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unmistakably significant

Ezra 2:1-70

Ezra 2:1 These now are the people of the province who came from those captive exiles King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had deported to Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town.
Ezra 2:2 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of Israelite men included
Ezra 2:3 Parosh’s descendants 2,172
Ezra 2:4 Shephatiah’s descendants 372
Ezra 2:5 Arah’s descendants 775
Ezra 2:6 Pahath-moab’s descendants: Jeshua’s and Joab’s descendants 2,812
Ezra 2:7 Elam’s descendants 1,254
Ezra 2:8 Zattu’s descendants 945
Ezra 2:9 Zaccai’s descendants 760
Ezra 2:10 Bani’s descendants 642
Ezra 2:11 Bebai’s descendants 623
Ezra 2:12 Azgad’s descendants 1,222
Ezra 2:13 Adonikam’s descendants 666
Ezra 2:14 Bigvai’s descendants 2,056
Ezra 2:15 Adin’s descendants 454
Ezra 2:16 Ater’s descendants: of Hezekiah 98
Ezra 2:17 Bezai’s descendants 323
Ezra 2:18 Jorah’s descendants 112
Ezra 2:19 Hashum’s descendants 223
Ezra 2:20 Gibbar’s descendants 95
Ezra 2:21 Bethlehem’s people 123
Ezra 2:22 Netophah’s men 56
Ezra 2:23 Anathoth’s men 128
Ezra 2:24 Azmaveth’s people 42
Ezra 2:25 Kiriatharim’s, Chephirah’s, and Beeroth’s people 743
Ezra 2:26 Ramah’s and Geba’s people 621
Ezra 2:27 Michmas’s men 122
Ezra 2:28 Bethel’s and Ai’s men 223
Ezra 2:29 Nebo’s people 52
Ezra 2:30 Magbish’s people 156
Ezra 2:31 the other Elam’s people 1,254
Ezra 2:32 Harim’s people 320
Ezra 2:33 Lod’s, Hadid’s, and Ono’s people 725
Ezra 2:34 Jericho’s people 345
Ezra 2:35 Senaah’s people 3,630
Ezra 2:36 The priests included Jedaiah’s descendants of the house of Jeshua 973
Ezra 2:37 Immer’s descendants 1,052
Ezra 2:38 Pashhur’s descendants 1,247
Ezra 2:39 and Harim’s descendants 1,017
Ezra 2:40 The Levites included Jeshua’s and Kadmiel’s descendants from Hodaviah’s descendants 74
Ezra 2:41 The singers included Asaph’s descendants 128
Ezra 2:42 The gatekeepers’ descendants included Shallum’s descendants, Ater’s descendants, Talmon’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants, Hatita’s descendants, and Shobai’s descendants, in all 139
Ezra 2:43 The temple servants included Ziha’s descendants, Hasupha’s descendants, Tabbaoth’s descendants,
Ezra 2:44 Keros’s descendants, Siaha’s descendants, Padon’s descendants,
Ezra 2:45 Lebanah’s descendants, Hagabah’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants,
Ezra 2:46 Hagab’s descendants, Shalmai’s descendants, Hanan’s descendants,
Ezra 2:47 Giddel’s descendants, Gahar’s descendants, Reaiah’s descendants,
Ezra 2:48 Rezin’s descendants, Nekoda’s descendants, Gazzam’s descendants,
Ezra 2:49 Uzza’s descendants, Paseah’s descendants, Besai’s descendants,
Ezra 2:50 Asnah’s descendants, Meunim’s descendants, Nephusim’s descendants,
Ezra 2:51 Bakbuk’s descendants, Hakupha’s descendants, Harhur’s descendants,
Ezra 2:52 Bazluth’s descendants, Mehida’s descendants, Harsha’s descendants,
Ezra 2:53 Barkos’s descendants, Sisera’s descendants, Temah’s descendants,
Ezra 2:54 Neziah’s descendants, and Hatipha’s descendants.
Ezra 2:55 The descendants of Solomon’s servants included Sotai’s descendants, Hassophereth’s descendants, Peruda’s descendants,
Ezra 2:56 Jaalah’s descendants, Darkon’s descendants, Giddel’s descendants,
Ezra 2:57 Shephatiah’s descendants, Hattil’s descendants, Pochereth-hazzebaim’s descendants, and Ami’s descendants.
Ezra 2:58 All the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants 392.
Ezra 2:59 The following are those who came from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer but were unable to prove that their ancestral families and their lineage were Israelite:
Ezra 2:60 Delaiah’s descendants, Tobiah’s descendants, Nekoda’s descendants 652
Ezra 2:61 and from the descendants of the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, the descendants of Barzillai– who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and who bore their name.
Ezra 2:62 These searched for their entries in the genealogical records but could not be found, so they were disqualified from the priesthood.
Ezra 2:63 The governor ordered them not to eat the most sacred things until a priest could consult the Lights and Thummim.
Ezra 2:64 The whole combined assembly numbered 42,360
Ezra 2:65 which did not include their 7,337 male and female servants and 200 male and female singers.
Ezra 2:66 They had 736 horses, 245 mules,
Ezra 2:67 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
Ezra 2:68 After they arrived at Yahveh’s house in Jerusalem, some of the family heads donated money to rebuild the house of God on its original site.
Ezra 2:69 Based on what they could give, they gave 61,000 gold coins, 6,250 pounds of silver, and 100 priestly garments to the treasury for the project.
Ezra 2:70 The priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, and some people settled in their towns, and the rest of Israel settled in their towns.

unmistakably significant

This tremendous event – the reoccupation of the homeland of Judah – was personally experienced by thousands who are listed here. Every now and then we experience a day or an event that we think might be very significant. Time will only tell if the things we think are significant really turn out to be. The events of the reoccupation described in the biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah were unmistakably significant. It remained for those people experiencing the events to see that their lives were as significant as the times they were living were.

LORD, make our lives count.