Nehemiah
Chapter 1
1 I am Nehemiah, son of Hakaliah. I am writing this account. This happened in the twentieth year after King Artaxerxes began to rule the Persian Empire, in the month of Kislev. I was in Susa, the capital of Persia.
2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to see me. He brought with him some other men who were from the province of Judah. I asked them questions about the Jews who had escaped when soldiers forced many Jew to go to the nation of Babylon many years earlier and remained in Judah. I also asked about the city of Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “The Jews there in Jerusalem who did not go to Babylon are living in a very difficult and shameful situation. The soldiers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon broke down the wall of Jerusalem so their army could go through it, and they completely burned the gates of the city.”
4 When I heard these words, I sat down and cried. For several days I mourned, I ate no food, and I prayed to the God who is in heaven. 5 I said, “O Yahweh, you are the God who is in heaven. You are the great and awesome God. You keep your promise to faithfully love everyone who loves you and obeys your commands. 6 Now please hear me and see me and listen to what I am praying today. I am your servant, praying to you during the day and at night for your servants, the Israelite people. Because of the sins of the Israelites, I am confessing that we have sinned against you. I myself, and all of my relatives, we also have sinned. 7 We have acted very wickedly towards you. Many years ago your servant Moses gave us your commands and your rules and all the laws that you commanded us to do, but we have not obeyed them.
8 Please remember the promise that you told your servant Moses. You said, ‘If you live unfaithfully and disobey me, I will scatter you among the nations.’ 9 But even if soldiers take you to a very remote place, if you become loyal to me again and obey my commands and do what I have told you, then I will gather up all of you from that place, and I will bring you back to this place where I chose to show you how great and glorious I am.’
10 We are your servants. We are the people whom you have delivered from slavery. You did this easily because you are very powerful. 11 O Yahweh, please listen to my prayer, I who am your servant. Also, please hear the prayers of all your people who have great joy when they honor you for who you are and what you do. I want to ask the king for something. If he is displeased with me, he may kill me. So now I pray that you would make me successful today and cause the king to be merciful to me as I do this.” At that time, I was serving as one of the most trusted servants to the king.
Chapter 2
1 I prayed like this for four months. Now King Artaxerxes had been ruling the Persian Empire for almost twenty years. Then one day when it was time to serve wine to him during a feast, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never looked sad when I was in front of him before, but on that day he saw that I looked very sad. 2 So he asked me, “Why are you sad? I know that you are not sick. It must be that you are sad in your inner being.” Then I was very much afraid, because it was not proper to be sad when I came to the king.
3 I replied to the king, “Your majesty, I hope you will live a very long time! But how can I prevent myself from being sad, because soldiers have destroyed the city where the graves of my ancestors are. They have even completely burned the city gates.”
4 The king replied to me, “So what do you want me to do for you?”
But before I answered him, I prayed to God in heaven. 5 Then I replied to the king, “If you are willing to do it, and if I have pleased you, then send me to the city of Jerusalem in Judah province where the graves of my ancestors are, in order that I may help people to rebuild the city.”
6 While the queen was sitting beside the king, he asked me, “If I allow you to go, how long will you be gone? When will you return?” I told the king how long I would be gone, and the king gave me permission to go, and I told him what day I wanted to leave.
7 I also said to the king, “If you consider it good, please give me letters addressed to the governors who oversee the area beyond the Euphrates River. In these letters, please order them to allow me to travel safely through their provinces on my way to and from Judah. 8 Also, please write a letter to Asaph, the man who takes care of your royal forest in that area. In this letter, please tell him to give me timber to make the beams to support the gates of the fortress that is near the temple, and timber for making the walls of the city, and for building the house in which I will live.” The king did what I requested him to do, because my God was kindly acting for me.
9 I left to travel to Judah. The king sent some army officers and soldiers riding on horses to accompany me, to protect me. When I came to where the governors of the provinces west of the Euphrates River lived, I gave them the letters from the king.
10 Two government officials, Sanballat from a village near Horon and Tobiah, the official from the Ammon people, heard that I had come to help the Israelite people. When they heard this, they became very angry.
11 But I came to Jerusalem and stayed there three days. 12 Then I went out of the city at night, and I took a few men with me. We only had one animal, the one that I was riding on. I said nothing to anyone about what God had told me to do in Jerusalem.
13 We left the city at night, going out through the Valley Gate. Then we went past the well called the Jackal Well, then to the gate called the Rubbish Gate. We inspected all the walls of Jerusalem that the soldiers had broken down and all the gates that they had completely burned. 14 Then we came to the Fountain Gate and to the pool called the Royal Pool, but the animal that I was riding could not get through the narrow opening there. 15 So we turned and went along the Kidron Valley that night and I inspected the wall there. Then we turned around and came back to the Valley Gate, and there we entered the city again. 16 The city officials did not know where I had gone, or what I was doing, because I had not yet told anyone about what I planned to do. I had not said anything about it to the Jewish leaders or the priests or the nobles or the city officials or any of the others who would be helping me in the work that I wanted to do.
17 But now I said to them, “You all know very well the terrible things that have happened to our city. Jerusalem is ruined; even the gates are completely burned. We need to do something about it! We should rebuild the city wall. If we do that, we will no longer feel disgraced.” 18 Then I told them about how God had kindly helped me when I talked to the king, and what the king had said to me. They replied, “We should do it! We will start rebuilding.” So they started to do this good work.
19 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard about what we were doing, they made fun of us and ridiculed us. They said, “What is this work that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king again?”
20 But I replied, “The God who is in heaven will make us successful in this work. We are his servants. We are going to start rebuilding. But as for you, you have no right to decide anything about this city, because you have not participated in what has happened in this city in previous years.”
Chapter 3
1 These are the names of the people who helped to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. Eliashib the Supreme Priest and the other priests began to rebuild it at the Sheep Gate. They dedicated the Sheep Gate to God, and they set in place the doors of the gate. They built the wall as far as the Tower of 100 Soldiers and further north to the Tower of Hananel, and they dedicated it to God. 2 Next to them, men from Jericho built part of the wall. Next to them, Zaccur, the son of Imri, built part of the wall.
3 The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They set in place the wooden beams above the gates, and also the doors, the bolts, and the bars for locking the gate. 4 Next to them, Meremoth, the son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz, repaired part of the wall. Next to him, Meshullam, the son of Berekiah and grandson of Meshezabel, repaired part of the wall. Next to him, Zadok the son of Baana repaired part of the wall. 5 Next to him, some men from Tekoa repaired part of the wall, but the important men refused to do the work that their supervisors assigned to them.
6 Joiada son of Paseah, and Meshullam son of Besodeiah, repaired the Old Gate. They set in place the wooden beams above the gate, and also the doors, the bolts, and the bars for locking the gate. 7 Next to them, Melatiah from the city of Gibeon, Jadon from the town of Meronoth, and other men from Gibeon and from the city of Mizpah repaired part of the wall. The governor of the province west of the Euphrates River lived in Mizpah. 8 Next to them, Uzziel repaired part of the wall. He is the son of Harhaiah. They make things from gold. Next to him, Hananiah, who makes perfumes, repaired part of the wall. They built the wall of Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9 Next to them, Rephaiah repaired part of the wall. He is the son of Hur, who rules half of the district of Jerusalem. 10 Next to him, Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired part of the wall near his house. Next to him, Hattush the son of Hashabneiah repaired part of the wall. 11 Both Malkijah the son of Harim and Hashub the son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section of the wall, and also the Tower of the Ovens. 12 Next to them, Shallum and his daughers repaired part of the wall. He is the son of Hallohesh, who rules the other half of the district of Jerusalem.
13 Hanun and some people from the city of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built up the gate and set in place the doors, the bolts, and the bars for locking the gate. Also, they repaired the wall for 460 meters, as far as the Dung Gate.
14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, who rules the district of Beth-Haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He built up the gate and set in place the doors, the bolts, and the bars for locking the gate.
15 Shallun the son of Col-Hozeh, who rules the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He built up the gate and put a roof over it, and then set in place the doors, the bolts, and the bars for locking the gate. Near the Pool of Shelah he also repaired the wall next to the royal garden, as far as the steps that went down from the City of David. 16 Next to him, Nehemiah repaired the wall as far as the place opposite the tombs in the City of David, to the reservoir that the people had made and the army barracks. He is the son of Azbuk, who rules half of the district of Beth-Zur.
17 Next to him, some descendants of Levi who helped the priests repaired parts of the wall. These men included Rehum the son of Bani, and next to him Hashabiah, who rules half of the district of Keilah. He repaired a section of the wall on behalf of the people of his district. 18 Bavvai and some other descendants of Levi repaired the next section of the wall. He is the son of Henadad, who rules the other half of the district of Keilah. 19 Next to him, Ezer repaired another section of the wall, starting from the place in front of the steps which went up to the building for storing weapons, and ending at the place the wall bends slightly. He is the son of Jeshua, who rules the city of Mizpah. 20 Next to him, Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section with great enthusiasm, from the bend in the wall as far as the door of the house of Eliashib the Supreme Priest. 21 Next to him, Meremoth repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of that house. He is the son of Uriah and the grandson of Hakkoz.
22 Next to him, some priests from the area around Jerusalem repaired a section of the wall. 23 Next to them, Benjamin and Hasshub repaired a section opposite their house. Azariah, the son of Maaseiah and grandson of Ananiah, repaired the next section beside his house. 24 Next to him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section from the house of Azariah to the bend in the wall as far as the bulwark. 25 Palal the son of Uzai repaired a section, beginning at the place opposite the bend in the wall where the watchtower is taller than the upper palace that King Solomon built, which is near the courtyard where the guards live. Next to him, Pedaiah the son of Parosh repaired a section. 26 Now the temple servants were living on Ophel Hill, as far as the place on the eastern side of the Water Gate and the tall tower. 27 Next to him, the men from Tekoa repaired a second section, from opposite the very tall watchtower as far as the wall at Ophel Hill.
28 A group of priests repaired the wall north from the Horse Gate. Each one repaired the section in front of his own house. 29 Next to them, Zadok son of Immer repaired the section in front of his house. Then Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, who was the gatekeeper at the east gate, repaired the next section. 30 Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired the next section, which was the second section that they repaired. Next to them, Meshullam the son of Berechiah repaired the section opposite the rooms where he lived. 31 Malkijah, who also makes things from gold, repaired the next section as far as the building used by the temple servants and the merchants, which was opposite the Appointment Gate. He built as far as the upper apartments of this building, which were on the corner. 32 Some other men who make things from gold, along with some merchants, repaired the last section of the wall from the corner apartments to the Sheep Gate.
Chapter 4
1 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the city wall, he became furious and very angry, and he mocked the Jews. 2 Then he spoke so that his brothers and the army of Samaria could hear. He said, “What do these weak Jews think they are doing? Do they think that if they restore the temple and offer sacrifices, then their gods will hear them and enable them to finish building the wall in one day? The rocks they are pulling out of the rubbish heaps are weak because the Babylonian army burned them. Do they think they can make them strong again?
3 Tobiah was standing beside Sanballat. He said, “Yes, that wall they are building is so weak that even if a little fox climbed up on it, their stone wall would fall to the ground!”
4 Then I prayed and said, “O our God, listen to them ridiculing us! Cause their insulting word to come back on themselves! Allow their enemies to come and capture them and force them to go to a foreign land! 5 They are guilty, and they have sinned against you. Do not take away their guilt, and do not ignore their sin! I am asking this because they are also causing others to be angry at the people who are rebuilding the wall!”
6 But we kept building the wall, and after some time, we finished the wall around the whole city to about half the necessary height. Everyone worked extremely hard to accomplish this.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the men from the land of Arabia, the men from the nation of Ammon, and the men from the city of Ashdod heard that we had continued to build the wall of Jerusalem and that we were beginning to fill in the gaps in the wall, they became extremely furious. 8 All of them together made a plan to come and fight against the people of Jerusalem, and to cause confusion inside the city. 9 But we prayed to our God to protect us, and we put men around the walls both day and night to watch them and to guard the city from any attack.
10 Then the people of Judah started saying, “The men who are carrying away the heavy rubble have no strength left because there is so much of it, and we ourselves are not able to work on building the wall.
11 Then our enemies started saying, ‘Before the Jews see us and know we are coming, we will rush down on them and kill them and stop their work on the wall!’”
12 When the Jews who were living near our enemies came to the city, they told us ten times, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us!”
13 So I put guards behind the wall at the places where the wall was low or where there were gaps. I also put people from each family group to stand guard with their swords, spears, or bows. 14 Then after I inspected everything, I summoned the leaders and other officials and many of the other people, and I said to them, “Do not be afraid of our enemies! The Lord is great and glorious, so think about what he can do. And fight to protect your families, your sons and daughters, your wives, and your homes!”
15 Now our enemies heard that we knew what they were planning to do and that God had spoiled all their plans to stop our work. So we all continued working on the wall again. Each person continued doing the same work as before.
16 But after that, only half of my servants worked on the wall. The other half of them stood guard armed with spears, shields, bows and arrows, and metal armor. The leaders stood guard behind all the people of Judah. 17 Those who were building the wall and those who carried the heavy loads worked with one hand doing the work and with the other hand holding a weapon. 18 Each builder worked with his sword strapped to his side. There was also a man who would blow the trumpet if our enemies attacked, and he stayed at my side.
19 Then I said to the leaders, the officials, and the other people, “We are working over a very wide area, and we are far apart from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the man sounding the trumpet, gather around us at that place. Our God will fight for us!”
21 So we continued to work with half of the men holding spears all day long, from the time when the light of dawn rose in the morning until the time when the stars appeared at night. 22 At that time, I also said to the people, “Each worker and his helper must stay the night inside Jerusalem. By doing that, they can guard us at night and work on the wall during the daytime.” 23 During that time none of us took off our clothes, not me, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men that followed me who served as guards. Each of us always held our weapon, even when we went for water.
Chapter 5
1 Later, many of the men and their wives strongly complained about what some of the other Jews were doing. 2 Some of them said, “We have many children. So we need a lot of grain to be able to eat and stay alive.”
3 Others said, “It has been necessary for us to promise to give someone our fields, vineyards, and houses if we do not pay back to him the money he has loaned us. We have done this in order to get money to buy grain during this time when there is not much food.”
4 Others said, “We have needed to borrow money to pay the taxes that the king commanded us to pay on our fields and our vineyards. 5 We are Jews just like the other Jews. Our children are just as good as their children. But we have needed to sell some of our children to become slaves in order to get money to pay back what we have borrowed. We have already sold some of our daughters to become slaves. Our fields and vineyards have been taken away from us, and now we have nothing to sell except our children to get money to pay back what we have borrowed.”
6 I was very angry when I heard these things that they were complaining about. 7 So I thought about what I could do about it. I brought charges against the leaders and officials. I told them, “You are doing wrong to charge interest to your own relatives when they borrow money from you.” I also called together a large group of people as witnesses against them. 8 I said to them, “Some of our Jewish relatives have been forced to sell themselves to become slaves of people who come from other nations. As much as we have been able, we have been buying them back. But now you are forcing your own relatives to sell themselves to you, their fellow Jews!” When I said that to them, they were silent. They could not answer even a single word, because they knew that what I said to them was true.
9 Then I said to them, “What you are doing is not right! You certainly ought to obey God and do what is right! If you did that, our enemies who do not have an awesome respect for Yahweh would see that we are doing what is right and would not ridicule us. 10 I and my fellow Jews and my servants have lent money and grain to people. But we all should stop charging interest on these loans. 11 You must give back to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive tree orchards, and their houses that you have taken from them. You must also give back to them the interest that you charged them when they borrowed money, grain, wine, and olive oil from you. You must do this today!”
12 The leaders replied, “Yes, we will do what you have said. We will return to them everything that we forced them to give to us, and we will not require that they give us anything more.”
Then I summoned the priests, and I forced the leaders to solemnly promise in front of them that they would do what they had promised to do. 13 Also, I shook out the folds of my robe and said to them, “If any of you do not do what you have just now promised to do, I hope that God will shake you like how I am shaking out my robe. He will separate you from your homes and from everything that you own.”
Then the whole group of people said, “Amen! Let it be so.” And they praised Yahweh. Then those people who were guilty did what they had promised to do.
14 Also, Artaxerxes the king of Persia appointed me to be the governor of Judea in his twentieth year as king. From that time until his thirty-second year, during those twelve years neither I nor my officials accepted the tax money that we could have taken from the people because I was the governor. 15 The men who were governors before me had burdened the people by requiring them to pay 40 silver coins every day in addition to food and wine. Even their servants oppressed the people. But I did not do that, because I had an awesome respect for God.
16 I also continued the work of repairing this wall, and I did not take land from people who were unable to pay back what they had borrowed from me. All those who worked for me joined me to work on the wall. 17 Also, every day I was responsible to feed 150 Jewish officials, and also official visitors who came from nearby countries. 18 So each day I told my servants to serve us the meat from one ox, six very good sheep, and birds. And every ten days I gave them a large new supply of wine. But even so, I knew that the people were burdened by paying many taxes, so I did not accept the tax money that I could have taken from them because I was the governor.
19 My God, think of me, and reward me for all that I have done for this people.
Chapter 6
1 Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, and our other enemies heard a report that we had finished rebuilding the wall, and that now there were no more places where the wall was not finished. This happened before we had put the doors in the gates. 2 So Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come and talk with us at a place in the plain called Ono north of Jerusalem.” But I knew that they said this because they wanted to harm me if I went there.
3 So I sent messengers to say to them, “I am doing an important work, and I cannot go down there. I will neither stop nor delay this work just to go down to talk with you.” 4 They sent me the same message four times, and each time when I replied to them I said the same thing.
5 Then Sanballat sent one of his servants to me, bringing a fifth message. This one was written, but it was not sealed. He did this so that others would read the message that the servant was carrying in his hand. 6 This is what was written in the message:
“Some people in the nearby countries have heard a report that you and the other Jews are rebuilding the wall so that you can resist attacks, because you are planning to revolt against the king of Babylon. This report also says that you are planning to become the king of the Jews. Geshem says that this report is true.
7 People are also saying that you have appointed some prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem that you, Nehemiah, are now the king in Judea. King Artaxerxes will certainly hear these reports, and then you will be in big trouble. So I suggest that we should meet together to talk about this matter.”
8 When I read that message, I sent the messenger back to Sanballat to say, “None of these things that you are saying are true. I know that you are making this up in your own mind.” 9 I said that because I knew that they were trying to cause us to be afraid. They thought, “The Jews will become so discouraged that they will not work on the wall any more, and the work will never be finished.” So I prayed, “O God, give me courage.”
10 Then one day I went to talk with Shemaia the son of Delaiah and grandson of Mehetabel. I went to talk with him in his house, because he was ordered not to leave his house. He said to me, “You and I must meet at the temple, then enter the very sacred place in the temple and lock the temple doors, because people are going to kill you. Yes, they will come at night to kill you.”
11 I replied, “I am not that kind of person! I will not run and hide in the temple to save my life. No, I will not do that!” 12 I thought about what he had said, and I realized that God had not told Shemaiah to speak a message from God to me. I realized that Tobiah and Sanballat had paid him money to say that. 13 Now they paid him money to cause me to become afraid. They wanted me to disobey God and sin by hiding in the temple. If I did that, then they would have ruined my reputation and discredited me.
14 So I prayed, “My God, do not forget what Tobiah and Sanballat have done. Also, do not forget that the female prophet Noadiah and some of the other prophets have also tried to cause me to be afraid.”
15 On October 2 we finished rebuilding the wall. We did it all in 52 days. 16 And when all our enemies in the nearby countries heard about that, they became afraid. Also, they felt very humiliated because they knew that God had helped us to complete this work, and they had not been able to stop us from completing it.
17 During this time, the Jewish leaders had been sending many messages to Tobiah, and Tobiah had been sending messages back to them. 18 Now many people in Judea had said they would follow Tobiah, because he had married the daughter of Shecaniah the son of Arah. Furthermore, Jehohanan the son of Tobiah had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berekiah. 19 People often talked in my presence about all the good deeds that Tobiah had done, and then they would tell him everything that I said. So Tobiah sent many letters to me to try to cause me to become afraid.
Chapter 7
1 After we had finished the wall and we had put the doors in the gates, we assigned to the temple guards and to the members of the sacred choir and to the other descendants of Levi the work that they were to do. 2 I appointed two men to help me govern Jerusalem, my brother Hanani and Hananiah who was the commander of the fortress in Jerusalem. I appointed Hananiah because he always did his work reliably, and he had more awesome respect for God than most other people have. 3 I said to them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is high in the sky each morning. And close the gates and put the bars across the doors each afternoon while the gatekeepers are still guarding the gates before they go home for the night.” I also told them to appoint some people who lived in Jerusalem to be guards, and to assign some of them to be guards at certain places and to assign others to guard the area close to their own houses.
4 The city of Jerusalem covered a large area, but at that time not many people lived in the city, and they had not yet built houses for themselves. 5 Then God gave me the idea to summon the leaders and officials and other people, and to enroll them by their families in the books of the records of the families. I also found a book containing the records of the first group of people who had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. This is what I found written in those records.
6 “These are the names of the people who returned to Jerusalem and to other places in Judea. They had been living in the nation of Babylon since the army of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had captured their ancestors and taken them to Babylon. But they returned to Judea and are living in the same towns where their ancestors had lived. 7 The people who came back were following Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah.
This is a list of the number of men from each Israelite clan that returned: 8 2172 men from the clan of Parosh;
9 372 men from the clan of Shephatiah;
10 652 men from the clan of Arah;
11 2818 men from the clan of Pahath-Moab, who are descendants of Jeshua and Joab;
12 1254 men from the clan of Elam;
13 845 men from the clan of Zattu;
14 760 men from the clan of Zaccai;
15 648 men from the clan of Binnui;
16 628 men from the clan of Bebai;
17 2322 men from the clan of Azgad;
18 667 men from the clan of Adonikam;
19 2067 men from the clan of Bigvai;
20 655 men from the clan of Adin;
21 98 men from the clan of Ater who were descendants of Hezekiah;
22 328 men from the clan of Hashum;
23 324 men from the clan of Bezai;
24 112 men from the clan of Hariph, who is also called Jorah;
25 95 men from the clan of Gibeon, who is also called Gibbar.
26 Some other men also returned, whose ancestors had lived in these towns:
188 men from Bethlehem and Netophah;
27 128 men from Anathoth;
28 42 men from Beth-Azmaveth;
29 743 men from Kiriath-Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth;
30 621 men from Ramah and Geba;
31 122 men from Micmash;
32 123 men from Bethel and Ai;
33 52 men from a small town called Nebo;
34 1254 men from a small town called Elam;
35 320 men from Harim;
36 345 men from Jericho;
37 721 men from Lod, Hadid, and Ono;
38 3930 men from Senaah.
39 These priests also returned: 973 men from the clan of Jedaiah who are descendants of Jeshua;
40 1052 men from the clan of Immer;
41 1247 men from the clan of Pashhur;
42 1017 men from the clan of Harim.
43 These descendants of Levi also returned:
74 men from the clan of Jeshua. Some of them are descendants of Kadmiel, some are descendants of Binnui, and some are descendants of Hodeva.
44 148 members of the sacred choir also returned. All of them are from the clan of Asaph.
45 138 temple gatekeepers also returned, who are from the clan of Shallum, the clan of Ater, the clan of Talmon, the clan of Akkub, the clan of Hatita, and the clan of Shobai.
46 Some temple workers also returned who are from the clan of Ziha, the clan of Hasupha, the clan of Tabbaoth,
47 the clan of Keros, the clan of Sia (who is also called Siaha), the clan of Padon,
48 the clan of Lebanah, the clan of Hagabah, the clan of Shalmai,
49 the clan of Hanan, the clan of Giddel, the clan of Gahar,
50 the clan of Reaiah, the clan of Rezin, the clan of Nekoda,
51 the clan of Gazzam, the clan of Uzza, the clan of Paseah,
52 the clan of Besai, the clan of Meunim, the clan of Nephushesim (who is also called Nephisim),
53 the clan of Bakbuk, the clan of Hakupha, the clan of Harhur,
54 the clan of Bazlith (who is also called Bazluth), the clan of Mehida, the clan of Harsha,
55 the clan of Barkos, the clan of Sisera, the clan of Temah,
56 the clan of Neziah, and the clan of Hatipha.
57 Some descendants of the servants of King Solomon also returned.
These were from the clan of Sotai, the clan of Sophereth, the clan of Perida (who is also called Peruda),
58 the clan of Jaalah, the clan of Darkon, the clan of Giddel,
59 the clan of Shephatiah, the clan of Hattil, the clan of Pochereth Hazzebaim, and the clan of Amon.
60 Altogether, there were 392 temple workers and descendants of the servants of Solomon who returned.
61 Another group also returned which came from the towns of Tel-Melah, Tel-Harsha, Kerub, Addon (which is also called Addan), and Immer in Babylonia. But they could not prove that they were descendants of Israelites.
62 These 642 men were from the clan of Delaiah, the clan of Tobiah, and the clan of Nekoda. 63 Some priests also returned who were from the clan of Hobaiah, the clan of Hakkoz, and and the clan of Barzillai. Barzillai had married a woman who was a descendant of a man named Barzillai from the region of Gilead, and he had taken the family name of his wife. 64 These priests searched the records that contained the names of the Israelite ancestors, but they could not find the names of their families. They did not qualify to be priests because they could not trace their family history, so they were not allowed to have the rights and duties of priests. 65 The governor told them that they must not eat any of the share of food taken from the sacrifices and kept for the priests, but that they should wait until the priest in charge of the temple had begun his duties and could ask God what to do about this situation.
66 Altogether, 42360 people returned to Judea. 67 There were also 7337 male servants and female servants, and 245 male singers and female singers. 68 The Israelites also brought back from Babylonia 736 horses, 245 mules, 69 435 camels, and 6720 donkeys.
70 Some of the leaders of the ancestral clans gave gifts for the work of rebuilding the temple. I, the governor, gave into the treasury more than 8 kilograms of gold, 50 bowls to be used in the temple, and 530 robes for the priests. 71 Some of the leaders of the ancestral clans also gave into the temple treasury for the work of rebuilding the temple a total of 153 kilograms of gold, and 1460 kilograms of silver. 72 And the remainder of the people gave a total of 153 kilograms of gold, 1330 kilograms of silver, and 67 robes for the priests.
73 So the priests, the descendants of Levi, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple workers, and many ordinary people started to live in the towns and cities of Judea where their ancestors had lived. All these people were Israelites.
By the seventh month all of the Israelites had gone to their cities and had started living in them.”
Chapter 8
1 All the people gathered together in the plaza that was near the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the scroll of the law that Moses had written down, and which Yahweh had given to the people of Israel for them to obey its rules and commands. 2 Ezra the priest, who served God by offering sacrifices in the temple, brought out the law and presented it before all the people, to both men and women, and anyone else who could understand what he read. He did this on the first day of the seventh month of that year. 3 So he read aloud from the book in the plaza which was near the Water Gate from the time of the sunrise until the middle of the day. He read it in front of all the people, both men and women and anyone who was able to understand what he read. And all the people listened carefully to the laws that were written on the scroll.
4 Ezra the scribe stood on top of a high wooden platform that the people had built for this purpose. At his right side stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah. At his left side stood Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
5 Ezra stood on the platform above all the people so that everyone could see him. He opened the scroll, and as he did that all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra praised Yahweh, the great God, and all the people lifted up their hands and said, “Amen! Amen!” Then they all bowed down with their faces touching the ground, and they worshiped Yahweh.
7 Then Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the descendants of Levi explained the meaning of the laws of Moses to the people who were standing there. 8 They read clearly from the scroll of the law of God, and they explained what it meant, so that the people understood what Ezra and the others were reading.
9 Then all the people began to cry from sadness when they heard what the law said. So Nehemiah (who was the governor), Ezra the priest and scribe, and the descendants of Levi who were explaining the meaning to the people, said to all the people, “Today is a holy day, set apart to worship Yahweh your God. Do not mourn or cry!”
10 Then Nehemiah said to them, “Now go home, eat some good food, and drink something sweet. And share some of it with those who do not have anything prepared to eat or drink, because today is a holy day set apart to worship our Lord. So do not grieve, because the joy that Yahweh gives will strengthen you.”
11 The Levites also caused all the people to be quiet, saying “Hush, and do not grieve, because today is a holy day.”
12 So all the people went home to eat and drink and share what they had. And they were very happy, because they understood the meaning of the words that Ezra had read and the others had explained to them.
13 On the next day, the leaders of the families of all the people and the priests and the descendants of Levi came together with Ezra the scribe to study carefully so that they would better understand the words of the law that Yahweh had given to Moses. 14 And they read the part of the law where Yahweh told Moses to command the Israelite people to live in shelters during the seventh month in order to remember that their ancestors had lived in shelters when they walked in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. 15 They also learned that they should publicly proclaim both in Jerusalem and in all the towns that the people must go to the hills and cut branches from olive trees, from wild olive trees, from myrtle trees, from palm trees, and from shade trees. They must bring these branches and make shelters to live in during the festival, just as the scroll instructed.
16 So the people went out of the towns and cut branches and brought them to make shelters for themselves. They built shelters on the flat roofs of their houses, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the temple, in the plaza near the Water Gate, and in the plaza near the Ephraim Gate. 17 All of the Israelite people who had returned from Babylon built shelters and lived in them for one week. (Now the Israelite people had not celebrated that festival like this since the time that Joshua the son of Nun lived, even until the present time.) And the people had very great joy.
18 Every day during that week Ezra read aloud to the people from the scroll of the law of God, from the first day until the last day. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they called for all the people to come together so they could bring the festival to an end, as the scroll instructed.
Chapter 9
1 On October 31, the Israelite people gathered together again. They abstained from eating food, they wore clothes made from rough cloth, and they put dirt on their heads to show that they were sorry for their sins. 2 The descendants of Israel separated themselves away from all the descendants of foreigners. They stood there and confessed their own sins and the wicked things their ancestors had done. 3 They stood in place and listened to someone read from the scroll of the law of Yahweh their God for three hours. Then for another three hours they confessed their sins and bowed down and worshiped Yahweh their God. 4 Some of the descendants of Levi stood up on the stairs, including Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, another man named Bani, and Kenani. And they cried out sorrowfully in a loud voice to Yahweh their God. 5 Then the descendants of Levi named Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, “Stand up and praise Yahweh your God, who has always lived and will live forever! Yahweh, we praise your glorious name! Your name is more important than everything else that is good and wonderful! 6 You are Yahweh, and no one else. You made the heavens which are above everything, and all that lives in the heavens above the earth. You made the earth and everything that is on it, and you made the seas and everything that is in them. You are the one who causes all living things to be alive, and everything that lives in the heavens above the earth worships you.
7 You are Yahweh! You are God, who chose Abram and brought him out of the city of Ur-of-the-Chaldees and changed his name to Abraham. 8 And you saw in his inner being that he was faithful to you. Then you made a promise to him pledged with blood, promising that you would give to him and to his descendants the land where the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites lived. And you did what you promised, because you always do what is right.
9 You saw how much the Egyptians mistreated our ancestors in Egypt. You heard them cry out to you for help when they were beside the Red Sea. 10 Because you knew that the leaders of Egypt were treating our ancestors very arrogantly, you performed miracles for Pharaoh that proved you are the true God and that caused the king and his officials and all the people of Egypt to suffer. As a result, you made yourself famous, and you are still famous! 11 You divided the sea in front of your people Israel, and they walked through the middle of the sea on dry land. You drowned the soldiers of the Egyptian army under the waters, and they sank as a stone sinks in deep water! 12 During the day you led them by a cloud that looked like a huge pillar, and at night you led them by a fire that looked like a huge pillar to shine on the path in front of them to show them where they should walk.
13 When our ancestors were at Sinai Mountain, you came down from heaven and spoke to them. You gave them many rules and instructions that are just and reliable, and you gave them commands and laws that are good. 14 You taught them about your Sabbath day of rest, which is set apart from the other days of the week, and you gave commands and rules and laws to your servant Moses for him to tell to the people. 15 When they were hungry, you gave them bread from heaven. When they were thirsty, you gave them water from a rock. You said to them to go and take the land of Canaan, which you had promised with a vow to give them.
16 But our ancestors were proud and stubborn. They refused even to listen to what you commanded them to do. 17 They refused to listen to you. They forgot about all the miracles that you had performed for them. They became stubborn, and because they rebelled against you, they appointed a leader to take them back to Egypt, where they would be slaves again! But you are a God who forgives us and who acts kindly and mercifully toward us. You do not quickly become angry, and you faithfully love us very much. So you did not leave our ancestors alone in the desert. 18 Indeed you did not leave them alone, even though they made for themselves an idol that resembled a calf and said about the idol, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ By doing that they insulted you greatly.
19 But because you always act mercifully, you did not leave them alone in the desert. During the daytime, the cloud which looked like a huge pillar above them continued to lead them in the way you wanted them to go. And during the night, the fire which looked like a huge pillar shined on the path in front of them to show them where to walk. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold the manna from them when they were hungry and you gave them water when they were thirsty. 21 For forty years you took care of them in the desert. During all that time, they did not lack anything that they needed. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell up even though they were continually walking.
22 You helped our ancestors to defeat armies of great kings who ruled many people-groups. By doing that, you caused our ancestors to live in even the most distant places in this land. They occupied the land over which King Sihon ruled from the city of Heshbon and the land over which King Og ruled in the Bashan area. 23 You caused the children of our ancestors to become as numerous as the stars in the heavens, and you brought them into this land, the land you told their fathers to enter and take for themselves so they might live there. 24 Their children went in and took the land from the people that lived there. You enabled them to defeat the descendants of Canaan who lived here in this land. You enabled them to conquer the descendants of Canaan and their kings and the people whom they ruled. You enabled our ancestors to do to those people whatever they wanted to do. 25 Our ancestors captured cities that had walls around them, and they took possession of fertile land. They took possession of houses that were already full of all kinds of good things, where there were wells that someone had already dug. They took possession of many vineyards and groves of olive trees and fruit trees. They ate all that they wanted and became fat. They delighted in you for the good and great things you did for them.
26 But they disobeyed you and rebelled against you. They rejected your law and put it behind their backs. They killed the prophets who warned them that they should return to obeying you. They said and did very evil things against you. 27 So you allowed their enemies to defeat them. But when their enemies caused them to suffer, they called out to you. You heard them from heaven, and because you are very merciful, you sent them people to help them, and those leaders rescued them from their enemies.
28 But when there was a time of peace again, our ancestors again did evil things that you hated. So you allowed their enemies to conquer them and rule over them. But whenever they returned to you and cried out to you again to help them, you heard them from heaven and rescued them many times, because you always act mercifully.
29 You warned them that they should return to obeying your laws again, but they became proud and stubborn. They would not listen to your commands, and they sinned by disobeying your decrees, even though a person lives by obeying them. They purposely ignored what you commanded them to do and became stubborn and refused to obey. 30 You were patient with them for many years. You warned them by the messages your Spirit gave to your prophets. But they did not listen to those messages. So again you allowed the armies of the nations nearby to defeat them. 31 But because you act very mercifully, you did not destroy them completely, and you never left them alone. Yes, you are a very gracious and merciful God!
32 So now we are praying: our God, you are great and mighty and awesome! You always fulfill your promises and always faithfully love us! Do not ignore all our difficulties, but see all the troubles that our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all of your people have experienced. We have been experiencing these troubles since the armies of the kings of Assyria conquered us until now, and we are still experiencing them today. 33 We know that you act justly on account of everything that you have caused to happen to us, because you have treated us faithfully, even though we have done evil things. 34 In the past, our kings, our leaders, our priests and our other ancestors did not obey your laws. They did not listen to your commands or the warnings that you gave them. 35 Even when they had their own kings, and they enjoyed the many good things that you gave them in this large and fertile land that you gave to them, they did not serve you and they would not stop doing what was evil.
36 Look at us! Today we live like slaves here in this land that you gave to our ancestors. You gave them this land so that they could enjoy all the good things that grow here. But look at us now and see that we are as poor as slaves on this land. 37 Because we have sinned, we cannot enjoy all the good things that grow here. Instead, the kings whom you have caused to rule over us are enjoying all the good things that grow here. They rule over our bodies and our cattle, and they do whatever they please. We feel great distress.
38 Because of all this, we the Israelite people are making a solemn agreement and writing it on a scroll. We will write on it the names of our leaders, the names of the descendants of Levi, and the names of our priests, and then we will seal it.”
Chapter 10
1 These are the names of the people who signed the agreement:
I, Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hakaliah; and also Zedekiah.
2 The priests who signed the agreement included:
Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah,
4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluk,
5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
8 Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. Those are the names of the priests who signed the agreement.
9 The descendants of Levi who signed the agreement included:
Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui from the clan of Henadad, Kadmiel,
10 Some of their associates also signed the agreement, including: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
11 Mika, Rehob, Hashabiah,
12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
13 Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.
14 Some of the Israelite leaders also signed the agreement, including:
Parosh, Pahath-Moab, Elam, Zattu, and Bani.
15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,
17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,
19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,
21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,
23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,
25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
26 also Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,
27 Malluk, Harim, and Baanah.
28 The rest of the people also participated in the solemn agreement, including the priests, the descendants of Levi, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple workers, and all the men from the other neighboring peoples who had left their people and were living in Israel in order to follow the law of God, along with their wives and all their sons and daughters who were old enough to understand what they were doing. 29 They all joined with their associates, who were important men, and together they all made a solemn agreement to obey all the laws that God had given by Moses the servant of God. They agreed to follow and to obey everything that Yahweh our God had commanded, and all his decrees and instructions. And this is what they promised to do:
30 “We will not allow our daughters to marry people who live in this land who do not worship Yahweh, and we will not allow our sons to marry their daughters.
31 If people from other countries who live in this land bring us any kind of grain or other things to sell to us on Sabbath days, we will not buy anything from them on a Sabbath day or any other sacred day. And in every seventh year, we will give rest to the fields and we will not plant any crops that one year, and we will cancel the debts of every person so that they will not have to pay back anything they owe to another person.
32 We each also agreed to a pledge that every year we must pay about 4 grams of silver for the work of taking care of the temple. 33 With that money they can buy these things: The sacred bread that is placed before God, the grain that is burned on the altar each day, the animals that are completely burned on the altar each day, the sacred offerings for the Sabbath days and for celebrating each new moon and other festivals that God told us to celebrate, and other offerings that are dedicated to God, the animals to be sacrificed to atone for the sins of the Israelite people, and anything else that is needed for the work of taking care of the temple.
34 And we have cast lots concerning the offering of wood to determine when each family among the priests, the descendants of Levi who help the priests, and the rest of the people will bring wood to the temple, which we also call the House of our Ancestors. Each family will bring wood at an appointed time every year to burn the sacrifices on the altar for worshiping Yahweh our God, as he commanded in the law he gave to Moses.
35 We will also obey the command of God in the law that each family must take to the temple every year an offering from the first grain that we harvest and from all the first fruit that grows on all our trees.
36 Also, we will dedicate our firstborn sons to God by bringing them to the priests who minister in the temple. And we will also bring the firstborn of our calves and our lambs and our baby goats to the temple to be offered as sacrifices. That is what God said in his laws that we must do.
37 We will also take to the priests and to the storehouses in the temple the first of what we harvest, the flour made from the first grain and the first of our other offerings, including wine, olive oil, and the fruit of all our trees. We will also take 10% of everything we harvest to the descendants of Levi, and they themselves will be the ones who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work. 38 A priest, one who is a descendant of Aaron, will be with the descendants of Levi to supervise them when they collect their tithes. Then the descendants of Levi must bring to the temple 10% of those tithes and put it in the storerooms in the temple. 39 The priest must be there to ensure that the people of Israel and the descendants of Levi take the offerings of grain, wine, and olive oil to the storerooms where the various utensils are kept that are used by those who serve in the temple. That is the place where the priests who are serving at that time, the gatekeepers, and the singers live.
We promise that we will not neglect taking care of the temple of our God.”
Chapter 11
1 So the Israelite leaders and their families settled in Jerusalem. The remainder of the people cast lots to select one family out of ten who would live in Jerusalem, the city set apart for God. The remaining nine lived in the other towns. 2 The people asked God to bless all those who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.
3 These are the names of the provincial officials who came to live in Jerusalem. But in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his own family property in their towns––the Israelites, the priests, the descendants of Levi, the temple servants, and the descendants of the servants of Solomon. 4 But some of the people of Judah and the people of Benjamin stayed and lived in Jerusalem.
Here are the names of the leaders who lived in Jerusalem. From the descendants of Judah, these included: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, a descendant of Perez;
5 and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Colhozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, who was one of the descendants of Shelah the son of Judah. 6 There were 468 men who were descendants of Perez who lived in the city of Jerusalem. These men were very brave and skilled in combat.
7 These are the descendants of Benjamin who decided to live in Jerusalem: Sallu the 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; 8 and after him, two men named Gabbai and Sallai.
Altogether, 928 people from the tribe of Benjamin settled in Jerusalem. 9 Their leader was Joel the son of Zichri, and Judah the son of Hassenuah was the official who was second in command in Jerusalem.
10 The priests who settled in Jerusalem included; Jedaiah the son of Joiarib; Jachin;
11 Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, who was previously in charge of the temple. 12 another 822 of their associates who performed work for the temple.
Another priest who settled in Jerusalem was Adaiah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malkijah; 13 and another 242 of his associates who were leaders of ancestral clans settled in Jerusalem.
Another priest who settled in Jerusalem was Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer; 14 and another 128 of their associates who were valiant soldiers settled in Jerusalem. Their leader was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.
15 The descendants of Levi who settled in Jerusalem included: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;
16 and Shabbethai and Jozabad, who supervised the work outside the temple and were leaders of the descendants of Levi. 17 Some other descendants of Levi who settled in Jerusalem included: Mattaniah, who directed the temple choir when they sang the prayers to thank God, the son of Mika, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph; and Bakbukiah, the second in charge of the associates of Mattaniah; and Abda, the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. 18 Altogether, there were 284 descendants of Levi who settled in Jerusalem, the city set apart for God.
19 The gatekeepers who settled in Jerusalem included Akkub, Talmon, and 172 of their associates who kept watch at the gates.
20 The remainder of the Israelite people including the priests and the descendants of Levi all lived on their own property in all the other towns in Judea.
21 The temple workers lived on Ophel Hill in Jerusalem; and Ziha and Gishpa supervised them.
22 The man who supervised the descendants of Levi who lived in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mika. Uzzi was one of the descendants of Asaph, who were the singers in charge of the music for the temple services. 23 We commissioned him because the king of Persia had commanded that a certain amount of supplies must be provided for the singers to sing in the temple services every day, each one singing on his assigned day.
24 Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel was one of the descendants of Zerah, the son of Judah; Pethahiah was the ambassador to the king of Persia for any matter pertaining to the Israelites.
25 Concerning the people who did not settle in Jerusalem but lived in towns and villages near their farms: some people who were descendants of Judah settled in the city of Kiriath Arba and the neighboring villages; some settled in the city of Dibon and the neighboring villages; some settled in the town of Jekabzeel and the neighboring villages. 26 some in the town of Jeshua; some in the town of Moladah; some in the town of Bethpelet; 27 some in Hazarshual; and some in the city of Beersheba and the neighboring villages; 28 some in the town of Ziklag; some in the town of Mekonah and the neighboring villages; 29 some in the town of En-Rimmon; some in the town of Zorah; some in the town of Jarmuth; 30 some in Zanoah and Adullam and the nearby villages; some in Lachish and the nearby farms; some in Azekah and the nearby villages. All of those people pitched their tents in Judea, in the area between Beersheba in the south and the Valley of Hinnom in the north, which is at the edge of Jerusalem.
31 Some people who were descendants of Benjamin settled in these cities and towns: Geba, Micmash, Aija, Bethel and the neighboring villages, 32 Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 35 Lod, and Ono the Valley of Craftsmen.
36 Some groups of people who were descendants of Levi and who had previously lived in Judea went and settled in the land that had belonged to the old tribe of Benjamin
Chapter 12
1 These are the names of the priests and the descendants of Levi that returned from Babylonia with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the Supreme Priest. They included
Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
2 Amariah, Malluk, Hattush,
3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah,
5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,
6 Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah,
7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.
All those men were leaders of the priests and their associates during the time that Jeshua was the Supreme Priest.
8 Some of the other descendants of Levi who returned were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah. Mattaniah and his associates led the people in singing songs to thank God. 9 And their associates Bakbukiah and Unni stood opposite them for the worship services.
10 Jeshua the Supreme Priest was the father of Joiakim, who was the father of Eliashib, who was the father of Joiada, 11 who was the father of Jonathan, who was the father of Jaddua.
12 When Joiakim was the Supreme Priest, these priests were the leaders of their clans.
Meraiah was the leader of the clan of Seraiah.
Hananiah was the leader of the clan of Jeremiah.
13 Meshullam was the leader of the clan of Ezra.
Jehohanan was the leader of the clan of Amariah.
14 Jonathan was the leader of the clan of Malluchi.
Joseph was the leader of the clan of Shecaniah.
15 Adna was the leader of the clan of Harim.
Helkai was the leader of the clan of Meraioth.
16 Zechariah was the leader of the clan of Iddo.
Meshullam was the leader of the clan of Ginnethon.
17 Zichri was the leader of the clan of Abijah.
Piltai was the leader of both the clan of Miniamin and the clan of Moadiah.
18 Shammua was the leader of the clan of Bilgah.
Jehonathan was the leader of the clan of Shemaiah.
19 Mattenai was the leader of the clan of Joiarib.
Uzzi was the leader of the clan of Jedaiah.
20 Kallai was the leader of the clan of Sallai.
Eber was the leader of the clan of Amok.
21 Hashabiah was the leader of the clan of Hilkiah.
Nethanel was the leader of the clan of Jedaiah.
22 Some scribes wrote down the names of the clan leaders of the descendants of Levi during the time when Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua were Supreme Priests. They wrote down the names of the clan leaders of the priests when Darius was king of Persia. 23 They wrote down the names of the clan leaders of the descendants of Levi in the Book of Events and Times up until the time when Johanan the descendant of Eliashib was the Supreme Priest.
24 Hashabiah, Serebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel were the leaders of the descendants of Levi. And their assocates stood opposite them to praise God and give thanks to him, with one group facing the other group, just as King David, the man who served God faithfully, had instructed.
25 Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers. They stood guard at the storerooms near the gates. 26 They did that work during the time when Joiakim, the son of Jeshua and the grandson of Jozadak, was the Supreme Priest, and then again during the time when Nehemiah served as governor and Ezra served as both priest and scribe.
27 When we dedicated the wall around Jerusalem, we summoned the descendants of Levi from all the places where they were living, to bring them to Jerusalem to assist with the dedication of the wall by rejoicing and giving thanks and singing with cymbals and harps and other stringed instruments. 28 We summoned the descendants of Levi who habitually sang together. They came to Jerusalem from nearby areas where they had settled around the city, and from places around the village of Netophah southeast of Jerusalem, 29 They came also from three places northeast of Jerusalem, Beth Gilgal and the areas around Geba and Azmaveth. We summoned those singers because they had built villages to live in near Jerusalem.
30 The priests and the descendants of Levi who help the priests performed rituals to cause themselves to be acceptable to God, and then they performed similar rituals to purify the other people, the gates, and the wall. 31 Then I gathered together the leaders of Judah on top of the wall, and I appointed them to lead two large groups to march around the city on top of the wall, thanking God. As they faced the city, one group walked to the right toward the Dung Gate. 32 Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah marched behind that group. 33 The people who marched with that group included Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah. 35 Some descendants of the priests also marched with that group and played their trumpets, including Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph. 36 Some associates of Zechariah also marched and played trumpets, including Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani. They all were playing the same kinds of musical instruments that King David, the man who served God faithfully, had played many years previously. And Ezra the scribe marched in front of this group. 37 When they reached the Fountain Gate, they went up the steps of the tower called the City of David, past the location of the royal palace of David, and then to the wall at the Water Gate, on the east side of the city.
38 The other group of those who were singing and thanking Yahweh marched to the left on top of the wall. I followed them with half of the people. We marched past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall. 39 From there we marched past the Ephraim Gate, past the Jeshanah Gate, past the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, the Tower of the Hundred Soldiers, to the Sheep Gate. We finished marching near the gate into the temple. 40 Both the groups reached the house of God as they were singing and thanking him. They stood in their places there. I and half of those leaders who were with me also stood in our places.
41 My group included the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah. All of them were blowing trumpets. 42 Others who were blowing trumpets included Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang with Jezrahiah who was their leader. 43 We offered many sacrifices that day. We men all rejoiced because God had caused us to be very happy. The women and the children also rejoiced. People far away could hear the noise that we made there in Jerusalem.
44 On that day we appointed men to be in charge of the storerooms where they kept the money and the food and the grain and the tithes that people gave for the temple services. They brought all these things from the fields near the cities into the storerooms for the priests and the descendants of Levi, as Moses had commanded in the law. The people of Judah did all this because they were so happy about the priests and about the descendants of Levi serving in the temple. 45 The priests and the descendants of Levi served God in their rituals to purify things, and the singers and the gatekeepers also did their work as King David and his son Solomon had declared that they should do. 46 We did all this because in the days of old, when David was king and Asaph was in charge of the temple musicians, there was someone to lead the singers, and they sang songs to praise and thank God. 47 During the time when Zerubbabel governed, and during the time that I governed the Israelite people, they all contributed the food that the singers and temple gatekeepers needed each day. They gave a tenth of their crops to the descendants of Levi, and the descendants of Levi gave a tenth of that to the priests, who were descendants of Aaron the first Supreme Priest.
Chapter 13
1 On that day, someone read to the people from a scroll containing the law that God gave to Moses and, while reading, came to the place where the law says that no one from the tribe of Ammon or from the tribe of Moab who worshiped other gods should ever join the Israelite people when they gathered together to worship God. 2 The reason for that was because the people of Ammon and the people of Moab did not give any food or water to the Israelites while the Israelites were going through their areas after leaving Egypt. Instead, the people of Ammon and Moab paid money to Balaam to influence him to curse the Israelites. But our God turned that attempt to curse Israel into a blessing. 3 So when the people heard that law, they sent away all the people whose ancestors had come from other countries.
4 Previously, Eliashib the priest had been in charge of the storerooms in the temple, but he was a relative of Tobiah. 5 He allowed Tobiah to use a large room in which they had previously stored the grain offerings and the incense, the equipment that is used in the temple, and the tithes of grain and wine and olive oil that God had commanded the people to bring to the descendants of Levi, the singers, and the gatekeepers, also the offerings for the priests.
6 During that time I was not in Jerusalem, because it was the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes was the king of Babylonia, and I had gone back to report to the king what I had been doing. After I had been there a while, I requested the king to allow me to return to Jerusalem. 7 When I arrived in Jerusalem, I learned that Eliashib had done an evil thing by allowing Tobiah to use a room in the temple courtyard. 8 That grieved me very much, and I threw out of that room everything that belonged to Tobiah and his family. 9 Then I commanded that they perform a ritual cleansing of that room to make it pure again. And I also ordered that all the equipment used in the temple and all the grain offerings and incense should be put back in that room, where they belonged.
10 I also learned that the singers and the other descendants of Levi who were responsible for the temple services had left Jerusalem and returned to their own fields, because the people had stopped giving to the descendants of Levi their tithe of the yearly harvest. 11 So I rebuked the officials and said to them, “Why have you neglected the work of the temple? Then I brought the descendants of Levi and the singers back to the temple, and told them to do their work again.
12 Then all the people of Judah again started bringing to the temple storerooms their tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil. 13 I appointed these men to be in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah, one of the descendants of Levi. I also appointed Hanan the son of Zaccur and grandson of Mattaniah to assist them. I appointed these men because everyone knew that those men were trustworthy and would distribute the offerings fairly to their associates.
14 My God, do not forget me, and do not forget all these good deeds that I have done for your temple and for the temple services!
15 During that time, I saw some people in Judea who were working on the Sabbath day. Some were pressing grapes to make wine. Others were bringing their grain and loading it on donkeys. Others were also loading bags of wine, baskets of grapes, figs, and many other things onto donkeys and bringing them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. I warned them not to sell food to the people of Judea on Sabbath days. 16 I also saw some people from the city of Tyre who were living there in Jerusalem bringing fish and other things into Jerusalem to sell to the descendants of Judah on the Sabbath day. 17 So I rebuked the Jewish leaders and said to them, “This is a very evil thing that you are doing! You are making the Sabbath day into something God never wanted it to be. 18 You know that your ancestors did these same things, and God punished our nation by bringing all this trouble to this city ! And now by breaking the laws for the Sabbath day, you are going to cause God to be angry with the nation of Israel, and he will punish us even more!”
19 So I commanded that every Friday evening they should shut the doors of the gates of the city when it became dark. I also commanded that they should not open the gates until Saturday evening. Then each Sabbath day I put some of my men at the gates, so they would make sure that no one brought things to sell into the city on that day. 20 One or two times traders and merchants selling all kinds of things camped outside the city on the night before the Sabbath day, hoping to sell something the next day. 21 I warned them and said to them, “It is useless for you to camp here outside the walls on Friday night. If you do this again, I will arrest you by force!” After that time, they did not come on Sabbath days. 22 I also commanded the descendants of Levi to perform the ritual to purify themselves and to take up their stations to guard the city gates, to ensure that Sabbath days were kept holy by not allowing merchants to enter it on that holy day.
My God, do not forget me, and do not forget what I have done for you! And be kind to me, even as much as you love me.
23 During that time, I also learned that many of the Jewish men had married women from the city of Ashdod, and from the tribe of Ammon and the tribe of Moab. 24 So half of their children spoke either the language that people in Ashdod speak or some other language, and they did not know how to speak the language of Judah, but whatever language that their foreign parent spoke. 25 So I rebuked those men, and I asked God to curse them, and I struck some of them with my fists, and some of them I pulled out their hair! Then I forced them to make a solemn promise, knowing that God was listening, that they would never again allow their daughters to marry foreign sons and never allow their sons to marry foreign daughters. 26 I said to them, “You know that Solomon, the king of Israel, sinned as a result of marrying foreign women who worshiped idols! You know that he was greater than any of the kings of other nations. God loved him, and God set him as the king over all the people of Israel, but his foreign wives caused even him to sin! 27 I am grieved to hear this about you, that you have married foreign wives who worship idols and have commited such a great sin against our God!”
28 One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the Supreme Priest, had married the daughter of our enemy Sanballat, from the town of Beth-Horon. So I forced Jehoiada to leave Jerusalem.
29 My God, remember those who have brought shame to the priesthood, and who have broken the covenant of the priesthood and of the descendants of Levi.
30 I took away everything from them that was from other nations and religions, I also established regulations for the priests and for the descendants of Levi, so they would know what work each of them should do. 31 I also arranged for the people to bring the offering of wood to burn on the altar at the set times, and to bring the first part of what they harvested of each crop during the year.
My God, do not forget that I have done all these things, and bless me for doing them.