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“We assume the responsibility for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of our God:
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The chief officer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mika. Uzzi was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the musicians responsible for the service of the house of God.
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Bakbukiah and Unni, their associates, stood opposite them in the services.
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They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did also the musicians and gatekeepers, according to the commands of David and his son Solomon.
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I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields.
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Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.
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“Do not mortals have hard service on earth? Are not their days like those of hired laborers?
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If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.
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Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
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“Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow.
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They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.
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Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—
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The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
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At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
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The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.
