The pronoun "we" here includes all the Israelites including Nehemiah except for the priest and Levites, and does not include the reader of this book (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-exclusive]])
"1/3 of a shekel." "A third" means one part out of three equal parts. This can be written in modern measurements. Alternate translation: "5 grams of sliver" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-bmoney]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-fraction]])