Nehemiah 7–8

7Now when the wall had been built ⁿand I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, ²I gave ^omy brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of ^pthe castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was ^qa more faithful and God-fearing man than many. ³And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” ⁴The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.

Lists of Returned Exiles

⁵Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of ^rthose who came up at the first, and I found written in it:

^6sThese were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town. ⁷They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, ^tAzariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: ⁸the sons of Parosh, 2,172. ⁹The sons of Shephatiah, 372. ¹⁰The sons of Arah, ^u652. ¹¹The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818. ¹²The sons of ^vElam, 1,254. ¹³The sons of Zattu, 845. ¹⁴The sons of Zaccai, 760. ¹⁵The sons of ^wBinnui, 648. ¹⁶The sons of Bebai, 628. ¹⁷The sons of Azgad, 2,322. ¹⁸The sons of Adonikam, 667. ¹⁹The sons of Bigvai, 2,067. ²⁰The sons of Adin, 655. ²¹The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. ²²The sons of Hashum, 328. ²³The sons of ^xBezai, 324. ²⁴The sons of Hariph, 112. ²⁵The sons of ^yGibeon, 95. ²⁶The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188. ²⁷The men of Anathoth, 128. ²⁸The men ^zof Beth-azmaveth, 42. ²⁹The men of ^aKiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. ³⁰The men of Ramah and Geba, 621. ³¹The men of Michmas, 122. ³²The men of Bethel and Ai, 123. ³³The men of the other Nebo, 52. ³⁴The sons of ^bthe other Elam, 1,254. ³⁵The sons of Harim, 320. ³⁶The sons of Jericho, 345. ³⁷The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721. ³⁸The sons of Senaah, 3,930.

³⁹The priests: the sons of ^cJedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, 973. ⁴⁰The sons of ^dImmer, 1,052. ⁴¹The sons of ^ePashhur, 1,247. ⁴²The sons of ^fHarim, 1,017.

⁴³The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the sons of ^gHodevah, 74. ⁴⁴The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148. ⁴⁵The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138.

⁴⁶The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, ⁴⁷the sons of Keros, the sons of ^hSia, the sons of Padon, ⁴⁸the sons of Lebana, the sons of ⁱHagaba, the sons of ⁱShalmai, ⁴⁹the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, ⁵⁰the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, ⁵¹the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, ⁵²the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of ^jNephushesim, ⁵³the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, ⁵⁴the sons of ^kBazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, ⁵⁵the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, ⁵⁶the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.

⁵⁷The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of ^lPerida, ⁵⁸the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, ⁵⁹the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of ^mAmon.

⁶⁰All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392.

⁶¹ⁿThe following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, ^oAddon, and Immer, but they could not prove their fathers’ houses nor their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: ⁶²the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642. ⁶³Also, of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name). ⁶⁴These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. ^65pThe ^qgovernor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food until a priest with Urim and Thummim should arise.

Totals of People and Gifts

⁶⁶The whole assembly together was 42,360, ⁶⁷besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female. ⁶⁸Their horses were 736, their mules 245,^{1 69}their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720.

⁷⁰Now some of the heads of fathers’ houses gave to the work. The ^qgovernor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics² of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests’ garments and 500 minas³ of silver.^{4 71}And some of the heads of fathers’ houses gave into the treasury of the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver. ^72rAnd what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests’ garments.

⁷³So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their towns.

^sAnd when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.

Ezra Reads the Law

8And all the people gathered as one man into the square before ^tthe Water Gate. And they told ^uEzra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. ²So Ezra the priest ^vbrought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, ^won the first day of the seventh month. ^3xAnd he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. ⁵And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. ⁶And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ^y“Amen, Amen,” ^zlifting up their hands. ^aAnd they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ^7bAlso Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites,^{1 c}helped the people to understand the Law, ^dwhile the people remained in their places. ⁸They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly,² and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

This Day Is Holy

⁹And Nehemiah, who was ^ethe governor, and Ezra ^fthe priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ^g“This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^hdo not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. ¹⁰Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and ⁱsend portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” ¹¹So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” ¹²And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because ^jthey had understood the words that were declared to them.

Feast of Booths Celebrated

¹³On the second day the heads of fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. ¹⁴And they found it written in the Law that the Lord had commanded by Moses ^kthat the people of Israel should dwell in booths³ during the feast of the seventh month, ¹⁵and that they should proclaim it and ^lpublish it in all their towns and ^min Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring ⁿbranches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” ¹⁶So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each ^oon his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at ^pthe Water Gate and in the square at ^qthe Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day ^rthe people of Israel had not done so. And there was ^svery great rejoicing. ¹⁸And day by day, from the first day to the last day, ^the read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and ^uon the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.