The People Dwelling in Jerusalem

11 Now the leaders of the people dwelt at Jerusalem; the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, ^(A)the holy city, and nine-tenths were to dwell in other cities. ² And the people blessed all the men who ^(B)willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.

^3 (C)These are the heads of the province who dwelt in Jerusalem. (But in the cities of Judah everyone dwelt in his own possession in their cities—Israelites, priests, Levites, ^(D)Nethinim, and ^(E)descendants of Solomon’s servants.) ⁴ Also ^(F)in Jerusalem dwelt some of the children of Judah and of the children of Benjamin.

The children of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the children of ^(G)Perez; ⁵ and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Col-Hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of Shiloni. ⁶ All the sons of Perez who dwelt at Jerusalem were four hundred and sixty-eight valiant men.

⁷ And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah; ⁸ and after him Gabbai and Sallai, nine hundred and twenty-eight. ⁹ Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah the son of ^[a]Senuah was second over the city.

^10 (H)Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, and Jachin; ¹¹ Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, was the leader of the house of God. ¹² Their brethren who did the work of the house were eight hundred and twenty-two; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, ¹³ and his brethren, heads of the fathers’ houses, were two hundred and forty-two; and Amashai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, ¹⁴ and their brethren, mighty men of valor, were one hundred and twenty-eight. Their overseer was Zabdiel ^[b]the son of one of the great men.

¹⁵ Also of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; ^16 (I)Shabbethai and ^(J)Jozabad, of the heads of the Levites, had the oversight of ^(K)the business outside of the ^[c]house of God; ¹⁷ Mattaniah the son of ^[d]Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the leader who began the thanksgiving with prayer; Bakbukiah, the second among his brethren; and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. ¹⁸ All the Levites in ^(L)the holy city were two hundred and eighty-four.

¹⁹ Moreover the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brethren who kept the gates, were one hundred and seventy-two.

²⁰ And the rest of Israel, of the priests and Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, everyone in his inheritance. ^21 (M)But the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel. And Ziha and Gishpa were over the Nethinim.

²² Also the overseer of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micha, of the sons of Asaph, the singers in charge of the ^[e]service of the ^[f]house of God. ²³ For ^(N)it was the king’s command concerning them that a ^[g]certain portion should be for the singers, a quota day by day. ²⁴ Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the children of ^(O)Zerah the son of Judah, was ^(P)the^[h] king’s deputy in all matters concerning the people.

The People Dwelling Outside Jerusalem

²⁵ And as for the villages with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt in ^(Q)Kirjath Arba and its villages, Dibon and its villages, Jekabzeel and its villages; ²⁶ in Jeshua, Moladah, Beth Pelet, ²⁷ Hazar Shual, and Beersheba and its villages; ²⁸ in Ziklag and Meconah and its villages; ²⁹ in En Rimmon, Zorah, Jarmuth, ³⁰ Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages; in Lachish and its fields; in Azekah and its villages. They dwelt from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom.

³¹ Also the children of Benjamin from Geba dwelt in Michmash, Aija, and Bethel, and their villages; ³² in Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah; ³³ in Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim; ³⁴ in Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat; ³⁵ in Lod, Ono, and ^(R)the Valley of Craftsmen. ³⁶ Some of the Judean divisions of Levites were in Benjamin.

The Priests and Levites^(S)

12 Now these are the ^(T)priests and the Levites who came up with ^(U)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: ^(V)Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, ² Amariah, ^[i]Malluch, Hattush, ^3 [j]Shechaniah, ^[k]Rehum, ^[l]Meremoth, ⁴ Iddo, ^[m]Ginnethoi, ^(W)Abijah, ^5 [n]Mijamin, ^[o]Maadiah, Bilgah, ⁶ Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, ^7 [p]Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.

These were the heads of the priests and their brethren in the days of ^(X)Jeshua.

⁸ Moreover the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah ^(Y)who led the thanksgiving psalms, he and his brethren. ⁹ Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, stood across from them in their duties.

¹⁰ Jeshua begot Joiakim, Joiakim begot Eliashib, Eliashib begot Joiada, ¹¹ Joiada begot Jonathan, and Jonathan begot Jaddua.

¹² Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the ^(Z)heads of the fathers’ houses were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; ¹³ of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; ¹⁴ of ^[q]Melichu, Jonathan; of ^[r]Shebaniah, Joseph; ¹⁵ of ^[s]Harim, Adna; of ^[t]Meraioth, Helkai; ¹⁶ of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; ¹⁷ of Abijah, Zichri; the son of ^[u]Minjamin; of ^[v]Moadiah, Piltai; ¹⁸ of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; ¹⁹ of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; ²⁰ of ^[w]Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; ²¹ of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; and of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

²² During the reign of Darius the Persian, a record was also kept of the Levites and priests who had been ^(AA)heads of their fathers’ houses in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua. ²³ The sons of Levi, the heads of the fathers’ houses until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib, were written in the book of the ^(AB)chronicles.

²⁴ And the heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers across from them, to ^(AC)praise and give thanks, ^(AD)group^[x] alternating with group, ^(AE)according to the command of David the man of God. ²⁵ Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping the watch at the storerooms of the gates. ²⁶ These lived in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of ^[y]Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah ^(AF)the governor, and of Ezra the priest, ^(AG)the scribe.

Flee from Idolatry

¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, ^(A)flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak as to ^(B)wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. ^16 (C)The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the ^[a]communion of the blood of Christ? ^(D)The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? ¹⁷ For ^(E)we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

¹⁸ Observe ^(F)Israel ^(G)after the flesh: ^(H)Are not those who eat of the sacrifices ^[b]partakers of the altar? ¹⁹ What am I saying then? ^(I)That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? ²⁰ Rather, that the things which the Gentiles ^(J)sacrifice ^(K)they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. ^21 (L)You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and ^(M)the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the ^(N)Lord’s table and of the table of demons. ²² Or do we ^(O)provoke the Lord to jealousy? ^(P)Are we stronger than He?

All to the Glory of God^(Q)

²³ All things are lawful ^[c]for me, but not all things are ^(R)helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things ^[d]edify. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own, but each one ^(S)the other’s well-being.

^25 (T)Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; ²⁶ for ^(U)“the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”

²⁷ If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, ^(V)eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake. ²⁸ But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it ^(W)for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; ^[e]for ^(X)“the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” ²⁹ “Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For ^(Y)why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? ³⁰ But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food ^(Z)over which I give thanks?

^31 (AA)Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ^32 (AB)Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, ³³ just ^(AC)as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.