Historical
Nehemiah Appoints Administrators
7 After the wall had been completed and its doors installed, then the gatekeepers, singers, and descendants of Levi were appointed. 2 I appointed my brother Hanani and fortress commander Hananiah to be over Jerusalem, since he was a faithful person who revered God more than many others did. 3 I charged them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until mid-day.[a] Until then, let everyone stand watch, keeping the gates shut and locked. Appoint security watches from those who live in Jerusalem. Everyone should maintain his own watch near his house.” 4 Even though the city was large and spread out, not many people were living there and not many houses had been built. 5 So my God gave me the idea to gather together the nobles, the officials, and the people so they could be registered according to their genealogies.
A List of Those who Returned(A)
I found a register of the original inhabitants in which there was recorded 6 a list of descendants[b] of the province of Judah[c] who returned from captivity, from those who had been exiled by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They had come back to Jerusalem and to Judah, each one to his town. 7 They were coming with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani,[d] Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth,[e] Bigvai, Nehum,[f] and Baanah. Here is the enumeration of:
The Men of Israel:
8 Parosh’s descendants:[g] 2,172
9 Shephatiah’s descendants: 372
10 Arah’s descendants: 652[h]
11 Pahath-moab’s descendants; that is, through Jeshua and Joab: 2,818[i]
12 Elam’s descendants: 1,254
13 Zattu’s descendants: 845[j]
14 Zaccai’s descendants: 760
15 Binnui’s descendants:[k] 648[l]
16 Bebai’s descendants: 628[m]
17 Azgad’s descendants: 2,322[n]
18 Adonikam’s descendants: 667[o]
19 Bigvai’s descendants: 2,067[p]
20 Adin’s descendants: 655[q]
21 Ater’s descendants through Hezekiah: 98
22 Hashum’s descendants: 328[r]
23 Bezai’s descendants: 324[s]
24 Hariph’s descendants:[t] 112
25 Gibeon’s descendants:[u] 95
26 People from Bethlehem and Netophah: 188[v]
27 People from Anathoth: 128
28 People from Beth-azmaveth:[w] 42
29 People from Kiriath-jearim,[x] Chephirah, and Beeroth: 743
30 People from Ramah and Geba: 621
31 People from Michmas: 122
32 People from Bethel and Ai: 123[y]
33 People from the other Nebo: 52
34 The other Elam’s descendants: 1,254
35 Harim’s descendants: 320
36 Jericho’s descendants: 345
37 Descendants of Lod, Hadid, and Ono: 721[z]
38 Senaah’s descendants: 3,930[aa]
39 The Priests:
Jedaiah’s descendants from the household of Jeshua: 973
40 Immer’s descendants: 1,052
41 Pashhur’s descendants: 1,247
42 Harim’s descendants: 1,017
43 The Descendants of Levi:
Jeshua of Kadmiel’s descendants: that is, Hodevah’s descendants:[ab] 74
44 The Singers:
Asaph’s descendants: 148[ac]
45 The Gatekeepers:
Shallum’s descendants, Ater’s descendants, Talmon’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants, Hatita’s descendants, Shobai’s descendants: 138[ad]
46 The Temple Servants:
Descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, and Tabbaoth.
47 Descendants of Keros, Sia,[ae] and Padon.
48 Descendants of Lebanah, Hagabah, and Shalmai.[af]
49 Descendants of Hanan, Giddel, and Gahar.
50 Descendants of Reaiah, Rezin, and Nekoda.
51 Descendants of Gazzam, Uzza, and Paseah.
52 Descendants of Besai,[ag] Meunim, and Nephushesim,[ah]
53 Descendants of Bakbuk, Hakupha, and Harhur.
54 Descendants of Bazlith,[ai] Mehida, and Harsha.
55 Descendants of Barkos, Sisera, and Temah.
56 Descendants of Neziah and Hatipha.
57 The Descendants of Solomon’s Servants:
Descendants of Sotai, Sophereth,[aj] and Perida,[ak]
58 Descendants of Jaala, Darkon, and Giddel,
59 Descendants of Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth-hazzebaim, and Ammon;[al]
60 All of the Temple Servants and descendants of Solomon’s servants numbered 392.
Non-Documented Persons(B)
61 Here is a list of returnees from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, who could not prove their ancestry and lineage from Israel:
62 Descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda: 642[am]
63 Of the Priests:
Descendants of Habaiah, Koz,[an] and Barzillai, who married one of the daughters of Barzillai from Gilead and took that name.
64 These people searched for their ancestral records, but they couldn’t be located. Accordingly, they were considered disqualified[ao] from the priesthood. 65 The governor[ap] ordered them not to eat anything holy until a priest would be installed with Urim and Thummim.[aq]
66 The entire assembly numbered 42,360, 67 not including their 7,337 male and female servants. They had 245[ar] men and women singers. 68 [as]They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 69 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.
Gifts for the Temple(C)
70 Some of the heads of the families contributed to the work. The governor[at] contributed 1,000 gold drachmas to the treasury, along with 50 basins, and 530 priestly garments. 71 Some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury 20,000 gold drachmas and 2,200 silver units[au] for the work. 72 The rest of the people gave 20,000 gold drachmas, 2,000 silver units[av], and 67 priestly garments.
73 The priests, descendants of Levi, gatekeepers, singers, some of the people, the Temple Servants, and all the Israelis settled in their cities.
Ezra Reads the Law(D)
73 Seven months later,[aw] the Israelis had settled in their own cities. 8 1 All the people gathered as a united body[ax] into the plaza in front of the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel. 2 So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought out the Law before the assembled people. Both men and women were in attendance, as well as[ay] all[az] who could understand what they were hearing.
3 Ezra[ba] read from it, facing the plaza in front of the Water Gate, from early in the morning until mid-day in the presence of the men and women, as well as all who could understand. All the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 4 Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden rostrum erected for that purpose. Beside him to his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maasseiah. Beside him to his left stood Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
5 Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people. Because he was visible[bb] above all the people there, as he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and with uplifted hands, all the people responded, “Amen! Amen!” They bowed down and worshipped the Lord prostrate on the ground.
7 Furthermore, Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the descendants of Levi taught the Law to the people while the people remained standing. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, distinctly communicating its meaning, so they could understand the reading.
A Declaration to Rejoice
9 Because all the people were weeping as they listened to the words of the Law, Nehemiah the governor,[bc] Ezra the priest and scribe, and the descendants of Levi who taught the people told everyone, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” 10 He also told them, “Go eat the best food, drink the best wine,[bd] and give something to those who have nothing, since this day is holy to our Lord. Don’t be sorrowful, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
11 The descendants of Levi also calmed all the people by saying, “Be still, for the day is holy. Don’t be sorrowful!”
12 So all the people went to eat, to drink, to send something to those who had nothing,[be] and to celebrate with great joy, because they understood the words that were being declared to them.
The Festival of Tents is Reinstituted(E)
13 The next day, the heads of the families of all the people were gathered together, along with the priests and the descendants of Levi, to meet with[bf] Ezra the scribe in order to understand the words of the Law. 14 They found written in the Law that the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelis were to live in tents[bg] during the festival scheduled for the seventh month. 15 So they circulated a proclamation throughout their towns and in Jerusalem. It said, “Go out to the hill country and bring back olive branches, wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of mature trees, in order to set up tents, as has been written.”
16 Then the people went out and found branches to make tents for themselves on the roofs of their houses, in their courtyards, and in the courts of God’s Temple, in the plaza near the Water Gate, and in the plaza near the Gate of Ephraim. 17 The entire assembly of those who had returned from exile erected tents and lived in them. Indeed, from the days of Nun’s son Joshua until that day the Israelis had not done so. Joy was everywhere,[bh] 18 and Ezra[bi] continued to read from the Book of the Law of God day by day, from the first day through the last. They celebrated for seven days, and on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly according to regulation.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.