our God is gracious to all who seek him, but his power and his wrath are against all who forsake him.
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For I would not, for shame, make request to the king for a band of armed men and horsemen to give us help against those who might make attacks on us on the way: for we had said to the king, The hand of our God is on his servants for good, but his power and his wrath are against all those who are turned away from him.
23 So we fasted and petitioned our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.
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So we went without food, requesting our God for this: and his ear was open to our prayer.
24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kin with them.
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So I put on one side twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,
25 And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his lords, and all Israel there present had offered;
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And gave to them by weight the silver and the gold and the vessels, all the offering for the house of our God which the king and his wise men and his captains and all Israel there present had given:
26 I weighed out into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver, and one hundred silver vessels worth . . . talents, and one hundred talents of gold,
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Measuring into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels, a hundred talents' weight, and a hundred talents of gold,
27 twenty gold bowls worth a thousand darics, and two vessels of fine polished bronze as precious as gold.
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And twenty gold basins, of a thousand darics, and two vessels of the best bright brass, equal in value to 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 freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your ancestors.
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And I said to them, You are holy to the Lord and the vessels are holy: and the silver and the gold are an offering freely given to the Lord, the God of your fathers.
29 Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of families in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the Lord."
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Take care of them and keep them, till you put them on the scales before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and the chiefs of the families of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of the Lord.
30 So the priests and the Levites took over the silver, the gold, and the vessels as they were weighed out, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.
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So the priests and the Levites took the weight of silver and gold and the vessels, to take them to Jerusalem into the house of our God.
31 Then we left the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes along the way.
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Then we went away from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was on us, and he gave us salvation from our haters and those who were waiting to make an attack on us by the way.
32 We came to Jerusalem and remained there three days.
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And we came to Jerusalem and were there for three days.
33 On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver, the gold, and the vessels were weighed into the hands of the priest Meremoth son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.
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And on the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the vessels were measured out by weight in the house of our God into the hands of Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the priest; and with him was Eleazar, the son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad, the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, the son of Binnui, the Levites;
34 The total was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.
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All was handed over by number and by weight: and the weight was put on record at that time.
35 At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats; all this was a burnt offering to the Lord.
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And those who had been prisoners, who had come back from a strange land, made burned offerings to the God of Israel, twelve oxen for all Israel, ninety-six male sheep, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all this was a burned offering to the Lord.
36 They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River; and they supported the people and the house of God.
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And they gave the king's orders to the king's captains and the rulers across the river, and they gave the people and the house of God the help which was needed.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.