Nehemiah 10
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Solemn Agreement[a]
10 So in all this we are making a solemn agreement and putting it in writing and attaching the seals of our officials, Levites, and priests.
These were the men who placed their seals on it:
Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hakaliah,
Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah,
4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluk,
5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
8 Ma’aziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah.
These are the priests.
9 The Levites were:
Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui from the sons of Henadad, and Kadmiel.
10 Their relatives were Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zakkur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
13 Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.
14 The heads of the people were:
Parosh, Pahath Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Ma’aseiah,
26 and Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluk, Harim, Ba’anah.
28 Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and every person who had separated himself from the peoples of the lands for the sake of the Law of God, with their wives, their sons, and their daughters—all the people who have knowledge and understanding— 29 are making a commitment with their brothers, that is, with the important people, and they are placing themselves under a curse and under an oath to walk in the Law of God that was given through Moses the servant of God, an oath to keep the law and to obey all the commands of the Lord our God and his judgments and his statutes.
The Terms of the Agreement
30 We promise to keep these points:
We will not give our daughters in marriage to the peoples of the land, and we will not take their daughters for marriage to our sons.
31 We will not buy anything from the peoples of the land who are bringing goods and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day or on a holy day.
We will leave the land fallow during the seventh year, and we will forgive every loan.
32 We will each assume the responsibility to keep the commands to give a third of a shekel per year for the service of the house of our God, 33 for the Bread of the Presence, for the regular daily grain offerings, the continual burnt offerings, the Sabbath offerings, the New Moon offerings, for the appointed festivals and holy offerings, and for sin offerings to atone for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.
34 We—the priests, the Levites, and the people—have cast lots to determine our turns for each fathers’ house[b] to bring the wood offering to the house of our God, at the appointed times each year, to be burned upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law.
35 We pledge to bring the firstfruits of our land and the firstfruits of every kind of fruit tree to the house of our God for ourselves. 36 We also will bring the firstborn of our sons and our animals, as is written in the Law, and we will bring the firstborn of our cattle and flocks to the house of our God for the priests who serve in the house of our God, 37 and we will bring the first of our dough and our contributions and the fruit of every tree. We will bring new wine and olive oil to the priests, to the storerooms of the house of our God, and we will bring the tithe from our land to the Levites. It is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work. 38 A priest, a descendant of Aaron, will be with the Levites when the Levites collect the tithes. The Levites will bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the chambers of the treasury, 39 because the Israelites and the sons of Levi are to bring the contribution from the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the vessels of the sanctuary are kept, where the priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers serve.
In this way we will not abandon the house of our God.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 10:1 Nehemiah 10:1 is 9:38 in the Hebrew Old Testament. All the subsequent verse numbers of chapter 10 are one number higher in the English text than in the Hebrew text.
- Nehemiah 10:34 The societal units of Israel were called fathers’ houses. They could also be called ancestral clans.
Nehemiah 10
New English Translation
10 On the sealed documents were the following names:[a]
Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah, along with Zedekiah,
2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah,
4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
8 Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests.
9 The Levites were as follows:
Jeshua[b] son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel.
10 Their colleagues[c] were as follows:
Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
13 Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.
14 The leaders[d] of the people were as follows:
Parosh, Pahath Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,
15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,
17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,
19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,
21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,
23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,
25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,
27 Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.
28 “Now the rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple attendants, and all those who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples[e] because of the law of God, along with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all of whom are able to understand— 29 hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders[f] and enter into a curse and an oath[g] to adhere to[h] the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey[i] carefully all the commandments of the Lord our Lord,[j] along with his ordinances and his statutes.
30 “We will not give our daughters in marriage to the neighboring peoples, and we will not take their daughters in marriage for our sons. 31 We will not buy[k] on the Sabbath or on a holy day from the neighboring peoples who bring their wares and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day. We will let the fields lie fallow every seventh year, and we will cancel every loan.[l] 32 We accept responsibility for fulfilling[m] the commands to give[n] one third of a shekel each year for the work of the temple[o] of our God, 33 for the loaves of presentation and for the regular grain offerings and regular burnt offerings, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the appointed meetings, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the temple of our God.
34 “We—the priests, the Levites, and the people—have cast lots concerning the wood offerings, to bring them to the temple of our God according to our families[p] at the designated times year by year to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as is written in the law. 35 We also accept responsibility for[q] bringing the firstfruits of our land and the firstfruits of every fruit tree year by year to the temple of the Lord. 36 We also accept responsibility, as is written in the law, for bringing the firstborn of our sons and our cattle and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks to the temple of our God, to the priests who are ministering in the temple of our God. 37 We will also bring the first of our coarse meal, of our contributions, of the fruit of every tree, of new wine, and of olive oil to the priests at the storerooms of the temple of our God, along with a tenth of the produce[r] of our land to the Levites, for the Levites are the ones who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work.[s] 38 A priest of Aaron’s line[t] will be with the Levites when the Levites collect the tithes, and the Levites will bring up a tenth of the tithes to the temple of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. 39 The Israelites and the Levites will bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the utensils of the sanctuary are kept, and where the priests who minister stay, along with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the temple of our God.”
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 10:1 tn The words “were the following names” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. vv. 9, 10, 14.
- Nehemiah 10:9 tc With many medieval Hebrew manuscripts and the ancient versions the translation reads יְשׁוּעַ (yeshuaʿ, “Jeshua”) rather than the reading וְיֵשׁוּעַ (veyeshuaʿ, “and Jeshua”) of BHS.
- Nehemiah 10:10 tn Heb “brothers” (also in v. 29 [ET]).
- Nehemiah 10:14 tn Heb “heads”; ASV “chiefs.”
- Nehemiah 10:28 tn Heb “from the peoples of the lands.” Cf. vv. 30, 31.
- Nehemiah 10:29 tn Heb “the nobles.”
- Nehemiah 10:29 tn The expression “a curse and an oath” may be a hendiadys, meaning “an oath with penalties.”
- Nehemiah 10:29 tn Heb “to walk in.”
- Nehemiah 10:29 tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.
- Nehemiah 10:29 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
- Nehemiah 10:31 tn Heb “take.”
- Nehemiah 10:31 tn Heb “debt of every hand,” an idiom referring to the hand that holds legally binding contractual agreements.
- Nehemiah 10:32 tn Heb “cause to stand on us.”
- Nehemiah 10:32 tc The MT reads “to give upon us.” However, the term עָלֵינוּ (ʿalenu, “upon us”) should probably be deleted, following a few medieval Hebrew mss, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate.
- Nehemiah 10:32 tn Heb “house” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39).
- Nehemiah 10:34 tn Heb “the house of our fathers.”
- Nehemiah 10:35 tn The words “we accept responsibility” are not included in the Hebrew text, but are inferred from v. 33 (so also in v. 36).
- Nehemiah 10:37 tn Heb “a tithe of our land.”
- Nehemiah 10:37 tn Heb “of our work.”
- Nehemiah 10:38 tn Heb “And the priest the son of Aaron.”
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