Nehemiah 12

12These ^zare the priests and Levites ^awho went up with Zerubbabel ^bson of Shealtiel and with Jeshua:

Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

²Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,

³Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,

⁴Iddo, ^cGinnethoi, Abijah, ^d

⁵Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,

⁶Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, ^e

⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah.

These were the leaders of the priests and their relatives in the days of Jeshua. ^f

⁸The Levites:

Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel,

Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah ^g—

he and his relatives were in charge of the praise songs.

⁹Bakbukiah, Unni, ^hand their relatives stood opposite them in the services.

¹⁰Jeshua fathered Joiakim,

Joiakim fathered Eliashib,

Eliashib ⁱfathered Joiada,

¹¹Joiada fathered Jonathan,

and Jonathan fathered Jaddua. ^j

¹²In the days of Joiakim, the leaders of the priestly families were:

Meraiah

of Seraiah,

Hananiah

of Jeremiah,

¹³Meshullam

of Ezra,

Jehohanan

of Amariah,

¹⁴Jonathan

of Malluchi,

Joseph

of Shebaniah,

¹⁵Adna

of Harim,

Helkai

of Meraioth,

¹⁶Zechariah

of Iddo,

Meshullam

of Ginnethon,

¹⁷Zichri

of Abijah,

Piltai

of Moadiah, of Miniamin,

¹⁸Shammua

of Bilgah,

Jehonathan

of Shemaiah,

¹⁹Mattenai

of Joiarib,

Uzzi

of Jedaiah,

²⁰Kallai

of Sallai,

Eber

of Amok,

²¹Hashabiah

of Hilkiah,

and Nethanel

of Jedaiah.

²²In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the leaders of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded while Darius the Persian ruled. ²³Levi’s descendants, the leaders of families, were recorded in the Book of the Historical Records ^kduring the days of Johanan son of Eliashib. ²⁴The leaders of the Levites—Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their relatives opposite them—gave praise and thanks, division by division, as David the man of God had prescribed. ^l25This included Mattaniah, ^mBakbukiah, and Obadiah. Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates. ⁿ²⁶These served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor ^oand Ezra the priest and scribe. ^p

Dedication of the Wall

²⁷At the dedication of the wall ^qof Jerusalem, they sent for the Levites wherever they lived and brought them to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres. ^r28The singers gathered from the region around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites, ^s29from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for they had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. ³⁰After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall. ^t

³¹Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large processions that gave thanks. One went to the right on the wall, toward the Dung Gate. ^u32Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed, ³³along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, ³⁵and some of the priests’ sons with trumpets, and Zechariah son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph followed ³⁶as well as his relatives—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David, the man of God. ^vEzra the scribe ^wwent in front of them. ³⁷At the Fountain Gate ^xthey climbed the steps of the city of David ^yon the ascent of the wall and went above the house of David to the Water Gate ^zon the east.

³⁸The second thanksgiving procession went to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens ^ato the Broad Wall, ^b39above the Gate of Ephraim, ^cand by the Old Gate, ^dthe Fish Gate, ^ethe Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate. ^fThey stopped at the Gate of the Guard. ^g40The two thanksgiving processions stood in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials accompanying me, ⁴¹as well as the priests:

Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin,

Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah,

and Hananiah, with trumpets;

⁴²and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar,

Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer.

Then the singers sang, with Jezrahiah as the leader. ⁴³On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy. ^hThe women and children also celebrated, and Jerusalem’s rejoicing was heard far away. ⁱ

Support of the Levites’ Ministry

⁴⁴On that same day men were placed in charge of the rooms ^jthat housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tenths. ^kThe legally required portions for the priests and Levites ^lwere gathered from the village fields, because Judah was grateful to the priests and Levites who were serving. ^m45They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, ⁿas David and his son Solomon had prescribed. ^o46For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, ^pthere were leaders ^qof the singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. ^r47So in the days of Zerubbabel ^sand Nehemiah, ^tall Israel contributed the daily portions ^ufor the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions ^vfor the descendants of Aaron.