The Daily Audio Bible

New People Move into Jerusalem

11 The leaders of Israel lived in Jerusalem. The rest of the people threw lots. One person out of every ten was to come and live in Jerusalem. It was the holy city. The other nine could stay in their own cities. ² The people blessed those who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

³ These are the area leaders who lived in Jerusalem. (Some people lived on their own land in the cities of Judah. These included Israelites, priests, Levites, Temple servants and descendants of Solomon’s servants. ⁴ Others from the families of Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem.)

These are descendants of Judah who moved into Jerusalem. There was Athaiah son of Uzziah. (Uzziah was the son of Zechariah, who was the son of Amariah. Amariah was the son of Shephatiah, who was the son of Mahalalel. Mahalalel was a descendant of Perez.) ⁵ There was also Maaseiah son of Baruch. (Baruch was the son of Col-Hozeh, who was the son of Hazaiah. Hazaiah was the son of Adaiah, who was the son of Joiarib. Joiarib was the son of Zechariah, who was a descendant of Shelah.) ⁶ All the descendants of Perez who lived in Jerusalem totaled 468 men. They were soldiers.

⁷ These are descendants of Benjamin who moved into Jerusalem. There was Sallu son of Meshullam. (Meshullam was the son of Joed, who was the son of Pedaiah. Pedaiah was the son of Kolaiah, who was the son of Maaseiah. Maaseiah was the son of Ithiel, who was the son of Jeshaiah.) ⁸ Following him were Gabbai and Sallai. All together there were 928 men. ⁹ Joel son of Zicri was appointed over them. And Judah son of Hassenuah was second in charge of the new area of the city.

¹⁰ These are the priests who moved into Jerusalem. There was Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jakin ¹¹ and Seraiah son of Hilkiah. (Hilkiah was the son of Meshullam, who was the son of Zadok. Zadok was the son of Meraioth, who was the son of Ahitub. Seraiah was the supervisor in the Temple.) ¹² And there were others with them who did the work for the Temple. All together there were 822 men. Also there was Adaiah son of Jeroham. (Jeroham was the son of Pelaliah, who was the son of Amzi. Amzi was the son of Zechariah, who was the son of Pashhur. Pashhur was the son of Malkijah.) ¹³ And there were family heads with him. All together there were 242 men. Also there was Amashsai son of Azarel. (Azarel was the son of Ahzai, who was the son of Meshillemoth. Meshillemoth was the son of Immer.) ¹⁴ And there were brave men with Amashsai. All together there were 128 men. Zabdiel son of Haggedolim was appointed over them.

¹⁵ These are the Levites who moved into Jerusalem. There was Shemaiah son of Hasshub. (Hasshub was the son of Azrikam, who was the son of Hashabiah. Hashabiah was the son of Bunni.) ¹⁶ And there were Shabbethai and Jozabad. They were two of the leaders of the Levites. They were in charge of the work outside the Temple. ¹⁷ There was Mattaniah son of Mica. (Mica was the son of Zabdi, who was the son of Asaph.) Mattaniah was the director. He led the people in thanksgiving and prayer. There was Bakbukiah, who was second in charge over his fellow Levites. And there was Abda son of Shammua. (Shammua was the son of Galal, who was the son of Jeduthun.) ¹⁸ All together 284 Levites lived in the holy city of Jerusalem.

¹⁹ These are the gatekeepers who moved into Jerusalem. There were Akkub, Talmon and others with them. There was a total of 172 men. They guarded the city gates.

²⁰ The other Israelites, priests and Levites lived on their own land. They were in all the cities of Judah.

²¹ The Temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel. Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of them.

²² Uzzi son of Bani was appointed over the Levites in Jerusalem. (Bani was the son of Hashabiah, who was the son of Mattaniah. Mattaniah was the son of Mica.) Uzzi was one of Asaph’s descendants. They were the singers. They were responsible for the service of the Temple. ²³ The singers took orders from the king. Those orders told the singers what to do each day.

²⁴ Pethahiah son of Meshezabel was the king’s spokesman. Meshezabel was a descendant of Zerah, the son of Judah.

²⁵ Some of the people of Judah lived in villages with their surrounding fields. Some lived in Kiriath Arba and its surroundings. Some lived in Dibon and its surroundings. Some lived in Jekabzeel and its surroundings. ²⁶ Others lived in Jeshua, Moladah, Beth Pelet, ²⁷ Hazar Shual, Beersheba and its surroundings. ²⁸ Others were in Ziklag and Meconah and its surroundings. ²⁹ Some people lived in En Rimmon, Zorah, Jarmuth, ³⁰ Zanoah, Adullam and their villages. Some were in Lachish and the fields around it. Some lived in Azekah and its surroundings. So they settled from Beersheba all the way to the Valley of Hinnom.

³¹ The descendants of the Benjaminites from Geba lived in Micmash, Aija, Bethel and its surroundings. ³² They lived in Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, ³³ Hazor, Ramah and Gittaim. ³⁴ They lived in Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, ³⁵ Lod, Ono and in the Valley of the Craftsmen.

³⁶ Some groups of the Levites from Judah settled in the land of Benjamin.

Priests and Levites

12 These are the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua. There were Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, ² Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, ³ Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, ⁴ Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah, ⁵ Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah, ⁶ Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, ⁷ Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah and Jedaiah. They were the leaders of the priests and their relatives. This was in the days of Jeshua.

⁸ The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah and also Mattaniah. He and his relatives were in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. ⁹ Bakbukiah and Unni, their relatives, stood across from them in the services.

¹⁰ Jeshua was the father of Joiakim. Joiakim was the father of Eliashib. Eliashib was the father of Joiada. ¹¹ Joiada was the father of Jonathan. And Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.

¹² In the days of Joiakim, these priests were the leaders of the families of priests. Meraiah was over Seraiah’s family. Hananiah was over Jeremiah’s family. ¹³ Meshullam was over Ezra’s family. Jehohanan was over Amariah’s family. ¹⁴ Jonathan was over Malluch’s family. Joseph was over Shecaniah’s family. ¹⁵ Adna was over Harim’s family. Helkai was over Meremoth’s family. ¹⁶ Zechariah was over Iddo’s family. Meshullam was over Ginnethon’s family. ¹⁷ Zicri was over Abijah’s family. Piltai was over Miniamin’s and Moadiah’s families. ¹⁸ Shammua was over Bilgah’s family. Jehonathan was over Shemaiah’s family. ¹⁹ Mattenai was over Joiarib’s family. Uzzi was over Jedaiah’s family. ²⁰ Kallai was over Sallu’s family. Eber was over Amok’s family. ²¹ Hashabiah was over Hilkiah’s family. Nethanel was over Jedaiah’s family.

²² The leaders of the families of the Levites and the priests were written down. This was in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan and Jaddua. They were written down while Darius the Persian was king. ²³ The family leaders among the Levites were written down in the history book. These were only up to the time of Johanan son of Eliashib. ²⁴ The leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel and their relatives. Their relatives stood across from them. They gave praise and thanksgiving to God. One group answered the other group. That is what David, the man of God, had commanded.

²⁵ These were the gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms next to the gates: Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub. ²⁶ They served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua. (Jeshua was the son of Jozadak.) They also served in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and teacher.

¹⁴ So, my dear friends, stay away from worshiping idols. ¹⁵ I am speaking to you, as to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ We give thanks for the cup of blessing.^[a] It is a sharing in the blood of Christ’s death. And the bread that we break is a sharing in the body of Christ. ¹⁷ There is one loaf of bread. And we are many people. But we all share from that one loaf. So we are really one body.

¹⁸ Think about the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices share in the altar? ¹⁹ I do not mean that the food sacrificed to an idol is something important. And I do not mean that an idol is anything at all. ²⁰ But I say that what is sacrificed to idols is offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to share anything with demons. ²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, too. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons, too. ²² Do we want to make the Lord jealous? We are not stronger than he is, are we?

How to Use Christian Freedom

²³ “We are allowed to do all things.” Yes. But not all things are good for us to do. “We are allowed to do all things.” Yes. But not all things help others grow stronger. ²⁴ No one should try to do what will help only himself. He should try to do what is good for others.

²⁵ Eat any meat that is sold in the meat market. Do not ask questions about the meat to see if it is something you think is wrong to eat. ²⁶ You can eat it, “because the earth and everything on it belong to the Lord.”^[b]

²⁷ Someone who is not a believer may invite you to eat with him. If you want to go, eat anything that is put before you. Do not ask questions about it. ²⁸ But if anyone says to you, “That food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it. Do not eat it because of that person who told you and because eating it would be something that might be thought wrong. ²⁹ I don’t mean that you think it is wrong. But the other person might think it is wrong. My own freedom should not be judged by what someone else thinks. ³⁰ I eat the meal with thankfulness. And I do not want to be criticized because of something I thank God for.

³¹ So if you eat, or if you drink, or if you do anything, do everything for the glory of God. ³² Never do anything that might make others do wrong—Jews, Greeks, or God’s church. ³³ I do the same thing. I try to please everybody in every way. I am not trying to do what is good for me. I try to do what is good for the most people. I do this so that they can be saved.