12
1 And these were the priests and Levites who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
2 Amariah, Malluk, Hattush,
3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth.
4 Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,
5 Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah,
6 Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah,
7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were leaders of the priests and their brothers in the days of Jeshua.
8 And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, over the thanksgivings, he and his brothers.
9 And Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, opposite them in the services.
10 And Jeshua fathered Joiakim; and Joiakim fathered Eliashib; and Eliashib Joiada,
11 Joiada fathered Jonathan, and Jonathan fathered Jaddua.
12 And in the days of Joiakim were the priests, the fatherly heads: to Seraiah, Meraiah; to Jeremiah, Hananiah;
13 to Ezra, Meshullam; to Amariah, Jehohanan;
14 to Malluk, Jonathan; to Shebaniah, Joseph;
15 to Harim, Adna; to Meremoth, Helkai;
16 to Iddo, Zechariah; to Ginnethon, Meshullam;
17 to Abijah, Zichri; to Miniamin; to Moadiah, Piltai;
18 to Bilgah, Shammua; to Shemaiah, Jehonathan;
19 to Joiarib, Mattenai; to Jedaiah, Uzzi;
20 to Sallu, Kallai; to Amok; Eber;
21 to Hilkiah, Hashabiah; to Jedaiah, Nethanel;
22 The Levites in the days of Eliashib: Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, were recorded as the fatherly heads, and the priests during the reign of Darius the Persian.
23 The sons of Levi, the fatherly heads, were recorded in the scroll of the happenings of the days and up to the days of Johanan son of Eliashib.
24 The heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their brothers opposite them, to praise and give thanks, as instructed by David, the man of God, section by section,
25 Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub were guards, gatekeepers standing guard at the thresholds of the gates.
26 These were in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest, the scribe.
27 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought out the Levites from all their dwellings, to bring them to Jerusalem to perform the dedication, and rejoicing, and thanksgivings, and song: with cymbals, harps, and lyres.
28 And the sons of the singers gathered, and from the valley surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites.
29 And from Beth Gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages surrounding Jerusalem.
30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.
31 And I had the leaders of Judah go up on the wall, and I appointed two large choirs, going to the right on the wall toward the Dung Gate,
32 and Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed after them,
33 and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam,
34 Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah,
35 and some from the sons of the priests, with trumpets: Zechariah son of Jonathan son of Shemaiah son of Mattaniah son of Micaiah son of Zaccur son of Asaph;
36 and his brothers Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel and Judah, Hanani; with the instruments of song of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe was before their faces.
37 And by the Fountain Gate, and before them, they went up on the stairs of the city of David, by the stairway to the wall upon the house of David, and to the east Water Gate.
38 And the second choir went opposite. And I went after, and half the people, on the wall from above the Tower of Ovens, and to the Broad Wall,
39 and from above the Ephraim Gate, and above the Old Gate, and above the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, and as far as the Sheep Gate, and they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.
40 And two choirs stood in the house of God, and I, and half of the officials with me.
41 And the priests: Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, Hananiah, with trumpets,
42 and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malkijah, and Elam, and Ezer, and the singers made themselves heard and Jezrahiah their leader.
43 And they offered sacrifices that day; the sacrifices were great. And they rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy. And moreover the women and the children rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem could be heard far away.
44 And on that day men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the assignments of the law for the priests and for the Levites. For Judah rejoiced over the priests and over the Levites who were standing.
45 And they kept the duties of their God, and the duties of purification, and the singers and the gatekeepers, as instructed by David, Solomon his son.
46 For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were directors of singers, and songs of praise, and thanksgiving to God.
47 And in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, all Israel gave the assigned portions for the singers and the gatekeepers, the portion of the day in its day. And they set it aside for the Levites, and the Levites set it aside for the sons of Aaron.
The Book of Nehemiah