Ezra 8

¹ Na the names of the family leaders and the other people wey follow me go Jerusalem from Babylon be this. Na during the rule of King Artaxerxes we come Jerusalem. Na the list of the names be this:

² From the descendants of Phinehas na: Gershom; from the descendants of Ithamar na: Daniel; from the descendants of David na: Hattush;

³ From the descendants of Shecaniah na: the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and other 150 men;

⁴ From the descendants of Pahath Moab na: Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and other 200 men;

⁵ From the descendants of Zattu na: Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and other 300 men;

⁶ From the descendants of Adin na: Ebed son of Jonathan, and other 50 men;

⁷ From the descendants of Elam na: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and other 70 men;

⁸ From the descendants of Shephatiah na: Zebadiah son of Micheal, and other 80 men;

⁹ From the descendants of Joab na: Obadiah son of Jehiel, and other 218 men;

¹⁰ From the descendants of Bani na: Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and other 160 men;

¹¹ From the descendants of Bebai na: Zechariah son of Bebai, and other 28 men;

¹² From the descendants of Azgad na: Johanan son of Hakkatan, and other 110 men;

¹³ From the last of the descendants of Adonikam na: Eliphelet, Jeuel, Shemaiah, and other 60 men;

¹⁴ From the descendants of Bigvai na: Uthai, Zaccur, and other 70 men.

¹⁵ I call all these people make dem meet together for the river wey dey flow go Ahava. Na three days we camp for that place. I hear say priests dey for the group, but Levites no dey.

¹⁶ Naso I call these leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, and I call Joiarib and Elnathan.(These men na teachers.)

¹⁷ I send the men go meet Iddo, wey be leader for the town of Casiphia. I tell them wetin make dem talk to Iddo and him relatives, wey be temple workers for Casiphia. I tell the men make dem ask Iddo and him relative say make dem send workers to us to serve for the Temple of God.

¹⁸ Because God dey with us, dem send Sherebiah, man wey get skill from the descendants of Mahli (Mahli na son of Levi, wey be one of the sons of Israel.) Dem also send him sons and brothers, na 18 men dem be.

¹⁹ Dem also send Hashabiah and Jeshaiah from descendants of Merari, with their brothers and nephews, na 20 men dem be.

²⁰ Apart from these, 220 Temple workers dey wey ancestors don chose by David and him officials make dem help the Levites. Dem write the names of all these men for the list.

²¹ For there near Ahava River, I announce say make all of us fast. Make we fast to make ourselves dey humble before our God. We wan ask God for journey mercy for ourselves, our children, and for everything wey we get.

²² Shame catch me as I ask King Artaxerxes for soldiers and horsemen to protect us as we dey travel. Plenty enemies dey for road. The reason why shame catch me to ask for protection na because of wetin we don tell the king. We don tell King Artaxerxes say, "Our God dey with everyone wey trust him, but he dey vex with everyone wey turn away from him."

²³ Naso we fast and pray to our God about our trip. He answer our prayers.

²⁴ I con chose twelve of the priests wey be leaders. I chose Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers.

²⁵ I measure the silver, gold, and the other things wey dem give for the Temple of God. I carry them give the twelve priests wey I don chose. Na King Artaxerxes, him advisors, him important officials, and all the Israelites for Babylon don give those things for Temple of God.

²⁶ I con measure all these things. 25 tons of silver dey. 7500 pounds of silver dishes and things dey. 33.4 tons of gold dey.

²⁷ And I con give them 20 gold bowls. The bowls dey weigh about 19 pounds. And I con give them two beautiful dishes wey dem make from bronze wey dem polish, wey dey valuable like gold.

²⁸ Then I con tell the twelve priests say: "Una and all these things dey holy to God. People don give this silver and gold to the LORD, the God of una ancestors.

²⁹ So make una guard these thing carefully. Una dey responsible for them until una don give them to the Temple leaders for Jerusalem. Una go give them to the Levites wey dey lead and the family leaders of Israel. Dem go weigh them and put them for the rooms of the Temple of God for Jerusalem."

³⁰ Naso the priests and Levites accept the silver, gold, and special things wey Ezra don weigh and give them. Dem say make dem take all of am go Temple of God in Jerusalem.

³¹ We commot for Ahava River and start to dey go Jerusalem, on the twelfth day of the first month. God dey with us, and he protect us from enemies and robber wey dey along the way.

³² We con reach Jerusalem. Na three days we take rest for there.

³³ We go to the Temple and weigh the silver, gold, and special things on the fourth day. We carry them give Meremoth son of Uriah the priest. Eleazer son of Phinehas dey with Meremoth. The Levites, Jozabad son of Jeshua, and Noadiah son of Binnui also dey with them.

³⁴ We don count and weigh everything and we don write the total weight down.

³⁵ Then the Jewish people wey come back from slavery offer burnt offering to God of Israel. Dem offer twelve bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 male lambs, and twelve male goats for sin offering. All this na burnt offering to God.

³⁶ Then the people con give the letter from King Artaxerxes to the royal provincial governor and to the governor wey dey for the area west of the Euphrates River. The leaders con give their support to the Israelites and the Temple.