11. Zechariah son of Bebaifrom Bebai’s descendants,and 28 men with him;
12. Johanan son of Hakkatanfrom Azgad’s descendants,and 110 men with him;
13. these are the last ones, from Adonikam’s descendants, and their names are:Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah,and 60 men with them;
14. Uthai and Zaccur from Bigvai’s descendants,and 70 men with them.
15. I gathered them at the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I searched among the people and priests, but found no Levites there.
16. Then I summoned the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, as well as the teachers Joiarib and Elnathan.
17. I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia, with a message for him and his brothers, the temple servants at Casiphia, that they should bring us ministers for the house of our God.
18. Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah — a man of insight from the descendants of Mahli, a descendant of Levi son of Israel — along with his sons and brothers, 18 men,
19. plus Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah, from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and their sons, 20 men.
20. There were also 220 of the temple servants, who had been appointed by David and the leaders for the work of the Levites. All were identified by name.
21. I proclaimed a fast by the Ahava River, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us, our children, and all our possessions.
22. I did this because I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and cavalry to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who abandon Him.”
23. So we fasted and pleaded with our God about this, and He granted our request.
24. I selected 12 of the leading priests, along with Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and 10 of their brothers.
25. I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles — the contribution for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his leaders, and all the Israelites who were present had offered.
26. I weighed out to them 24 tons of silver, silver articles weighing 7,500 pounds, 7,500 pounds of gold,