Priests and Levites Who Returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel

12 Now these are ^(A)the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, ² Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, ³ Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, ⁴ Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, ⁵ Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, ⁶ Shemaiah and Joiarib, Jedaiah, ⁷ Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah and Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their ^[a]kinsmen in the days of Jeshua.

⁸ The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah who was ^[b]in charge of the songs of thanksgiving, he and his brothers. ⁹ Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, stood opposite them ^(B)in their service divisions. ¹⁰ Jeshua ^[c]became the father of Joiakim, and Joiakim ^[d]became the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib ^[e]became the father of Joiada, ¹¹ and Joiada became the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan became the father of Jaddua.

¹² Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the heads of fathers’ households were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; ¹³ of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; ¹⁴ of ^[f]Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; ¹⁵ of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; ¹⁶ of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; ¹⁷ of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; ¹⁸ of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; ¹⁹ of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; ²⁰ of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; ²¹ of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

The Chief Levites

²² As for the Levites, the heads of fathers’ households were registered in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan and Jaddua; so were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. ²³ The sons of Levi, the heads of fathers’ households, were registered in the Book of the Chronicles up to the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. ²⁴ The heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers opposite them, ^(C)to praise and give thanks, ^[g]as prescribed by David the man of God, ^(D)division corresponding to division. ²⁵ Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping watch at ^(E)the storehouses of the gates. ²⁶ These served in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of ^(F)Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest and scribe.

Dedication of the Wall

²⁷ Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they might celebrate the dedication with gladness, with hymns of thanksgiving and with songs ^(G)to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps and lyres. ²⁸ So the sons of the singers were assembled from the district around Jerusalem, and from ^(H)the villages of the Netophathites, ²⁹ from Beth-gilgal and from their fields in Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem. ³⁰ The priests and the Levites ^(I)purified themselves; they also purified the people, the gates and the wall.

Procedures for the Temple

³¹ Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on top of the wall, and I appointed two great ^[h]choirs, ^[i](J)the first proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward ^(K)the Refuse Gate. ³² Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them, ³³ with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴ Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, ³⁵ and some of the sons of the priests with trumpets; and 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 and his ^[j]kinsmen, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani, ^(L)with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. ³⁷ At ^(M)the Fountain Gate they went directly up ^(N)the steps of the city of David by the stairway of the wall above the house of David to ^(O)the Water Gate on the east.

^38 (P)The second ^[k]choir proceeded to the ^[l]left, while I followed them with half of the people on the wall, ^(Q)above the Tower of Furnaces, to ^(R)the Broad Wall, ³⁹ and above ^(S)the Gate of Ephraim, by ^(T)the Old Gate, by the ^(U)Fish Gate, ^(V)the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate; and they stopped at ^(W)the Gate of the Guard. ⁴⁰ Then the two choirs took their stand in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials with me; ⁴¹ and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah, with the trumpets; ⁴² and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam and Ezer. And the singers ^[m]sang, with Jezrahiah their leader, ⁴³ and on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because ^(X)God had given them great joy, even the women and children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.

⁴⁴ On that day ^(Y)men were also appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions required by the law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who ^[n]served. ⁴⁵ For they performed the ^[o]worship of their God and the service of purification, together with the singers and the gatekeepers ^(Z)in accordance with the command of David and of his son Solomon. ⁴⁶ For in the days of David and ^(AA)Asaph, in ancient times, there were ^[p](AB)leaders of the singers, songs of praise and hymns of thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷ So all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah gave the portions due the singers and the gatekeepers ^(AC)as each day required, and ^(AD)set apart the consecrated portion for the Levites, and the Levites set apart the consecrated portion for the sons of Aaron.

Praise for Jerusalem’s Restoration and Prosperity.

The Doom of Babylon

17 ^(A)Then one of the ^(B)seven angels who had the ^(C)seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you ^(D)the judgment of the ^(E)great harlot who ^(F)sits on many waters, ² with whom ^(G)the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and ^(H)those who dwell on the earth were ^(I)made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” ³ And ^(J)he carried me away ^[a](K)in the Spirit ^(L)into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a ^(M)scarlet beast, full of ^(N)blasphemous names, having ^(O)seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(P)was clothed in purple and scarlet, and ^[b]adorned with gold and precious ^[c]stones and pearls, having in her hand ^(Q)a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, ⁵ and on her forehead a name was written, a ^(R)mystery, “^(S)BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF ^(T)THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with ^(U)the blood of the ^[d]saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered ^[e]greatly. ⁷ And the angel said to me, “Why ^[f]do you wonder? I will tell you the ^(V)mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the ^(W)seven heads and the ten horns.

⁸ “^(X)The beast that you saw ^(Y)was, and is not, and is about to ^(Z)come up out of the ^(AA)abyss and ^[g](AB)go to destruction. And ^(AC)those who dwell on the earth, ^(AD)whose name has not been written in the book of life ^(AE)from the foundation of the world, will ^(AF)wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. ^9 (AG)Here is the mind which has wisdom. The ^(AH)seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, ¹⁰ and they are seven ^(AI)kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. ¹¹ The beast which ^(AJ)was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he ^(AK)goes to destruction. ¹² The ^(AL)ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast ^(AM)for one hour. ¹³ These have ^(AN)one ^[h]purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

Victory for the Lamb

¹⁴ These will wage ^(AO)war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will ^(AP)overcome them, because He is ^(AQ)Lord of lords and ^(AR)King of kings, and ^(AS)those who are with Him are the ^(AT)called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And he *said to me, “The ^(AU)waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are ^(AV)peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. ¹⁶ And the ^(AW)ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her ^(AX)desolate and ^(AY)naked, and will ^(AZ)eat her flesh and will ^(BA)burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For ^(BB)God has put it in their hearts to execute His ^[i]purpose ^[j]by ^(BC)having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the ^(BD)words of God will be fulfilled. ¹⁸ The woman whom you saw is ^(BE)the great city, which ^[k]reigns over the kings of the earth.”