Servants for the Temple

¹⁵ I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the descendants of Levi.^(A)

The Return to Jerusalem

³¹ Then we left the River Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem; the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes along the way.^(A)

Fasting and Prayer for Protection

²¹ Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the River Ahava, that we might humble ourselves^[a] before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions.^(A)

⁷ Some of the people of Israel and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants also went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.^(A)

¹⁵ I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who lived by the River Chebar.^[a] And I sat there among them, stunned, for seven days.^(A)

Psalm 137

Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem

² Of the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom. Of Ithamar, Daniel. Of David, Hattush,^(A)

¹³ On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed^[a] there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.

The Vision of the Chariot

1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the River Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.^(A)

²⁴ We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on any of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.