Nehemiah 11-12

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Resettling Jerusalem

11 Now the leaders of the people stayed in Jerusalem,^(A) and the rest of the people cast lots^(B) for one out of ten to come and live in Jerusalem, the holy city,^(C) while the other nine-tenths remained in their towns.^(D) ²The people praised all the men who volunteered^(E) to live in Jerusalem.

³These are the heads of the province who stayed in Jerusalem^(F) (but in the villages of Judah each lived on his own property in their towns^(G)—the Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants^(H)— ⁴while some of the descendants of Judah and Benjamin settled in Jerusalem):

Judah’s^(I) descendants:

Athaiah son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of Perez’s descendants; ⁵and Maaseiah son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, a descendant of the Shilonite. ⁶The total number of Perez’s descendants, who settled in Jerusalem, was 468 capable men.

⁷These were Benjamin’s descendants:

Sallu son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah, ⁸and after him Gabbai and Sallai: 928. ⁹Joel son of Zichri was the officer over them, and Judah son of Hassenuah was second in command over the city.

¹⁰The priests:

Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jachin, and ¹¹Seraiah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the chief official of God’s temple, ¹²and their relatives who did the work at the temple: 822. Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah ¹³and his relatives, the leaders of families: 242. Amashsai son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer, ¹⁴and their relatives, capable men: 128. Zabdiel son of Haggedolim, was their chief.

¹⁵The Levites:

Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni; ¹⁶and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the leaders of the Levites, who supervised the work outside the house of God; ¹⁷Mattaniah son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, the leader who began the thanksgiving in prayer;^(J) Bakbukiah, second among his relatives; and Abda son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun.^(K) ¹⁸All the Levites in the holy city:^(L) 284.

¹⁹The gatekeepers:

Akkub, Talmon, and their relatives, who guarded the gates: 172.

²⁰The rest of Israel, the priests, and the Levites were in all the villages of Judah, each on his own inherited property.^(M) ²¹The temple servants lived on Ophel;^[a]^(N) Ziha and Gishpa supervised the temple servants.

The Levites and Priests

²²The leader of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the descendants of Asaph, who were singers for the service of God’s house. ²³There was, in fact, a command of the king regarding them, and an ordinance regulating^[b] the singers’^(O) daily tasks. ²⁴Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, of the descendants of Zerah^(P) son of Judah, was the king’s^(Q) agent^[c] in every matter concerning the people.

²⁵As for the farming settlements with their fields:

Some of Judah’s descendants lived in Kiriath-arba^(R) and its villages,
Dibon^(S) and its villages, and Jekabzeel and its villages;
²⁶in Jeshua, Moladah,^(T) Beth-pelet,
²⁷Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba^(U) and its villages;
²⁸in Ziklag^(V) and Meconah and its villages;
²⁹in En-rimmon, Zorah,^(W) Jarmuth,^(X) and
³⁰Zanoah^(Y) and Adullam with their villages;
in Lachish^(Z) with its fields and Azekah^(AA) and its villages.
So they settled from Beer-sheba^(AB) to the Valley of Hinnom.^(AC)

³¹Benjamin’s descendants:
from Geba,^[d]^(AD) Michmash,^(AE) Aija,
and Bethel^(AF)—and its villages,
³²Anathoth,^(AG) Nob,^(AH) Ananiah,
³³Hazor,^(AI) Ramah,^(AJ) Gittaim,^(AK)
³⁴Hadid, Zeboim,^(AL) Neballat,
³⁵Lod, and Ono,^(AM) the Valley of Craftsmen.
³⁶Some of the Judean divisions of Levites were in Benjamin.

12 These^(AN) are the priests and Levites^(AO) who went up with Zerubbabel^(AP) son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua:

Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
²Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,
³Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
⁴Iddo,^(AQ) Ginnethoi, Abijah,^(AR)
⁵Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,
⁶Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,^(AS)
⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah.

These were the leaders of the priests and their relatives in the days of Jeshua.^(AT)

⁸The Levites:

Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel,
Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah^(AU)—
he and his relatives were in charge of the praise songs.
⁹Bakbukiah, Unni,^[e] and their relatives stood opposite them in the services.
¹⁰Jeshua fathered Joiakim,
Joiakim fathered Eliashib,
Eliashib^(AV) fathered Joiada,
¹¹Joiada fathered Jonathan,
and Jonathan fathered Jaddua.^[f]

¹²In the days of Joiakim, the leaders of the priestly families were:

Meraiah	of Seraiah,
Hananiah	of Jeremiah,
¹³Meshullam	of Ezra,
Jehohanan	of Amariah,
¹⁴Jonathan	of Malluchi,
Joseph	of Shebaniah,
¹⁵Adna	of Harim,
Helkai	of Meraioth,
¹⁶Zechariah	of Iddo,
Meshullam	of Ginnethon,
¹⁷Zichri	of Abijah,
Piltai	of Moadiah, of Miniamin,
¹⁸Shammua	of Bilgah,
Jehonathan	of Shemaiah,
¹⁹Mattenai	of Joiarib,
Uzzi	of Jedaiah,
²⁰Kallai	of Sallai,
Eber	of Amok,
²¹Hashabiah	of Hilkiah,
and Nethanel	of Jedaiah.

²²In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the leaders of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded while Darius the Persian ruled. ²³Levi’s descendants, the leaders of families, were recorded in the Book of the Historical Records^(AW) during the days of Johanan son of Eliashib. ²⁴The leaders of the Levites—Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their relatives opposite them—gave praise and thanks, division by division, as David the man of God had prescribed.^(AX) ²⁵This included Mattaniah,^(AY) Bakbukiah, and Obadiah. Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates.^(AZ) ²⁶These served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor^(BA) and Ezra the priest and scribe.^(BB)

Dedication of the Wall

²⁷At the dedication of the wall^(BC) of Jerusalem, they sent for the Levites wherever they lived and brought them to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.^(BD) ²⁸The singers gathered from the region around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites,^(BE) ²⁹from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for they had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. ³⁰After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.^(BF)

³¹Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large processions that gave thanks. One went to the right on the wall, toward the Dung Gate.^(BG) ³²Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed, ³³along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, ³⁵and some of the priests’ sons with trumpets, and Zechariah son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph followed ³⁶as well as his relatives—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David, the man of God.^(BH) Ezra the scribe^(BI) went in front of them. ³⁷At the Fountain Gate^(BJ) they climbed the steps of the city of David^(BK) on the ascent of the wall and went above the house of David to the Water Gate^(BL) on the east.

³⁸The second thanksgiving procession went to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens^(BM) to the Broad Wall,^(BN) ³⁹above the Gate of Ephraim,^(BO) and by the Old Gate,^(BP) the Fish Gate,^(BQ) the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate.^(BR) They stopped at the Gate of the Guard.^(BS) ⁴⁰The two thanksgiving processions stood in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials accompanying me, ⁴¹as well as the priests:

Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin,
Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah,
and Hananiah, with trumpets;
⁴²and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar,
Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer.

Then the singers sang, with Jezrahiah as the leader. ⁴³On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy.^(BT) The women and children also celebrated, and Jerusalem’s rejoicing was heard far away.^(BU)

Support of the Levites’ Ministry

⁴⁴On that same day men were placed in charge of the rooms^(BV) that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tenths.^(BW) The legally required portions for the priests and Levites^(BX) were gathered from the village fields, because Judah was grateful to the priests and Levites who were serving.^(BY) ⁴⁵They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers,^(BZ) as David and his son Solomon had prescribed.^(CA) ⁴⁶For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph,^(CB) there were leaders^[g] of the singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.^(CC) ⁴⁷So in the days of Zerubbabel^(CD) and Nehemiah,^(CE) all Israel contributed the daily portions^(CF) for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions^(CG) for the descendants of Aaron.