Nehemiah 12

The Priests and Levites

12Now these are the ^apriests and the Levites who came up with ^bZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: ^cSeraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, ²Amariah, ¹Malluch, Hattush, ³²Shechaniah, ³Rehum, ⁴Meremoth, ⁴Iddo, ⁵Ginnethoi, ^dAbijah, ⁵⁶Mijamin, ⁷Maadiah, Bilgah, ⁶Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, ⁷⁸Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.

These were the heads of the priests and their brethren in the days of ^eJeshua.

⁸Moreover the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah ^fwho led the thanksgiving psalms, he and his brethren. ⁹Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, stood across from them in their duties.

¹⁰Jeshua begot Joiakim, Joiakim begot Eliashib, Eliashib begot Joiada, ¹¹Joiada begot Jonathan, and Jonathan begot Jaddua.

¹²Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the ^gheads of the fathers’ houses were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; ¹³of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; ¹⁴of ⁹Melichu, Jonathan; of ¹Shebaniah, Joseph; ¹⁵of ²Harim, Adna; of ³Meraioth, Helkai; ¹⁶of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; ¹⁷of Abijah, Zichri; the son of ⁴Minjamin; of ⁵Moadiah, Piltai; ¹⁸of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; ¹⁹of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; ²⁰of ⁶Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; ²¹of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; and of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

²²During the reign of Darius the Persian, a record was also kept of the Levites and priests who had been ^hheads of their fathers’ houses in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua. ²³The sons of Levi, the heads of the fathers’ houses until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib, were written in the book of the ⁱchronicles.

²⁴And the heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers across from them, to ^jpraise and give thanks, ^kgroup ⁷alternating with group, ^laccording to the command of David the man of God. ²⁵Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping the watch at the storerooms of the gates. ²⁶These lived in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of ⁸Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah ^mthe governor, and of Ezra the priest, ⁿthe scribe.

Nehemiah Dedicates the Wall

²⁷Now at ^othe dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, ^pboth with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps. ²⁸And the sons of the singers gathered together from the countryside around Jerusalem, from the ^qvillages of the Netophathites, ²⁹from the house of Gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem. ³⁰Then the priests and Levites ^rpurified themselves, and purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

³¹So I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs. ^sOne went to the right hand on the wall ^ttoward the Refuse Gate. ³²After them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, ³³and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, ³⁵and some of the priests’ sons ^uwith trumpets—Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, ³⁶and his brethren, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with ^vthe musical ^winstruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. ^37xBy the Fountain Gate, in front of them, they went up ^ythe stairs of the ^zCity of David, on the stairway of the wall, beyond the house of David, as far as ^athe Water Gate eastward.

^38bThe other thanksgiving choir went the opposite way, and I was behind them with half of the people on the wall, going past the ^cTower of the Ovens as far as ^dthe Broad Wall, ^39eand above the Gate of Ephraim, above ^fthe Old Gate, above ^gthe Fish Gate, ^hthe Tower of Hananel, the Tower of ⁹the Hundred, as far as ⁱthe Sheep Gate; and they stopped by ^jthe Gate of the Prison.

⁴⁰So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God, likewise I and the half of the rulers with me; ⁴¹and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, ¹Minjamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; ⁴²also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers ²sang loudly with Jezrahiah the director.

⁴³Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard ^kafar off.

Temple Responsibilities

^44lAnd at the same time some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings, the firstfruits, and the ^mtithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who ³ministered. ⁴⁵Both the singers and the gatekeepers kept the charge of their God and the charge of the purification, ⁿaccording to the command of David and Solomon his son. ⁴⁶For in the days of David ^oand Asaph of old there were chiefs of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷In the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah all Israel gave the portions for the singers and the gatekeepers, a portion for ^peach day. ^qThey also ⁴consecrated holy things for the Levites, ^rand the Levites consecrated them for the children of Aaron.