20. They also brought 220 of the temple servants. That was a special group David and his officials had established. They were supposed to help the Levites. All of them were listed by name.
21. I announced a fast by the waterway that flows toward Ahava. I told the people not to eat any food. In that way, we made ourselves low in the sight of God. We prayed that he would give us and our children a safe journey. We asked him to keep safe everything we owned.
22. I was ashamed to ask King Artaxerxes for soldiers and horsemen. They could have kept us safe from enemies on the road. But we had told the king that our God would keep us safe. We had said, "The gracious hand of our God helps everyone who looks to him. But he becomes very angry with anyone who deserts him."
23. So we didn't eat anything. We prayed to our God about all of those matters. And he answered our prayers.
24. Then I set 12 of the leading priests apart. I also set apart Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their relatives.
25. I weighed out to them the offering of silver and gold and other articles. They had been given for the house of our God. The king, his advisers and officials, and all of the people of Israel who were there had given them.
26. I weighed out 25 tons of silver to those men. I weighed out almost four tons of silver articles. I weighed out almost four tons of gold.
27. I weighed out 20 gold bowls. They weighed 19 pounds. I also weighed out two fine articles. The bronze they were made out of was highly polished. They were as priceless as gold.
28. I said to those men, "You are set apart to the Lord. So are these articles. The silver and gold were offered to the Lord by those who chose to give them. He is the God of your people.
29. Guard all of those things carefully until you weigh them out. Weigh them in the special rooms of the Lord's temple in Jerusalem. Do it in front of the leading priests and the Levites. Make sure the family leaders of Israel are watching."
30. Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred articles. All of them had been weighed out. They were going to take them to the house of our God in Jerusalem.
31. On the 12th day of the first month we started out. We left the waterway that flows toward Ahava. And we headed for Jerusalem. The powerful hand of our God helped us. He kept us safe from enemies and robbers along the way.