Nehemiah 7-8

New American Standard Bible

Census of First Returned Exiles

7 Now when ^(A)the wall was rebuilt and I had installed the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites were appointed, ² then I put ^(B)Hanani my brother, and ^(C)Hananiah the commander of ^(D)the citadel, in charge of Jerusalem, for he was ^(E)a faithful man and feared God more than many. ³ Then I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot, and while they are standing guard, the gatekeepers are to ^[a]keep the doors shut and bolted. Also appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each at his post, and each in front of his own house.” ⁴ Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few and the houses were not built.

^5 (F)Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the other people to be enrolled by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up first, ^[b]in which I found the following record:

^6 (G)These are the ^[c]people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken into exile, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city, ⁷ who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, ^[d]Azariah, ^[e]Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, ^[f]Mispereth, Bigvai, ^[g]Nehum, and Baanah.

The number of men of the people of Israel: ⁸ the sons of Parosh, 2,172; ⁹ the sons of Shephatiah, 372; ¹⁰ the sons of Arah, 652; ¹¹ the sons of Pahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818; ¹² the sons of Elam, 1,254; ¹³ the sons of Zattu, 845; ¹⁴ the sons of Zaccai, 760; ¹⁵ the sons of ^[h]Binnui, 648; ¹⁶ the sons of Bebai, 628; ¹⁷ the sons of Azgad, 2,322; ¹⁸ the sons of Adonikam, 667; ¹⁹ the sons of Bigvai, 2,067; ²⁰ the sons of Adin, 655; ²¹ the sons of Ater, of Hezekiah, 98; ²² the sons of Hashum, 328; ²³ the sons of Bezai, 324; ²⁴ the sons of ^[i]Hariph, 112; ²⁵ the sons of ^[j]Gibeon, 95; ²⁶ the men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188; ²⁷ the men of Anathoth, 128; ²⁸ the men of ^[k]Beth-azmaveth, 42; ²⁹ the men of ^[l]Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743; ³⁰ the men of Ramah and Geba, 621; ³¹ the men of Michmas, 122; ³² the men of Bethel and Ai, 123; ³³ the men of the other Nebo, 52; ³⁴ the sons of the other Elam, 1,254; ³⁵ the sons of Harim, 320; ³⁶ the ^[m]men of Jericho, 345; ³⁷ the sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721; ³⁸ the sons of Senaah, 3,930.

³⁹ The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973; ⁴⁰ the sons of Immer, 1,052; ⁴¹ the sons of Pashhur, 1,247; ⁴² the sons of Harim, 1,017.

⁴³ The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the sons of ^[n]Hodevah, 74. ⁴⁴ The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148. ⁴⁵ The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138.

⁴⁶ The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, ⁴⁷ the sons of Keros, the sons of ^[o]Sia, the sons of Padon, ⁴⁸ the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Shalmai, ⁴⁹ the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, ⁵⁰ the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, ⁵¹ the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, ⁵² the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of ^[p]Nephushesim, ⁵³ the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, ⁵⁴ the sons of ^[q]Bazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, ⁵⁵ the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, ⁵⁶ the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.

⁵⁷ The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of ^[r]Sophereth, the sons of ^[s]Perida, ⁵⁸ the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, ⁵⁹ the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of ^[t]Amon.

⁶⁰ All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants totaled 392.

⁶¹ These were the ones who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, ^[u]Addon, and Immer; but they could not provide evidence for their fathers’ households or their ^[v]descendants, whether they were of Israel: ⁶² the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642. ⁶³ And of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and was named after them. ⁶⁴ These searched among their ancestral registration, but it could not be located; therefore they were considered unclean and disqualified from the priesthood. ⁶⁵ And ^(H)the ^[w]governor said to them that they were not to eat from the most holy things until a priest arose with ^(I)Urim and Thummim.

Total of People and Gifts

⁶⁶ The whole assembly together totaled 42,360, ⁶⁷ besides their male slaves and their female slaves, ^[x]of whom there were 7,337; and they had 245 male and female singers. ^68 [y](J)Their horses were 736; their mules, 245; ⁶⁹ their camels, 435; their donkeys, 6,720.

⁷⁰ Some of the heads of fathers’ households gave to the work. The ^[z](K)governor gave to the treasury a thousand gold drachmas, fifty basins, and 530 priests’ garments. ⁷¹ And some of the heads of fathers’ households gave to the treasury for the work twenty thousand gold drachmas and 2,200 silver minas. ⁷² What the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand gold drachmas, two thousand silver minas, and sixty-seven priests’ garments.

⁷³ Now ^(L)the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel lived in their cities.

^(M)And when the seventh month came, the sons of Israel were in their cities.

Ezra Reads the Law

8 And all the people gathered as one person at the public square which was in front of ^(N)the Water Gate, and they ^[aa]asked ^(O)Ezra the scribe to bring ^(P)the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had ^[ab]given to Israel. ² Then ^(Q)Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on ^(R)the first day of the seventh month. ³ And he read from it before the public square which was in front of ^(S)the Water Gate, from ^[ac]early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and ^[ad]all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴ Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left. ⁵ Then Ezra opened ^(T)the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people ^(U)stood up. ⁶ Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, “^(V)Amen, Amen!” with the raising of their hands; then ^(W)they kneeled down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites explained the Law to the people while the people remained in their place. ⁸ They read from the book, from the Law of God, ^[ae]translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.

This Day Is Holy

⁹ Then Nehemiah, who was the ^[af](X)governor, and Ezra ^(Y)the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “^(Z)This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^(AA)do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Law. ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Go, eat the festival foods, drink the sweet drinks, and ^(AB)send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your ^[ag]refuge.” ¹¹ So the Levites silenced all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” ¹² Then all the people went away to eat, drink, ^(AC)to send portions, and to ^[ah]celebrate a great feast, ^(AD)because they understood the words which had been made known to them.

Feast of Booths Restored

¹³ Then on the second day the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe so that they might gain insight into the words of the Law. ¹⁴ And they found written in the Law how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel ^(AE)were to live in ^[ai]booths during the feast of the seventh month. ^15 (AF)And that they were to proclaim and circulate a proclamation in all their cities and ^(AG)in Jerusalem, saying, “^(AH)Go out to the hills, and bring olive branches and ^[aj]wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of other trees with thick branches, to make booths, as it is written.” ¹⁶ So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each ^(AI)on his roof, and in their courtyards and in the courtyards of the house of God, and in the public square at ^(AJ)the Water Gate, and in the square at ^(AK)the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷ The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths. Indeed, the sons of Israel ^(AL)had not done so since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And ^(AM)there was very great rejoicing. ^18 (AN)He read from the Book of the Law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they ^(AO)celebrated the feast seven days, and on ^(AP)the eighth day there was a festive assembly in accordance with the ordinance.