Nehemiah 7

¹When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates—

¹⁵So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul.

²Hezekiah reestablished the divisions of the priests and Levites—each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites—for the burnt offerings and peace offerings, for ministry, for giving thanks, and for singing praises at the gates of the Lord’s dwelling.

³⁹For the Israelites and the Levites are to bring the contributions of grain, new wine, and oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are kept and where the ministering priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers stay. Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.”

¹At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.

²The men of Jericho built next to Eliashib, and Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.

¹When David was old and full of years, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.

²Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites.

⁶My eyes favor the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way of integrity shall minister to me.

²Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah. So I questioned them about the remnant of the Jews who had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

²¹His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

⁸And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will occupy.” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

²³Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,

³and Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Now Obadiah greatly feared the Lord,

¹⁹When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem, just before the Sabbath, I ordered that the gates be shut and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my servants at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.

¹A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the Lord protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.

²⁸Above the Horse Gate, each of the priests made repairs in front of his own house.

²⁹Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house, and next to him, Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the guard of the East Gate, made repairs.

²³Beyond them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house, and next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house.

¹⁶Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

¹²Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.

⁴“Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”

⁵Now this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.

⁵Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.

¹⁹Remember me favorably, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.

²⁹To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

⁶²These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

¹So all Israel was recorded in the genealogies written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. But Judah was exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.

²Now the first to resettle their own property in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.

⁸Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. The people are rebuilding it with large stones and placing timbers in the walls. This work is being carried out diligently and is prospering in their hands.

¹Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,

²accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the count of the men of Israel:

¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.

²And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done.

¹In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to the city.

²And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city was breached.

¹⁴He carried into exile all Jerusalem—all the commanders and mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and metalsmiths—ten thousand captives in all. Only the poorest people of the land remained.

¹⁵Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

¹¹Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the population.

²accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the count of the men of Israel:

¹Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

²And the Lord said to Satan: “The Lord rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?”

¹In the second year of the reign of Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, stating

¹²After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

¹³Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor.

¹Now these are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

⁸In the second month of the second year after they had arrived at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their associates including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years of age or older to supervise the construction of the house of the Lord.

⁹So Jeshua and his sons and brothers, Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Yehudah), and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.

³the descendants of Parosh, 2,172;

³of the descendants of Shecaniah; from the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men;

²⁵Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,

¹⁴And the leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,

⁴the descendants of Shephatiah, 372;

⁸from the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men;

⁵the descendants of Arah, 775;

¹⁸For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.

⁶the descendants of Pahath-moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab), 2,812;

⁴Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for this occasion. At his right side stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and at his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

¹⁴And the leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,

²⁶From the descendants of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.

⁷from the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;

⁷the descendants of Elam, 1,254;

⁸the descendants of Zattu, 945;

⁹the descendants of Zaccai, 760;

¹⁰the descendants of Bani, 642;

¹¹the descendants of Bebai, 623;

¹²the descendants of Azgad, 1,222;

¹³the descendants of Adonikam, 666;

¹⁴the descendants of Bigvai, 2,056;

¹⁵the descendants of Adin, 454;

¹⁶the descendants of Ater (through Hezekiah), 98;

¹⁹the descendants of Hashum, 223;

¹⁷the descendants of Bezai, 323;

¹⁸the descendants of Jorah, 112;

²⁰the descendants of Gibbar, 95;

²¹the men of Bethlehem, 123;

²²the men of Netophah, 56;

¹These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

³⁰Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!

²¹Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying, “You must not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand.”

²³the men of Anathoth, 128;

²⁴the descendants of Azmaveth, 42;

²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

²⁵the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;

¹⁷So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities—Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.

¹²They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called Mahaneh-dan to this day.

²⁴Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve cities, along with their villages.

²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

²⁶the men of Ramah and Geba, 621;

²⁷the men of Michmash, 122;

²³And a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash.

²⁸Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.

⁵Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.

²⁸the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;

⁹So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.

¹⁷Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.

²⁹the descendants of Nebo, 52;

¹²the descendants of Elam, 1,254;

³¹the descendants of the other Elam, 1,254;

³¹From the descendants of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

³²the descendants of Harim, 320;

³⁴the men of Jericho, 345;

¹²The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, Shemed (who built Ono and Lod with its villages),

³⁴Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat,

³⁵Lod, and Ono; and in the Valley of the Craftsmen.

²Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.

³³the men of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725;

³⁵and the descendants of Senaah, 3,630.

⁷The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah,

⁸the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,

³⁶The priests: The descendants of Jedaiah (through the house of Jeshua), 973;

¹⁴the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer,

³⁷the descendants of Immer, 1,052;

¹²Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah; Maasai son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;

⁹the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin,

²²From the descendants of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

³⁸the descendants of Pashhur, 1,247;

⁸the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,

³⁹and the descendants of Harim, 1,017.

³¹From the descendants of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

⁴⁰The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel (through the line of Hodaviah), 74.

⁹Next to them, Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, made repairs;

⁴¹The singers: the descendants of Asaph, 128.

²From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. These sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king.

⁴²The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, the descendants of Ater, the descendants of Talmon, the descendants of Akkub, the descendants of Hatita, and the descendants of Shobai, 139 in all.

¹These were the divisions of the gatekeepers: From the Korahites: Meshelemiah son of Kore, one of the sons of Asaph.

²Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,

²“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When someone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the value of persons,

³if the valuation concerns a male from twenty to sixty years of age, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel.

²³Now therefore you are under a curse and will perpetually serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

²⁴The Gibeonites answered, “Your servants were told clearly that the Lord your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land and wipe out all its inhabitants before you. So we greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we have done this.

²Now the first to resettle their own property in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.

⁴³The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, the descendants of Hasupha, the descendants of Tabbaoth,

⁴⁴the descendants of Keros, the descendants of Siaha, the descendants of Padon,

⁴⁵the descendants of Lebanah, the descendants of Hagabah, the descendants of Akkub,

⁴⁶the descendants of Hagab, the descendants of Shalmai, the descendants of Hanan,

⁴⁹the descendants of Uzza, the descendants of Paseah, the descendants of Besai,

⁵⁰the descendants of Asnah, the descendants of Meunim, the descendants of Nephusim,

⁵²the descendants of Bazluth, the descendants of Mehida, the descendants of Harsha,

⁵³the descendants of Barkos, the descendants of Sisera, the descendants of Temah,

⁵⁵The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, the descendants of Hassophereth, the descendants of Peruda,

³These are the heads of the provinces who settled in Jerusalem. (In the villages of Judah, however, each lived on his own property in their towns—the Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants—

⁵⁶the descendants of Jaala, the descendants of Darkon, the descendants of Giddel,

⁵⁷the descendants of Shephatiah, the descendants of Hattil, the descendants of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the descendants of Ami.

⁵⁸The temple servants and descendants of the servants of Solomon numbered 392 in all.

⁵⁹The following came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but they could not prove that their families were descended from Israel:

⁶⁰the descendants of Delaiah, the descendants of Tobiah, and the descendants of Nekoda, 652 in all.

⁷But show loving devotion to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, because they stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

³¹Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan with the king and send him on his way from there.

³²Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim.

²⁷When David came to Mahanaim, he was met by Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim.

⁶¹And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai (who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name).

⁶²These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

¹So all Israel was recorded in the genealogies written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. But Judah was exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.

⁵Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. I found the genealogical register of those who had first returned, and I found the following written in it:

²⁹Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.

¹¹But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes.

¹²‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless.

⁹Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law.

³⁰And place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece of judgment, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the Lord. Aaron will continually carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the Lord.

⁶³The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest to consult the Urim and Thummim.

⁸Concerning Levi he said: “Give Your Thummim to Levi and Your Urim to Your godly one, whom You tested at Massah and contested at the waters of Meribah.

¹Now these were the ones who sealed the document: Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah, and also Zedekiah,

²¹He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the Lord by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will go out and come in.”

⁶⁴The whole assembly numbered 42,360,

⁶⁵in addition to their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 200 male and female singers.

⁷All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.

¹This is what the Lord says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:

²“I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

⁶⁶They had 736 horses, 245 mules,

⁶⁷435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

⁹Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law.

⁴⁵and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. All the articles that Huram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were made of burnished bronze.

¹⁹The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver.

²And the leaders of Israel, the heads of their families, presented an offering. These men were the tribal leaders who had supervised the registration.

³They brought as their offering before the Lord six covered carts and twelve oxen—an ox from each leader and a cart from every two leaders—and presented them before the tabernacle.

⁸Additionally, he made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold bowls.

³Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give for it my personal treasures of gold and silver, over and above all that I have provided for this holy temple:

⁴three thousand talents of gold (the gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings,

¹⁹who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.

¹Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,

²and He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.

¹²For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

⁷⁰So the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants, along with some of the people, settled in their own towns; and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.