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.

Footnotes

Nehemiah 11:21 = a hill in Jerusalem
Nehemiah 11:23 Lit for
Nehemiah 11:24 Lit was at the king’s hand
Nehemiah 11:31 Or descendants from Geba [lived in]
Nehemiah 12:9 Alt Hb tradition reads Unno
Nehemiah 12:11 These men were high priests.
Nehemiah 12:46 Alt Hb tradition reads there was a leader

Nehemiah 11-12

New International Version

The New Residents of Jerusalem^(A)

11 Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem,^(B) the holy city,^(C) while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns.^(D) ²The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

³These are the provincial leaders who settled in Jerusalem (now some Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants and descendants of Solomon’s servants lived in the towns of Judah, each on their own property in the various towns,^(E) ⁴while other people from both Judah and Benjamin^(F) lived in Jerusalem):^(G)

From the descendants of Judah:

Athaiah son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, a descendant of Perez; ⁵and Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Kol-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, a descendant of Shelah. ⁶The descendants of Perez who lived in Jerusalem totaled 468 men of standing.

⁷From the descendants of Benjamin:

Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah, ⁸and his followers, Gabbai and Sallai—928 men. ⁹Joel son of Zikri was their chief officer, and Judah son of Hassenuah was over the New Quarter of the city.

¹⁰From the priests:

Jedaiah; the son of Joiarib; Jakin; ¹¹Seraiah^(H) son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub,^(I) the official in charge of the house of God, ¹²and their associates, who carried on work for the temple—822 men; Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah, ¹³and his associates, who were heads of families—242 men; Amashsai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, ¹⁴and his^[a] associates, who were men of standing—128. Their chief officer was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim.

¹⁵From the Levites:

Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; ¹⁶Shabbethai^(J) and Jozabad,^(K) two of the heads of the Levites, who had charge of the outside work of the house of God; ¹⁷Mattaniah^(L) son of Mika, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph,^(M) the director who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his associates; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.^(N) ¹⁸The Levites in the holy city^(O) totaled 284.

¹⁹The gatekeepers:

Akkub, Talmon and their associates, who kept watch at the gates—172 men.

²⁰The rest of the Israelites, with the priests and Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, each on their ancestral property.

²¹The temple servants^(P) lived on the hill of Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of them.

²²The chief officer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah,^(Q) the son of Mika. Uzzi was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the musicians responsible for the service of the house of God. ²³The musicians^(R) were under the king’s orders, which regulated their daily activity.

²⁴Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, one of the descendants of Zerah^(S) son of Judah, was the king’s agent in all affairs relating to the people.

²⁵As for the villages with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath Arba^(T) and its surrounding settlements, in Dibon^(U) and its settlements, in Jekabzeel and its villages, ²⁶in Jeshua, in Moladah,^(V) in Beth Pelet,^(W) ²⁷in Hazar Shual,^(X) in Beersheba^(Y) and its settlements, ²⁸in Ziklag,^(Z) in Mekonah and its settlements, ²⁹in En Rimmon, in Zorah,^(AA) in Jarmuth,^(AB) ³⁰Zanoah,^(AC) Adullam^(AD) and their villages, in Lachish^(AE) and its fields, and in Azekah^(AF) and its settlements. So they were living all the way from Beersheba^(AG) to the Valley of Hinnom.

³¹The descendants of the Benjamites from Geba^(AH) lived in Mikmash,^(AI) Aija, Bethel^(AJ) and its settlements, ³²in Anathoth,^(AK) Nob^(AL) and Ananiah, ³³in Hazor,^(AM) Ramah^(AN) and Gittaim,^(AO) ³⁴in Hadid, Zeboim^(AP) and Neballat, ³⁵in Lod and Ono,^(AQ) and in Ge Harashim.

³⁶Some of the divisions of the Levites of Judah settled in Benjamin.

Priests and Levites

12 These were the priests^(AR) and Levites^(AS) who returned with Zerubbabel^(AT) son of Shealtiel^(AU) and with Joshua:^(AV)

Seraiah,^(AW) Jeremiah, Ezra,

²Amariah, Malluk, Hattush,

³Shekaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,

⁴Iddo,^(AX) Ginnethon,^[b] Abijah,^(AY)

⁵Mijamin,^[c] Moadiah, Bilgah,

⁶Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,^(AZ)

⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah and Jedaiah.

These were the leaders of the priests and their associates in the days of Joshua.

⁸The Levites were Jeshua,^(BA) Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and also Mattaniah,^(BB) who, together with his associates, was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. ⁹Bakbukiah and Unni, their associates, stood opposite them in the services.

¹⁰Joshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib,^(BC) Eliashib the father of Joiada, ¹¹Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua.

¹²In the days of Joiakim, these were the heads of the priestly families:

of Seraiah’s family, Meraiah;

of Jeremiah’s, Hananiah;

¹³of Ezra’s, Meshullam;

of Amariah’s, Jehohanan;

¹⁴of Malluk’s, Jonathan;

of Shekaniah’s,^[d] Joseph;

¹⁵of Harim’s, Adna;

of Meremoth’s,^[e] Helkai;

¹⁶of Iddo’s,^(BD) Zechariah;

of Ginnethon’s, Meshullam;

¹⁷of Abijah’s,^(BE) Zikri;

of Miniamin’s and of Moadiah’s, Piltai;

¹⁸of Bilgah’s, Shammua;

of Shemaiah’s, Jehonathan;

¹⁹of Joiarib’s, Mattenai;

of Jedaiah’s, Uzzi;

²⁰of Sallu’s, Kallai;

of Amok’s, Eber;

²¹of Hilkiah’s, Hashabiah;

of Jedaiah’s, Nethanel.

²²The family heads of the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan and Jaddua, as well as those of the priests, were recorded in the reign of Darius the Persian. ²³The family heads among the descendants of Levi up to the time of Johanan son of Eliashib were recorded in the book of the annals. ²⁴And the leaders of the Levites^(BF) were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their associates, who stood opposite them to give praise and thanksgiving, one section responding to the other, as prescribed by David the man of God.^(BG)

²⁵Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates. ²⁶They served in the days of Joiakim son of Joshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest, the teacher of the Law.

Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem

²⁷At the dedication^(BH) of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals,^(BI) harps and lyres.^(BJ) ²⁸The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem—from the villages of the Netophathites,^(BK) ²⁹from Beth Gilgal, and from the area of Geba and Azmaveth, for the musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. ³⁰When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people,^(BL) the gates and the wall.

³¹I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of^[f] the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed on top of^[g] the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate.^(BM) ³²Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed them, ³³along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴Judah, Benjamin,^(BN) Shemaiah, Jeremiah, ³⁵as well as some priests with trumpets,^(BO) and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zakkur, the son of Asaph, ³⁶and his associates—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani—with musical instruments^(BP) prescribed by David the man of God.^(BQ) Ezra^(BR) the teacher of the Law led the procession. ³⁷At the Fountain Gate^(BS) they continued directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the site of David’s palace to the Water Gate^(BT) on the east.

³⁸The second choir proceeded in the opposite direction. I followed them on top of^[h] the wall, together with half the people—past the Tower of the Ovens^(BU) to the Broad Wall,^(BV) ³⁹over the Gate of Ephraim,^(BW) the Jeshanah^[i] Gate,^(BX) the Fish Gate,^(BY) the Tower of Hananel^(BZ) and the Tower of the Hundred,^(CA) as far as the Sheep Gate.^(CB) At the Gate of the Guard they stopped.

⁴⁰The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God; so did I, together with half the officials, ⁴¹as well as the priests—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah with their trumpets— ⁴²and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam and Ezer. The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah. ⁴³And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

⁴⁴At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms^(CC) for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes.^(CD) From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites.^(CE) ⁴⁵They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did also the musicians and gatekeepers, according to the commands of David^(CF) and his son Solomon.^(CG) ⁴⁶For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph,^(CH) there had been directors for the musicians and for the songs of praise^(CI) and thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the musicians and the gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.^(CJ)

Footnotes

Nehemiah 11:14 Most Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew their
Nehemiah 12:4 Many Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate (see also verse 16); most Hebrew manuscripts Ginnethoi
Nehemiah 12:5 A variant of Miniamin
Nehemiah 12:14 Very many Hebrew manuscripts, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also verse 3); most Hebrew manuscripts Shebaniah’s
Nehemiah 12:15 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also verse 3); Hebrew Meraioth’s
Nehemiah 12:31 Or go alongside
Nehemiah 12:31 Or proceed alongside
Nehemiah 12:38 Or them alongside
Nehemiah 12:39 Or Old

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

New International Version (NIV)

Nehemiah 11-12

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Resettling Jerusalem

The Levites and Priests

Dedication of the Wall

Support of the Levites’ Ministry

Footnotes

Cross references

Nehemiah 11-12

New International Version

The New Residents of Jerusalem^(A)

Priests and Levites

Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem

Footnotes

Cross references

More on the NIV

Nehemiah 11-12 Holman Christian Standard Bible

Resettling Jerusalem

The Levites and Priests

Dedication of the Wall

Support of the Levites’ Ministry

Footnotes

Cross references

Nehemiah 11-12 New International Version

The New Residents of Jerusalem(A)

Priests and Levites

Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem

Footnotes

Cross references

More on the NIV

Nehemiah 11-12

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Nehemiah 11-12

New International Version

The New Residents of Jerusalem^(A)