Nehemiah 12–13

Chapter 12

¹And these are the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, ²Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, ³Shechaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, ⁴Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, ⁵Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, ⁶Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah, ⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkijah, Jedaiah. These were the chief of the priests and of their brethren in the days of Jeshua. ⁸And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, Mattaniah, who was over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren; ⁹and Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, were over against them as watches. ¹⁰And Jeshua begot Joiakim, and Joiakim begot Eliashib, and Eliashib begot Joiada, ¹¹and Joiada begot Jonathan, and Jonathan begot Jaddua. ¹²And in the days of Joiakim were priests, chief fathers: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; ¹³of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; ¹⁴of Melicu, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; ¹⁵of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; ¹⁶of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; ¹⁷of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin and Moadiah, Piltai; ¹⁸of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; ¹⁹and of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; ²⁰of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; ²¹of Hilkijah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethaneel. ²²of the Levites, the chief fathers were recorded in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, and the priests, until the reign of Darius the Persian. ²³The children of Levi, the chief fathers, were recorded in the book of the chronicles, even until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. ²⁴And the chief Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over against ward. ²⁵Mattaniah and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were doorkeepers keeping the ward at the storehouses of the gates. ²⁶These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe.

²⁷And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to hold the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, lutes and harps. ²⁸And the children of the singers were assembled, both from the plain of Jordan round about Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Netophathites, ²⁹also from Beth-Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built themselves hamlets round about Jerusalem. ³⁰And the priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people, and the gates and the wall. ³¹And I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great choirs and processions, on the right hand upon the wall towards the dung-gate. ³²And after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of Judah, ³³and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, ³⁴Judah and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, ³⁵and certain of the priests’ sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph; ³⁶and his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azareel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethaneel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe before them. ³⁷And at the fountain-gate, and over against them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, even to the water-gate eastward. ³⁸And the second choir went in the opposite direction upon the wall, and I after them, and the half of the people, from beyond the tower of the furnaces even to the broad wall; ³⁹and from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the gate of the old wall, and above the fish-gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even to the sheep-gate; and they stood still in the prison-gate. ⁴⁰And both choirs stood in the house of God, and I, and the half of the rulers with me; ⁴¹and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, Hananiah, with trumpets; ⁴²and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loud; and Jizrahiah was their overseer. ⁴³And that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and also the women and the children rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

⁴⁴And at that time men were appointed over the chambers of the treasures for the heave-offerings, for the first-fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them, out of the fields of the cities, the portions assigned by the law for the priests and the Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests, and over the Levites that waited. ⁴⁵And, with the singers and the doorkeepers, they kept the ward of their God, and the ward of the purification, according to the commandment of David and of Solomon his son. ⁴⁶For of old, in the days of David and Asaph, there were the chiefs of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgivings to God. ⁴⁷And all Israel, in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the doorkeepers, every day what was needed, and they consecrated things for the Levites; and the Levites consecrated for the children of Aaron.

Chapter 13

¹On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and there was found written in it that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever; ²because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and with water, and had hired Balaam against them, to curse them; but our God turned the curse into blessing. ³And it came to pass, when they heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. ⁴And before this, Eliashib the priest, who had the oversight of the chambers of the house of our God, a kinsman of Tobijah, ⁵had prepared for him a great chamber, where formerly they laid the oblations, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine and the oil, which was commanded for the Levites and the singers and the doorkeepers, and the heave-offerings of the priests. ⁶And during all that time I was not at Jerusalem; for in the two-and-thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I came to the king; and after some time I obtained leave of the king. ⁷And I came to Jerusalem, and observed the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobijah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. ⁸And it grieved me much, and I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobijah out of the chamber. ⁹And I commanded, and they purified the chambers; and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, the oblation and the frankincense.

¹⁰And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given, and that the Levites and the singers that did the work had fled every one to his field. ¹¹Then I contended with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their place. ¹²And all Judah brought the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil into the storehouses. ¹³And I made storekeepers over the storehouses: Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and subordinate to them, Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were esteemed faithful, and their office was to distribute to their brethren. ¹⁴Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds which I have done for the house of my God, and for the charges thereof!

¹⁵In those days I saw in Judah some treading winepresses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading them on asses; as also wine, grapes and figs, and all manner of burdens; and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I protested in the day on which they sold the victuals. ¹⁶Men of Tyre also dwelt therein, who brought fish and all manner of ware, and sold it on the sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. ¹⁷And I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, What evil thing is this which ye do, profaning the sabbath day? ¹⁸Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? And ye will bring more wrath against Israel by profaning the sabbath. ¹⁹And it came to pass, that when it began to be dark in the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut; and I commanded that they should not be opened till after the sabbath. And I set some of my servants at the gates, so that no burden should be brought in on the sabbath day. ²⁰And the dealers and sellers of all kind of ware passed the night without Jerusalem once or twice. ²¹And I testified against them, and said to them, Why do ye pass the night before the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came not on the sabbath. ²²And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to hallow the sabbath day. Remember this also for me, my God, and spare me according to thy great loving-kindness!

²³In those days also I saw Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab. ²⁴And their children spoke half in the language of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people. ²⁵And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them and plucked off their hair, and adjured them by God saying, Ye shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. ²⁶Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among the many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; but even him did foreign wives cause…