The Return to Jerusalem

I ·called [assembled; gathered] all those people together [^Che lists 1,513 males, probably over 5,000 total with women and children] at the ·canal [river] that flows toward Ahava, where we camped for three days. I ·checked [reviewed; observed] all the people and the priests, but I did not find any Levites [^Cneeded for service at a rebuilt Temple].

Finally we arrived in Jerusalem where we ·rested [stayed] three days.

Whoever did not come to Jerusalem within three days would lose his property and would no longer be a member of the community of the returned ·captives [exiles]. That was the decision of the officers and elders.

So within three days all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month. All the men were sitting in the open place in front of the ·Temple [^Lhouse] and were upset because of the meeting and because it was raining.