Old/New Testament

12 ^1-7 Here is a list of the priests who accompanied Zerubbabel (son of Shealtiel) and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah.

⁸ The Levites who went with them were: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, Mattaniah—who was the one in charge of the thanksgiving service.

⁹ Bakbukiah and Unni, their fellow clansmen, helped them during the service.

^12-21 The following were the clan leaders of the priests who served under the High Priest Joiakim:

²² A genealogical record of the heads of the clans of the priests and Levites was compiled during the reign of King Darius of Persia, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua—all of whom were Levites. ²³ In The Book of the Chronicles the Levite names were recorded down to the days of Johanan, the son of Eliashib.

²⁴ These were the chiefs of the Levites at that time: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua (son of Kadmiel).

Their fellow clansmen helped them during the ceremonies of praise and thanksgiving, just as commanded by David, the man of God.

²⁵ The gatekeepers who had charge of the collection centers at the gates were: Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub.

²⁶ These were the men who were active in the time of Joiakim (son of Jeshua, son of Jozadak), and when I was the governor, and when Ezra was the priest and teacher of religion.

²⁷ During the dedication of the new Jerusalem wall, all the Levites throughout the land came to Jerusalem to assist in the ceremonies and to take part in the joyous occasion with their thanksgiving, cymbals, psaltries, and harps. ²⁸ The choir members also came to Jerusalem from the surrounding villages and from the villages of the Netophathites; ²⁹ they also came from Beth-gilgal and the area of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built their own villages as suburbs of Jerusalem. ³⁰ The priests and Levites first dedicated themselves, then the people, the gates, and the wall.

^31-32 I led the Judean leaders to the top of the wall and divided them into two long lines to walk in opposite directions along the top of the wall, giving thanks as they went. The group which went to the right toward the Dung Gate consisted of half of the leaders of Judah, ³³ including Hoshaiah, Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴ Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah.

^35-36 The priests who played the trumpets were Zechariah (son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph), Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani. (They used the original musical instruments of King David.) Ezra the priest led this procession. ³⁷ When they arrived at the Fountain Gate they went straight ahead and climbed the stairs that go up beside the castle to the old City of David; then they went to the Water Gate on the east.

³⁸ The other group, of which I was a member, went around the other way to meet them. We walked from the Tower of Furnaces to the Broad Wall, ³⁹ then from the Ephraim Gate to the Old Gate, passed the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel, and went on to the gate of the Tower of the Hundred; then we continued on to the Sheep Gate and stopped at the Prison Gate.

^40-41 Both choirs then proceeded to the Temple. Those with me were joined by the trumpet-playing priests—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, ⁴² and by the singers—Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer.

They sang loudly and clearly under the direction of Jezrahiah the choirmaster.

⁴³ Many sacrifices were offered on that joyous day, for God had given us cause for great joy. The women and children rejoiced, too, and the joy of the people of Jerusalem was heard far away!

⁴⁴ On that day men were appointed to be in charge of the treasuries, the wave offerings, the tithes, and first-of-the-harvest offerings, and to collect these from the farms as decreed by the laws of Moses. These offerings were assigned to the priests and Levites, for the people of Judah appreciated the priests and Levites and their ministry. ⁴⁵ They also appreciated the work of the singers and gatekeepers, who assisted them in worshiping God and performing the purification ceremonies as required by the laws of David and his son Solomon. ⁴⁶ (It was in the days of David and Asaph that the custom began of having choir directors to lead the choirs in hymns of praise and thanks to God.) ⁴⁷ So now, in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, the people brought a daily supply of food for the members of the choir, the gatekeepers, and the Levites. The Levites, in turn, gave a portion of what they received to the priests.^[a]

13 On that same day, as the laws of Moses were being read, the people found a statement which said that the Ammonites and Moabites should never be permitted to worship at the Temple.^{[b] 2} For they had not been friendly to the people of Israel. Instead, they had hired Balaam to curse them—although God turned the curse into a blessing. ³ When this rule was read, all the foreigners were immediately expelled from the assembly.

⁴ Before this had happened, Eliashib the priest, who had been appointed as custodian of the Temple storerooms and who was also a good friend of Tobiah, ⁵ had converted a storage room into a beautiful guest room for Tobiah. The room had previously been used for storing the grain offerings, frankincense, bowls, and tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil. Moses had decreed that these offerings belonged to the priests, Levites, the members of the choir, and the gatekeepers.

⁶ I was not in Jerusalem at the time, for I had returned to Babylon in the thirty-second year of the reign of King Artaxerxes (though I later received his permission to go back again to Jerusalem). ⁷ When I arrived back in Jerusalem and learned of this evil deed of Eliashib—that he had prepared a guest room in the Temple for Tobiah— ⁸ I was very upset and threw out all of his belongings from the room. ⁹ Then I demanded that the room be thoroughly cleaned, and I brought back the Temple bowls, the grain offerings, and frankincense.

¹⁰ I also learned that the Levites had not been given what was due them, so they and the choir singers who were supposed to conduct the worship services had returned to their farms. ¹¹ I immediately confronted the leaders and demanded, “Why has the Temple been forsaken?” Then I called all the Levites back again and restored them to their proper duties. ¹² And once more all the people of Judah began bringing their tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil to the Temple treasury.

¹³ I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah the Levite in charge of the administration of the storehouses; and I appointed Hanan (son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah) as their assistant. These men had an excellent reputation, and their job was to make an honest distribution to their fellow Levites.

¹⁴ O my God, remember this good deed and do not forget all that I have done for the Temple.

¹⁵ One day I was on a farm and saw some men treading winepresses on the Sabbath, hauling in sheaves, and loading their donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of produce, which they took that day into Jerusalem. So I opposed them publicly. ¹⁶ There were also some men from Tyre bringing in fish and all sorts of wares and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Jerusalem.

¹⁷ Then I asked the leaders of Judah, “Why are you profaning the Sabbath? ¹⁸ Wasn’t it enough that your fathers did this sort of thing and brought the present evil days upon us and upon our city? And now you are bringing more wrath upon the people of Israel by permitting the Sabbath to be desecrated in this way.”

¹⁹ So from then on I commanded that the gates of the city be shut as darkness fell on Friday evenings and not be opened until the Sabbath had ended; and I sent some of my servants to guard the gates so that no merchandise could be brought in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ The merchants and tradesmen camped outside Jerusalem once or twice, ²¹ but I spoke sharply to them and said, “What are you doing out here, camping around the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” And that was the last time they came on the Sabbath.

²² Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and to guard the gates in order to preserve the sanctity of the Sabbath. Remember this good deed, O my God! Have compassion upon me in accordance with your great goodness.

²³ About the same time I realized that some of the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab, ²⁴ and that many of their children spoke in the language of Ashdod and couldn’t speak the language of Judah at all. ²⁵ So I confronted these parents and cursed them and punched a few of them and knocked them around and pulled out their hair; and they vowed before God that they would not let their children intermarry with non-Jews.

²⁶ “Wasn’t this exactly King Solomon’s problem?” I demanded. “There was no king who could compare with him, and God loved him and made him the king over all Israel; but even so he was led into idolatry by foreign women. ²⁷ Do you think that we will let you get away with this sinful deed?”

²⁸ One of the sons of Jehoiada (the son of Eliashib the High Priest) was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I chased him out of the Temple. ²⁹ Remember them, O my God, for they have defiled the priesthood and the promises and vows of the priests and Levites. ³⁰ So I purged out the foreigners and assigned tasks to the priests and Levites, making certain that each knew his work. ³¹ They supplied wood for the altar at the proper times and cared for the sacrifices and the first offerings of every harvest. Remember me, my God, with your kindness.

²³ As soon as they were freed, Peter and John found the other disciples and told them what the Council had said.

²⁴ Then all the believers united in this prayer:

“O Lord, Creator of heaven and earth and of the sea and everything in them— ^25-26 you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor King David, your servant, saying, ‘Why do the heathen rage against the Lord, and the foolish nations plan their little plots against Almighty God? The kings of the earth unite to fight against him and against the anointed Son of God!’

²⁷ “That is what is happening here in this city today! For Herod the king, and Pontius Pilate the governor, and all the Romans—as well as the people of Israel—are united against Jesus, your anointed Son, your holy servant. ²⁸ They won’t stop at anything that you in your wise power will let them do. ²⁹ And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and grant to your servants great boldness in their preaching, ³⁰ and send your healing power, and may miracles and wonders be done by the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹ After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly preached God’s message.

³² All the believers were of one heart and mind, and no one felt that what he owned was his own; everyone was sharing. ³³ And the apostles preached powerful sermons about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and there was warm fellowship among all the believers,^{[a] 34-35} and no poverty—for all who owned land or houses sold them and brought the money to the apostles to give to others in need.

³⁶ For instance, there was Joseph (the one the apostles nicknamed “Barnabas, the encourager.” He was of the tribe of Levi, from the island of Cyprus). ³⁷ He was one of those who sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles for distribution to those in need.