7 Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, ² I gave my brother Hanani charge over Jerusalem, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel—for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many. ³ And I said to them, ‘The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot; while the gatekeepers^[a] are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their watch-posts, and others before their own houses.’ ⁴ The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few and no houses had been built.

Lists of the Returned Exiles

⁵ Then my God put it into my mind to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people, to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who were the first to come back, and I found the following written in it:

⁶ These are the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried into exile; they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town. ⁷ They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.

The number of the Israelite people: ⁸ the descendants of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two. ⁹ Of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two. ¹⁰ Of Arah, six hundred and fifty-two. ¹¹ Of Pahath-moab, namely the descendants of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and eighteen. ¹² Of Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four. ¹³ Of Zattu, eight hundred and forty-five. ¹⁴ Of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty. ¹⁵ Of Binnui, six hundred and forty-eight. ¹⁶ Of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-eight. ¹⁷ Of Azgad, two thousand three hundred and twenty-two. ¹⁸ Of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-seven. ¹⁹ Of Bigvai, two thousand and sixty-seven. ²⁰ Of Adin, six hundred and fifty-five. ²¹ Of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, ninety-eight. ²² Of Hashum, three hundred and twenty-eight. ²³ Of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-four. ²⁴ Of Hariph, one hundred and twelve. ²⁵ Of Gibeon, ninety-five. ²⁶ The people of Bethlehem and Netophah, one hundred and eighty-eight. ²⁷ Of Anathoth, one hundred and twenty-eight. ²⁸ Of Beth-azmaveth, forty-two. ²⁹ Of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three. ³⁰ Of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one. ³¹ Of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two. ³² Of Bethel and Ai, one hundred and twenty-three. ³³ Of the other Nebo, fifty-two. ³⁴ The descendants of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four. ³⁵ Of Harim, three hundred and twenty. ³⁶ Of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five. ³⁷ Of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-one. ³⁸ Of Senaah, three thousand nine hundred and thirty.

³⁹ The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three. ⁴⁰ Of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two. ⁴¹ Of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven. ⁴² Of Harim, one thousand and seventeen.

⁴³ The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the descendants of Hodevah, seventy-four. ⁴⁴ The singers: the descendants of Asaph, one hundred and forty-eight. ⁴⁵ The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, of Ater, of Talmon, of Akkub, of Hatita, of Shobai, one hundred and thirty-eight.

⁴⁶ The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, of Hasupha, of Tabbaoth, ⁴⁷ of Keros, of Sia, of Padon, ⁴⁸ of Lebana, of Hagaba, of Shalmai, ⁴⁹ of Hanan, of Giddel, of Gahar, ⁵⁰ of Reaiah, of Rezin, of Nekoda, ⁵¹ of Gazzam, of Uzza, of Paseah, ⁵² of Besai, of Meunim, of Nephushesim, ⁵³ of Bakbuk, of Hakupha, of Harhur, ⁵⁴ of Bazlith, of Mehida, of Harsha, ⁵⁵ of Barkos, of Sisera, of Temah, ⁵⁶ of Neziah, of Hatipha.

⁵⁷ The descendants of Solomon’s servants: of Sotai, of Sophereth, of Perida, ⁵⁸ of Jaala, of Darkon, of Giddel, ⁵⁹ of Shephatiah, of Hattil, of Pochereth-hazzebaim, of Amon.

⁶⁰ All the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants were three hundred and ninety-two.

⁶¹ The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove their ancestral houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: ⁶² the descendants of Delaiah, of Tobiah, of Nekoda, six hundred and forty-two. ⁶³ Also, of the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, of Hakkoz, of Barzillai (who had married one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name). ⁶⁴ These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean; ⁶⁵ the governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until a priest with Urim and Thummim should come.

⁶⁶ The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, ⁶⁷ besides their male and female slaves, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five singers, male and female. ⁶⁸ They had seven hundred and thirty-six horses, two hundred and forty-five mules,^{[b] 69} four hundred and thirty-five camels, and six thousand seven hundred and twenty donkeys.

⁷⁰ Now some of the heads of ancestral houses contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury one thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, and five hundred and thirty priestly robes. ⁷¹ And some of the heads of ancestral houses gave into the building fund twenty thousand darics of gold and two thousand two hundred minas of silver. ⁷² And what the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold, two thousand minas of silver, and sixty-seven priestly robes.

⁷³ So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel settled in their towns.

Ezra Summons the People to Obey the Law

When the seventh month came—the people of Israel being settled in their towns—