Nehemiah 11-12

Complete Jewish Bible

11 The leaders of the people took up residence in Yerushalayim; while the rest of the people cast lots to bring one-tenth of them to live in Yerushalayim the holy city, with the other nine-tenths in the other cities. ² The people blessed all those who volunteered to live in Yerushalayim.

³ In the cities of Y’hudah, everyone lived on his own property — the people of Isra’el, the cohanim, the L’vi’im, the temple servants and the descendants of Shlomo’s servants. But the leaders of the province lived in Yerushalayim. ⁴ Some of those living in Yerushalayim were from people of Y’hudah, and others were from people of Binyamin. Those from the people of Y’hudah were: ‘Atayah the son of ‘Uziyah, the son of Z’kharyah, the son of Amaryah, the son of Sh’fatyah, the son of Mahalal’el, from the descendants of Peretz; ⁵ and Ma‘aseiyah the son of Barukh, the son of Kol-Hozeh, the son of Hazayah, the son of ‘Adayah, the son of Yoyariv, the son of Z’kharyah, who belonged to the family of Shelah. ⁶ The total number of descendants of Peretz living in Yerushalayim was 468 courageous men.

⁷ These are the people of Binyamin: Salu the son of Meshulam, the son of Yo‘ed, the son of P’dayah, the son of Kolayah, the son of Ma‘aseiyah, the son of Iti’el, the son of Yesha‘yah. ⁸ After him: Gabai, Salai; 928 in all. ⁹ Yo’el the son of Zikhri was their overseer, and Y’hudah the son of Hasnu’ah was second in charge of the city.

¹⁰ From the cohanim: Y’da‘yah the son of Yoyariv, Yakhin, ¹¹ S’rayah the son of Hilkiyah, the son of Meshulam, the son of Tzadok, the son of M’rayot, the son of Achituv, the supervisor of the house of God, ¹² and their kinsmen who did the work for the house; in all 822; and ‘Adayah the son of Yerocham, the son of P’lalyah, the son of Amtzi, the son of Z’kharyah, the son of Pash’chur, the son of Malkiyah; ¹³ with his kinsmen, heads of fathers’ clans, 242; and ‘Amash’sai the son of ‘Azar’el, the son of Achzai, the son of Meshillemot, the son of Immer; ¹⁴ with his kinsmen, courageous men, 128; their overseer was Zavdi’el the son of HaG’dolim.

¹⁵ From the L’vi’im: Sh’ma‘yah the son of Hashuv, the son of ‘Azrikam, the son of Hashavyah, the son of Buni, ¹⁶ and Shabtai and Yozavad, from the leaders of the L’vi’im, who were in charge of external affairs for the house of God; ¹⁷ and Matanyah the son of Mikha, the son of Zavdi, the son of Asaf, the leader who began the thanksgiving prayer; and Bakbukyah, the second among his kinsmen; and ‘Avda the son of Shamua, the son of Galal, the son of Y’dutun. ¹⁸ All the L’vi’im in the holy city numbered 284.

¹⁹ The gatekeepers: ‘Akuv, Talmon and their kinsmen, who kept watch at the gates, numbered 172.

²⁰ The rest of Isra’el, [the rest of] the cohanim and [the rest of] the L’vi’im were in all the cities of Y’hudah, each on his own property.

²¹ The temple servants lived in the ‘Ofel; Tzicha and Gishpa were in charge of the temple servants.

²² The overseer of the L’vi’im in Yerushalayim was ‘Uzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashavyah, the son of Matanyah, the son of Mikha, from the descendants of Asaf the singers; [he was] in charge of the work of the house of God. ²³ For they were subject to the king’s orders; and there was a fixed schedule for the singers, assigning them their daily duties. ²⁴ P’tachyah the son of Mesheizav’el, from the descendants of Zerach the son of Y’hudah, was the king’s deputy in all affairs concerning the people.

²⁵ As for the villages and their surrounding fields: some of the people of Y’hudah lived in Kiryat-Arba and its villages, in Divon and its villages, in Y’kabze’el and its villages, ²⁶ in Yeshua, in Moladah, in Beit-Pelet, ²⁷ in Hatzar-Shu‘al and its villages, in Be’er-Sheva and its villages, ²⁸ in Ziklag, in M’khonah and its villages, ²⁹ in ‘Ein-Rimmon, in Tzor‘ah, in Yarmut, ³⁰ Zanoach, Adulam and their villages, in Lakhish and its surrounding fields, and in ‘Azekah and its villages. Thus they occupied the territory from Be’er-Sheva as far as the Hinnom Valley.

³¹ The people of Binyamin lived from Geva onward, in Mikhmas and ‘Ayah, in Beit-El and its villages, ³² and in ‘Anatot, Nov, ‘Ananyah, ³³ Hatzor, Ramah, Gittayim, ³⁴ Hadid, Tzvo‘im, N’valat, ³⁵ Lud, Ono and Gei-Harashim.

³⁶ Of the L’vi’im, some divisions from Y’hudah settled in Binyamin.

12 These are the cohanim and L’vi’im who went up with Z’rubavel the son of Sh’alti’el, and Yeshua: S’rayah, Yirmeyah, ‘Ezra, ² Amaryah, Malukh, Hatush, ³ Sh’khanyah, Rechum, M’remot, ⁴ ‘Iddo, Gintoi, Achiyah, ⁵ Miyamin, Ma‘adiyah, Bilgah, ⁶ Sh’ma‘yah, Yoyariv, Y’da‘yah, ⁷ Salu, ‘Amok, Hilkiyah and Y’da‘yah. These were the leaders of the cohanim and their kinsmen during the time of Yeshua.

⁸ The L’vi’im: Yeshua, Binui, Kadmi’el, Sherevyah, Y’hudah and Mattanyah, who was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving, he and his kinsmen, ⁹ with Bakbukyah and ‘Uni, their kinsmen, singing antiphonally with them in the service.

¹⁰ Yeshua was the father of Yoyakim, Yoyakim was the father of Elyashiv, Elyashiv was the father of Yoyada, ¹¹ Yoyada was the father of Yonatan, and Yonatan was the father of Yadua.

¹² In the days of Yoyakim these were the cohanim who were heads of fathers’ clans: of S’rayah, M’rayah; of Yirmeyah, Hananyah; ¹³ of ‘Ezra, Meshulam; of Amaryah, Y’hochanan; ¹⁴ of M’likhu, Yonatan; of Sh’vanyah, Yosef; ¹⁵ of Harim, ‘Adna; of M’rayot, Helkai; ¹⁶ of ‘Iddo, Z’kharyah; of Ginton, Meshulam; ¹⁷ of Achiyah, Zikhri; of Minyamin, of Mo‘adyah, Piltai; ¹⁸ of Bilgai, Shamua; of Sh’ma‘yah, Y’honatan; ¹⁹ of Yoyariv, Matnai; of Y’da‘yah, ‘Uzi; ²⁰ of Salai, Kallai; of ‘Amok, ‘Ever; ²¹ of Hilkiyah, Hashavyah; and of Y’da‘yah, N’tan’el.

²² As for the L’vi’im, the heads of fathers’ clans in the days of Elyashiv, Yoyada, Yochanan and Yadua were recorded; also the cohanim, up to the reign of Daryavesh the Persian. ²³ The descendants of Levi who were heads of fathers’ clans were recorded in the annals until the days of Yochanan the [grand]son of Elyashiv. ²⁴ The chiefs of the L’vi’im were Hashavyah, Sherevyah and Yeshua the son of Kadmi’el, with their kinsmen in an antiphonal choir, to praise and give thanks, in accordance with the order of David the man of God, choir opposite choir.

²⁵ Mattanyah, Bakbukyah, ‘Ovadyah, Meshulam, Talmon and ‘Akuv were the gatekeepers who guarded the supplies kept at the gates. ²⁶ This was in the days of Yoyakim the son of Yeshua, the son of Yotzadak, and in the days of Nechemyah the governor and of ‘Ezra the cohen and Torah-teacher.

²⁷ At the dedication of the wall of Yerushalayim, they sought out the L’vi’im from wherever they had settled to bring them to Yerushalayim and celebrate the dedication with hymns of thanksgiving and with songs accompanied by cymbals, lutes and lyres. ²⁸ The trained singers assembled together from the area around Yerushalayim, the villages of the N’tofati, ²⁹ Beit-Gilgal and the region of Geva and ‘Azmavet; for the singers had built villages for themselves all around Yerushalayim.

³⁰ The cohanim and L’vi’im first purified themselves; then they purified the people, the gates and the wall; ³¹ and after that I brought the leaders of Y’hudah up onto the wall and appointed two large choirs to give thanks and to walk in procession. One went to the right on the wall toward the Dung Gate. ³² After them went Hosha‘yah and half of the leaders of Y’hudah, ³³ together with ‘Azaryah, ‘Ezra, Meshulam, ³⁴ Y’hudah, Binyamin, Sh’ma‘yah and Yirmeyah. ³⁵ With them were some of the sons of the cohanim carrying trumpets, namely, Z’kharyah the son of Yonatan the son of Sh’ma‘yah, the son of Mattanyah, the son of Mikhayah, the son of Zakur, the son of Asaf, ³⁶ and his kinsmen, Sh’ma‘yah, ‘Azar’el, Milalai, Gilalai, Ma‘ai, N’tan’el, Y’hudah and Hanani, who had the musical instruments of David the man of God. ‘Ezra the Torah-teacher led them. ³⁷ At the Fountain Gate they went straight ahead up the steps to the City of David, where the wall goes up, passed above the house of David, and went on to the Water Gate on the east.

³⁸ The other thanksgiving choir, consisting of half the people, walked on the wall to meet them, with myself following. They went above the Tower of the Furnaces to the Broad Wall, ³⁹ above the Efrayim Gate, by the gate to the Old City, to the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hanan’el and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate, and halted at the Prison Gate.

⁴⁰ Thus stood the two choirs of those giving thanks in the house of God, with myself and half of the leaders with me. ⁴¹ The cohanim there included Elyakim, Ma‘aseiyah, Minyamin, Mikhayah, Elyo‘einai, Z’kharyah and Hananyah carrying trumpets; ⁴² also Ma‘aseiyah, Sh’ma‘yah, El‘azar, ‘Uzi, Y’hochanan, Malkiyah, ‘Eilam and ‘Ezer. The singers sang loudly, directed by Yizrachyah. ⁴³ With joy they offered great sacrifices that day, for God had made them celebrate with great joy. The women and children too rejoiced, so that the celebrating in Yerushalayim could be heard far off.

⁴⁴ At that time, men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for supplies, contributions, firstfruits and tenths, and to gather into them, from the fields belonging to the cities, the portions prescribed by the Torah for the cohanim and L’vi’im. For Y’hudah rejoiced over the cohanim and L’vi’im who took their position ⁴⁵ carrying out the duties of their God and the duties of purification, as also did the singers and gatekeepers, in accordance with the order of David and of Shlomo his son. ⁴⁶ For back in the days of David and Asaf, there had been leaders for those singing the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷ So in the days of Z’rubavel and in the days of Nechemyah, all Isra’el gave portions to the singers and gatekeepers as required daily. They set aside a portion for the L’vi’im, who, in turn set aside a portion for the descendants of Aharon.