21. Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a good route for us, our little ones, and all our substance.
22. For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of foot and horse soldiers to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all who seek Him for good, but His power and His wrath are against all who forsake Him.”
23. So we fasted and sought our God for this, and He was moved by our prayers.
24. Then I separated twelve of the presiding priests—Sherebiah and Hashabiah, along with ten of their brothers—
25. and weighed out to them the silver, the gold, the vessels, as well as the contribution collected for the house of our God by the king, his counselors, his lords, in conjunction with what all Israel had offered.
26. I weighed out into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, silver articles worth one hundred talents, one hundred talents of gold,
27. twenty gold bowls worth a thousand darics, and two vessels of fine shining bronze, precious as gold.
28. I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord. The vessels are holy also. The silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers.
29. Watch and guard them until you weigh them before the presiding priests and Levites, and the presiding elders of Israel at Jerusalem, for the chambers of the house of the Lord.”
30. So the priests and the Levites accepted the weighed-out silver and gold, along with the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
31. Then we began the journey from the Ahava River 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 attacker and the ambusher along the way.
32. When we arrived at Jerusalem, we stayed there 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. With him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas as well as Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui—both Levites.
34. All of it was counted by number and by weight, and all the information was recorded at that time.
35. Then, the children of the exile who had come out of captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel. On behalf of all Israel, they offered twelve bulls, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering. All of it was offered as a burnt offering to the Lord.
36. Finally, they delivered the king’s decrees to the satraps of the king as well as to the governors of the province Beyond the River. Accordingly, they supported the people and the house of God.