Old/New Testament
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.
The People Confess Their Sins
9 On the twenty-fourth day of this same month, the Israelis gathered together while fasting, wearing sackcloth, and covering themselves with dust. 2 The remnant[bj] of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners. Then they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. 3 While they stood there, they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one fourth of the day, and they confessed and worshipped the Lord their God for another[bk] fourth of the day.
The Descendants of Levi’s Prayer of Blessing
4 Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the rostrum assigned for use by the descendants of Levi and cried out loudly to the Lord their God. 5 Then the descendants of Levi—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said,
“Stand up and bless the Lord your God
from eternity to eternity!
Blessed be your glorious name!
May it be exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 “You are the Lord;
you alone crafted the heavens,
the highest heavens
with all of their armies;
the earth, and everything in it;
the seas, and everything in them;
you keep giving all of them life,
and the army of heaven continuously worships you.
7 You are the Lord,
the God who chose Abram,
whom you brought from Ur of the Chaldeans
and to whom you gave the name Abraham.
8 You found him[bl] faithful in your sight;
you made a covenant with him
and you gave the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites,
the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites,
and the Girgashites to his descendants.
And you have kept your word,
because you are righteous.
9 “You took note of the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt,
and listened to their cry at the Red Sea.
10 You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
against all of his officials,
and against all the people of his land,
because you knew they acted arrogantly against your people.[bm]
So you established your name with them,
as it remains to this day.
11 You divided the sea in front of them,
and they traveled through the midst of the sea on dry ground.
You hurled their pursuers into the depths,
as one throws[bn] a stone into turbulent waters.
12 You led them during the day by a pillar of cloud,
and by a pillar of fire at night
to provide light for them
on the path they took.
13 “You also came down to Mount Sinai,
spoke with them from heaven,
and gave them impartial regulations, true laws,
statutes, and good commands.
14 You revealed to them your holy Sabbath,
and you mandated precepts, statutes, and laws
through Moses your servant.
15 You gave them food from heaven for their hunger
and water from the rock for their thirst.
You directed them to enter and possess the land
that you had promised to give them.
16 “But they—our ancestors—became arrogant and stubborn,
refusing to listen[bo] to your commands.
17 They would not listen,[bp]
and did not remember the miracles you did among them.
Instead, they became stubborn
and appointed a leader
to return them to their slavery.
“But you are a God of forgiveness,
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger,
and rich in gracious love;
therefore you did not abandon them.
18 Moreover, after they had cast a golden calf for themselves, they said,
“This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!”
and committed terrible[bq] blasphemies.
19 You, in your great compassion,
did not abandon them in the wilderness.
The pillar of cloud did not leave them in daylight,
in order to provide light for them on the path they took.
Nor did the pillar of fire abandon them[br] at night,
in order to provide light for them
and lead them on the path they took.
20 “You gave your good Spirit to instruct them,
not withholding manna from them,[bs]
and providing water to quench[bt] their thirst.
21 You sustained them in the wilderness for 40 years.
They lacked nothing.
Their clothes did not wear out,
and their feet did not swell.
22 You gave them kingdoms and nations,
apportioning them as frontier boundaries.
They took possession of the land of Sihon,
the land of the king of Heshbon,
and the land of Og, king of Bashan.
23 “You multiplied their descendants like the stars in heaven
and brought them to the land
about which you told their ancestors
to enter and possess.
24 So their descendants entered
and took possession of the land.
Before their eyes you subdued those living in the land—the Canaanites—
putting them under their control,
along with their kings and the peoples of the land,
so they could do with them as they pleased.
25 They conquered fortified cities and fertile ground,
possessing houses filled with all kinds of good things,
wells already dug, with vineyards,
olive orchards, and fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate, were satiated, and were well nourished,
delighting themselves in your great goodness.
26 “Then they disobeyed, rebelled against you,
and threw your Law behind their backs.
They murdered your prophets
who had admonished the people[bu] to return to you,
committing terrible blasphemies.
27 So you delivered them into the control of their enemies,
who oppressed them.
But when they were oppressed,
they cried out to you,
and you heard from heaven.
In your great compassion
you gave them deliverers who rescued them
from the control of their enemies.
28 “But after they had gained relief,
they returned to doing evil before you.
Therefore you abandoned them to the control of their enemies,
who continued to oppress them.
But when they came back and cried out to you,
you listened from heaven
and delivered them in your compassion on many occasions.
29 You admonished them to return to your Law,
but they acted arrogantly,
and would not listen[bv] to your commands.
They sinned against your regulations,
which if anyone obeys,
he will live by them.
They turned away,
being stubborn and stiff-necked,
and they did not listen.[bw]
30 You were patient with them for many years,
warning them by your Spirit
through[bx] your prophets.
But they would not listen,
so you turned them over
to the control of people in other[by] lands.
31 Nevertheless, in your great compassion
you did not completely destroy them
or abandon them,
because you are a God of grace
and you are merciful.
32 “Now therefore, our God,
the great, mighty, and awesome God,
who keeps the covenant and gracious love,
don’t let all of the difficulties seem trifling to you,
all of hardships that have come upon us, upon our kings,
upon our leaders, upon our priests,
upon our prophets, upon our ancestors,
and upon all of your people
from the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.
33 You are righteous in all that is happening to us,
because you have acted faithfully
while we have practiced evil.
34 Furthermore, neither our kings,
nor our leaders, nor our priests
nor our ancestors have practiced your Law
or paid attention to your commands and warnings
by which you admonished them.
35 But they in their kingdom—
in the midst of your great goodness that you gave them
and in the large and fertile land
that you provided them—
did not serve you
or turn away from their evil deeds.
36 “Look! Today we are your servants,
along with the land that you gave to our ancestors,
so they could enjoy its fruit and its value—
behold, in it we are your servants!
37 But now its abundant produce belongs to the kings
whom you placed over us
because of our sin.
They also have power over our bodies and our herds
at their pleasure,
and we are in great distress.
38 “Because of all this, we are making a binding agreement,
putting it in writing,
and our leaders, our descendants of Levi, and our priests
hereby set their seals upon it.”[bz]
A Crippled Man is Healed
3 One afternoon, Peter and John were on their way to the Temple for the three o’clock prayer time.[a] 2 Now a man who had been crippled from birth was being carried in. Every day people[b] would lay him at what was called the Beautiful Gate so that he could beg from those who were going into the Temple. 3 When he saw that Peter and John were about to go into the Temple, he asked them to give him something.
4 Peter, along with John, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man[c] watched them closely, expecting to get something from them. 6 However, Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold, but I’ll give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus the Messiah[d] from Nazareth, walk!”[e] 7 Then Peter[f] took hold of his right hand and began to help him up. Immediately his feet and ankles became strong, 8 and he sprang to his feet, stood up, and began to walk. Then he went with them into the Temple, walking, jumping, and praising God.
9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they knew that he was the man who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Peter Speaks to the Onlookers
11 While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people came running to them in what was called “Solomon’s Colonnade”. They were dumbfounded. 12 When Peter saw this, he told the people: “Fellow Israelis, why are you wondering about this, and why are you staring at us as if by our own power or godliness we made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of our ancestors—has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and rejected in the presence of Pilate, even though he had decided to let him go. 14 You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you, 15 and you killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses to that. 16 It is his name—that is, by faith in his name—that has healed this man whom you see and know. Yes, the faith that comes through Jesus[g] has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.
17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance like your leaders. 18 This is how God fulfilled what he had predicted through the voice of all the prophets—that his Messiah[h] would suffer. 19 Therefore, repent and turn to him to have your sins blotted out, 20 so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and so that he may send you Jesus, whom he appointed long ago to be the Messiah.[i] 21 He must remain in heaven until the time of universal restitution, which God announced long ago through the voice of his holy prophets. 22 In fact, Moses said,
‘The Lord[j] your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to everything he tells you.[k] 23 Any person who will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’[l]
24 “Indeed, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who followed him, also announced these days. 25 You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs[m] of the covenant that God made with your[n] ancestors when he told Abraham, ‘Through your descendant[o] all the families of the earth will be blessed.’[p] 26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning every one of you from your evil ways.”
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.