Nehemiah 12:17-13:12

English Standard Version

¹⁷of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; ¹⁸of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; ¹⁹of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; ²⁰of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; ²¹of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

²²In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were recorded as heads of fathers' houses; so too were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. ²³As for the sons of Levi, their heads of fathers' houses ^(A)were written in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. ²⁴And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and ^(B)Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers who stood opposite them, ^(C)to praise and to give thanks, ^(D)according to the commandment of David ^(E)the man of God, ^(F)watch by watch. ²⁵Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers standing guard at ^(G)the storehouses of the gates. ²⁶These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the days of ^(H)Nehemiah the governor and of ^(I)Ezra, the priest and scribe.

Dedication of the Wall

²⁷And at ^(J)the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, ^(K)with cymbals, harps, and lyres. ²⁸And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; ²⁹also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. ³⁰And the priests and the Levites ^(L)purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.

³¹Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. ^(M)One went to the south on the wall to ^(N)the Dung Gate. ³²And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, ³³and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, ³⁵and certain of the priests' sons ^(O)with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; ³⁶and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, ^(P)with the musical instruments of David ^(Q)the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. ³⁷At ^(R)the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by ^(S)the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to ^(T)the Water Gate on the east.

³⁸^(U)The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above ^(V)the Tower of the Ovens, to ^(W)the Broad Wall, ³⁹and above ^(X)the Gate of Ephraim, and by ^(Y)the Gate of Yeshanah,^[a] and by ^(Z)the Fish Gate and ^(AA)the Tower of Hananel and ^(AB)the Tower of the Hundred, to ^(AC)the Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at ^(AD)the Gate of the Guard. ⁴⁰So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me; ⁴¹and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, ^(AE)with trumpets; ⁴²and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. ⁴³And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.

Service at the Temple

⁴⁴^(AF)On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. ⁴⁵And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, ^(AG)according to the command of David and his son Solomon. ⁴⁶For long ago in the days of David and ^(AH)Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs^[b] of praise and thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the ^(AI)daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; ^(AJ)and they set apart that which was for the Levites; ^(AK)and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.

Nehemiah's Final Reforms

13 On that day ^(AL)they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written ^(AM)that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, ²for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. ³As soon as the people heard the law, ^(AN)they separated from Israel all ^(AO)those of foreign descent.

⁴Now before this, ^(AP)Eliashib the priest, who ^(AQ)was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to ^(AR)Tobiah, ⁵prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, ^(AS)which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. ⁶While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for ^(AT)in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes ^(AU)king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king ⁷and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, ^(AV)preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. ⁸And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. ⁹Then I gave orders, and they ^(AW)cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

¹⁰I also found out that ^(AX)the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each ^(AY)to his field. ¹¹^(AZ)So I confronted the officials and said, ^(BA)“Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. ¹²Then all Judah brought ^(BB)the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.