The People in Jerusalem^(A)

² Now the first to resettle on their own property in their own towns^(B) were some Israelites, priests, Levites and temple servants.^(C)

²¹ Solomon conscripted the descendants^(A) of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate^[a](B)—to serve as slave labor,^(C) as it is to this day.

²⁷ That day he made the Gibeonites^(A) woodcutters and water carriers^(B) for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose.^(C) And that is what they are to this day.

²³ You are now under a curse:^(A) You will never be released from service as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

²¹ They continued, “Let them live,^(A) but let them be woodcutters and water carriers^(B) in the service of the whole assembly.” So the leaders’ promise to them was kept.

²⁶ and the temple servants^(A) living on the hill of Ophel^(B) made repairs up to a point opposite the Water Gate^(C) toward the east and the projecting tower.

⁷ Some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, musicians, gatekeepers and temple servants, also came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.^(A)