The People Who Sealed the Covenant

10 ^{[a] (A)}“On the seals are the names of^[b] Nehemiah ^(B)the governor, ^(C)the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, ^2 (D)Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, ³ Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, ^4 (E)Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, ⁵ Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, ⁶ Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, ⁷ Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, ⁸ Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. ⁹ And the Levites: ^(F)Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of ^(G)Henadad, Kadmiel; ¹⁰ and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, ¹¹ Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, ¹² Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, ¹³ Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. ¹⁴ The chiefs of the people: ^(H)Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, 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 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, ²⁷ Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

The Obligations of the Covenant

^28 (I)“The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, ^(J)and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, ²⁹ join with their brothers, their nobles, ^(K)and enter into a curse and an oath ^(L)to walk in God's Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes. ^30 (M)We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. ^31 (N)And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the ^(O)seventh year and the ^(P)exaction of every debt.

³² “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly ^(Q)a third part of a shekel^[c] for the service of the house of our God: ^33 (R)for the showbread, ^(S)the regular grain offering, ^(T)the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. ^34 (U)We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots ^(V)for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, ^(W)as it is written in the Law. ³⁵ We obligate ourselves ^(X)to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; ³⁶ also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, ^(Y)as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; ^37 (Z)and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, ^(AA)to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. ³⁸ And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of ^(AB)the storehouse. ³⁹ For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi ^(AC)shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. ^(AD)We will not neglect the house of our God.”

The Leaders in Jerusalem

11 Now the leaders of the people ^(AE)lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people ^(AF)cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem ^(AG)the holy city, while nine out of ten^[d] remained in the other towns. ² And the people blessed all the men ^(AH)who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.

^3 (AI)These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah ^(AJ)everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, ^(AK)the temple servants, ^(AL)and the descendants of Solomon's servants. ⁴ And in Jerusalem lived certain of the sons of Judah and of the sons of Benjamin. Of the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the sons of ^(AM)Perez; ⁵ and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, son of the Shilonite. ⁶ All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 valiant men.

⁷ And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah, ⁸ and his brothers, men of valor, 928.^{[e] 9} Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.

¹⁰ Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, ¹¹ Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, ruler of the house of God, ¹² and their brothers who did the work of the house, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, ¹³ and his brothers, heads of fathers' houses, 242; and Amashsai, the son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer, ¹⁴ and their brothers, mighty men of valor, 128; their overseer was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.

¹⁵ And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni; ¹⁶ and Shabbethai and ^(AN)Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were over ^(AO)the outside work of the house of God; ¹⁷ and ^(AP)Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who was the leader of the praise,^[f] who gave thanks, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun. ¹⁸ All the Levites in ^(AQ)the holy city were 284.

¹⁹ The gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172. ²⁰ And the rest of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, ^(AR)every one in his inheritance. ^21 (AS)But the temple servants lived on Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.

²² The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the work of the house of God. ^23 (AT)For there was a command from the king concerning them, and a fixed provision for the singers, ^(AU)as every day required. ²⁴ And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's side^[g] in all matters concerning the people.

Villages Outside Jerusalem

²⁵ And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in ^(AV)Kiriath-arba and its villages, and in Dibon and its villages, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, ²⁶ and in Jeshua and in Moladah and Beth-pelet, ²⁷ in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its villages, ²⁸ in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages, ²⁹ in En-rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, ³⁰ Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they encamped from Beersheba to ^(AW)the Valley of Hinnom. ³¹ The people of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages, ³² Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, ³³ Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, ³⁴ Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, ³⁵ Lod, and ^(AX)Ono, the valley of craftsmen. ³⁶ And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah were assigned to Benjamin.

Peter and John Before the Council

4 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and ^(A)the captain of the temple and ^(B)the Sadducees came upon them, ² greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming ^(C)in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³ And they arrested them and ^(D)put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. ⁴ But many of those who had heard the word believed, and ^(E)the number of the men came to about five thousand.

⁵ On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, ⁶ with ^(F)Annas the high priest and ^(G)Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. ⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, ^(H)“By what power or ^(I)by what name did you do this?” ⁸ Then Peter, ^(J)filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹ if we are being examined today ^(K)concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, ¹⁰ let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that ^(L)by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, ^(M)whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. ^11 (N)This Jesus^[a] is the stone that was ^(O)rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.^{[b] 12} And there is ^(P)salvation ^(Q)in no one else, for ^(R)there is no other ^(S)name under heaven given among men^[c] by which we must be saved.”

^13 (T)Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ But seeing the man who was healed ^(U)standing beside them, ^(V)they had nothing to say in opposition. ¹⁵ But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, ¹⁶ saying, ^(W)“What shall we do with these men? For that ^(X)a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them ^(Y)to speak no more to anyone in this name.” ¹⁸ So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John answered them, ^(Z)“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, ²⁰ for ^(AA)we cannot but speak of what ^(AB)we have seen and heard.” ²¹ And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, ^(AC)because of the people, for all were praising God ^(AD)for what had happened. ²² For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

The Believers Pray for Boldness

²³ When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ And when they heard it, they lifted their voices ^(AE)together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, ^(AF)who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, ²⁵ who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,^[d] said by the Holy Spirit,

²⁷ for truly in this city there were gathered together against your ^(AJ)holy servant Jesus, ^(AK)whom you anointed, both ^(AL)Herod and ^(AM)Pontius Pilate, along ^(AN)with the Gentiles and ^(AO)the peoples of Israel, ^28 (AP)to do whatever your hand and ^(AQ)your plan had predestined to take place. ²⁹ And now, Lord, ^(AR)look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all ^(AS)boldness, ³⁰ while ^(AT)you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed ^(AU)through the name of your ^(AV)holy servant Jesus.” ³¹ And when they had prayed, ^(AW)the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and ^(AX)they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and ^(AY)continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

They Had Everything in Common

³² Now the full number of those who believed were of ^(AZ)one heart and ^(BA)soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but ^(BB)they had everything in common. ³³ And with great ^(BC)power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and ^(BD)great grace was upon them all. ^34 (BE)There was not a needy person among them, for ^(BF)as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold ³⁵ and ^(BG)laid it at the apostles' feet, and ^(BH)it was distributed to each as any had need. ³⁶ Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means ^(BI)son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, ³⁷ sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and ^(BJ)laid it at the apostles' feet.