Ezra 8:24-36--Priests to Guard Offerings

Ezra 8:24-36
English Standard Version

Priests to Guard Offerings
24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen 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 and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. 26 I weighed out into their hand 650 talents of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents, and 100 talents of gold, 27 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as 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 fathers. 29 Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the LORD.” 30 So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

31 Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. 32 We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. 33 On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, 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. 34 The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

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. 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 aided the people and the house of God.

---

In this passage, Ezra turned over possession of the sacred items of silver, gold, and bronze to the priests along with the freewill offering of silver and gold offered by the king, his cabinet members, and the leaders of the community that were present.  Everything was weighed out and accounted for and put in the hands of 12 priests and the Levites in general to be responsible for it until they could reach Jerusalem and put these items in the hands of the high priest and place the sacred articles in the Temple.  The silver and gold that was a freewill offering was first to be used to replace anything in the Temple that was needed and then, after that, could be used by the priests and the Levites as they saw fit (it could go into the LORD's treasury if they didn't need to use it for anything else).

They broke camp on the twelfth day of the first month and made their way towards Jerusalem.  Nothing is said about the journey other than the LORD was with them and kept them safe and gave them success.  Because the text says that the LORD delivered them from enemy ambushes, it sounds like they were the target of such ambushes, but they know the LORD fought for them and protected them all along the way.  What a testimony!  Everyone and everything arrived safely, and they camped at Jerusalem for three days once they had arrived.

On the fourth day, they presented the sacred objects that had been put into the hands of the priests at the Temple--the names of the men who took possession of these holy items and offerings are named here--and everything was weighed, counted, and recorded to make sure nothing was lost along the way.  The inventory taken by Ezra before they left matched exactly with the inventory when they reached Jerusalem.

For the Exiles who were returning with them, there was great celebration, as they were happy to be home.  They offered all kinds of sacrifices and offerings on the LORD's altar from the offerings made by the king and his nobles--twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats.  All these were made as a burnt offering to the LORD.

They also delivered the king's commission to all the satraps and governors of the province Beyond the River--that anything that the Jews needed for worship in the Temple was to be paid for out of the royal treasury of the province Beyond the River.  They also would have delivered the news that the priests and their families were to not pay tax or duty or have any such revenue collected from them and that no one was supposed to interfere with their ability to worship at the Temple so that they might offer prayers and offerings on behalf of the king and his people.  There was more in Darius's letter, but I'll let you go back and read it for yourself in Ezra 6:1-12 if you need a reminder of all the good things that came to the people of Jerusalem and Judah through the LORD by way of the decrees of Cyrus and Darius.