April 18, 2025, Ezra 2:1-70
April 18, 2025, Ezra 2:1-70
2 Now
these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those
exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to
Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2 They
came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai,
Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.
The number of the men of the people of
Israel: 3 the sons of Parosh, 2,172. 4 The
sons of Shephatiah, 372. 5 The sons of Arah,
775. 6 The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of
Jeshua and Joab, 2,812. 7 The sons of Elam,
1,254. 8 The sons of Zattu, 945. 9 The
sons of Zaccai, 760. 10 The sons of Bani,
642. 11 The sons of Bebai, 623. 12 The
sons of Azgad, 1,222. 13 The sons of Adonikam,
666. 14 The sons of Bigvai, 2,056. 15 The
sons of Adin, 454. 16 The sons of Ater, namely of
Hezekiah, 98. 17 The sons of Bezai, 323. 18 The
sons of Jorah, 112. 19 The sons of Hashum,
223. 20 The sons of Gibbar, 95. 21 The
sons of Bethlehem, 123. 22 The men of Netophah,
56. 23 The men of Anathoth, 128. 24 The
sons of Azmaveth, 42. 25 The sons of Kiriath-arim,
Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. 26 The sons of Ramah
and Geba, 621. 27 The men of Michmas, 122. 28 The
men of Bethel and Ai, 223. 29 The sons of Nebo,
52. 30 The sons of Magbish, 156. 31 The
sons of the other Elam, 1,254. 32 The sons of
Harim, 320. 33 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono,
725. 34 The sons of Jericho, 345. 35 The
sons of Senaah, 3,630.
36 The
priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. 37 The
sons of Immer, 1,052. 38 The sons of Pashhur,
1,247. 39 The sons of Harim, 1,017.
40 The
Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah,
74. 41 The singers: the sons of Asaph,
128. 42 The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons
of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons
of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139.
43 The
temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of
Tabbaoth, 44 the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha,
the sons of Padon, 45 the sons of Lebanah, the sons
of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, 46 the sons of
Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, 47 the
sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, 48 the
sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, 49 the
sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, 50 the
sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, 51 the
sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 52 the
sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 53 the
sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 54 the
sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.
55 The sons
of Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of
Peruda, 56 the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon,
the sons of Giddel, 57 the sons of Shephatiah, the
sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami.
58 All the
temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392.
59 The
following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and
Immer, though they could not prove their fathers' houses or their descent,
whether they belonged to Israel: 60 the sons of
Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652. 61 Also,
of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the
sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai
the Gileadite, and was called by their name). 62 These
sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they
were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as
unclean. 63 The governor told them that they
were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest
to consult Urim and Thummim.
64 The
whole assembly together was 42,360, 65 besides
their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male
and female singers. 66 Their horses were 736,
their mules were 245, 67 their camels were 435, and
their donkeys were 6,720.
68 Some of
the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, made
freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site. 69 According
to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000
darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests' garments.
70 Now the
priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the
temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel in their
towns.
Over 42,000 people
returned from Babylon to their home countries.
There is even a count here of the animals, the silver, gold and priests’
garments. They were finally allowed to
go “home” in more ways than the physical place.
They were able to return to worship in the way they had before. As you can see from these verses, the holy
food, garments and offerings were important to them.
What would your list look
like if you were documenting what was most important to you? What would you deem of value to you and your
family in a similar situation? What our
society seems to find valuable is power, standing in the community, and the things
that come with it.
As we celebrate Good
Friday today, think about what is truly important. Jesus gave everything to give you a choice to
follow Him. Take time to thank Him for
His sacrifice. The “gift” He gave each
of us is greater than anything else you will ever experience.
Comments
Post a Comment