20. And from the temple servants, whom David, and the leaders had provided for the ministry of the Levites, there were two hundred twenty temple servants. All these were called by their names.
21. And I proclaimed a fast in that place, beside the river Ahava, so that we might afflict ourselves in the sight of the Lord our God, and so that we might request of him the right way for us, and for our sons, and for all our substance.
22. For I was ashamed to petition the king for assistance and for horsemen, who would defend us from the enemy along the way. For we had said to the king: "The hand of our God is over all those who seek him in goodness. And his authority, and his strength and fury, is over all those who forsake him."
23. And so we fasted and begged our God for this; and as a result, we prospered.
24. And I separated twelve from among the leaders of the priests: Sherebiah, and Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers.
25. And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold, and the vessels consecrated to the house of our God, which had been offered by the king, and by his counselors and his leaders, and by all those of Israel who had been found.
26. And I weighed out to their hands six hundred fifty talents of silver, and one hundred vessels of silver, and one hundred talents of gold,
27. and twenty gold bowls which had the weight of one thousand coins, and two vessels of the finest shining brass, as beautiful as gold.
28. And I said to them: "You are the holy ones of the Lord, and the vessels are holy, with the silver and the gold, which has been offered freely to the Lord, the God of our fathers.
29. Watch and guard them, until you weigh them out before the leaders of the priests and the Levites, and the rulers of the families of Israel in Jerusalem, into the treasury of the house of the Lord."
30. Then the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, so that they might carry these to Jerusalem, into the house of our God.
31. Therefore, we set out from the river Ahava, on the twelfth day of the first month, so that we might travel to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was over us, and he freed us from the hand of the enemy and of those who lay in ambush along the way.
32. And we arrived at Jerusalem, and we stayed there for three days.
33. Then, on the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed out 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 were the Levites, Jozabad, the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, the son of Binnui.