After the wall was finished and I had set up the doors in the gates, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed. ²I gave the responsibility of governing Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah, the commander of the fortress, for he was a faithful man who feared God more than most. ³I said to them, “Do not leave the gates open during the hottest part of the day. And even while the gatekeepers are on duty, have them shut and bar the doors. Appoint the residents of Jerusalem to act as guards, everyone on a regular watch. Some will serve at sentry posts and some in front of their own homes.”

Nehemiah Registers the People

⁴At that time the city was large and spacious, but the population was small, and none of the houses had been rebuilt. ⁵So my God gave me the idea to call together all the nobles and leaders of the city, along with the ordinary citizens, for registration. I had found the genealogical record of those who had first returned to Judah. This is what was written there:

⁶Here is the list of the Jewish exiles of the provinces who returned from their captivity. King Nebuchadnezzar had deported them to Babylon, but now they returned to Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah where they originally lived. ⁷Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

This is the number of the men of Israel who returned from exile:

⁸

The family of Parosh

2,172

⁹

The family of Shephatiah

372

¹⁰

The family of Arah

652

¹¹

The family of Pahath-moab (descendants of Jeshua and Joab)

2,818

¹²

The family of Elam

1,254

¹³

The family of Zattu

845

¹⁴

The family of Zaccai

760

¹⁵

The family of Bani

648

¹⁶

The family of Bebai

628

¹⁷

The family of Azgad

2,322

¹⁸

The family of Adonikam

667

¹⁹

The family of Bigvai

2,067

²⁰

The family of Adin

655

²¹

The family of Ater (descendants of Hezekiah)

²²

The family of Hashum

328

²³

The family of Bezai

324

²⁴

The family of Jorah

112

²⁵

The family of Gibbar

²⁶

The people of Bethlehem and Netophah

188

²⁷

The people of Anathoth

128

²⁸

The people of Beth-azmaveth

²⁹

The people of Kiriath-jearim, Kephirah, and Beeroth

743

³⁰

The people of Ramah and Geba

621

³¹

The people of Micmash

122

³²

The people of Bethel and Ai

123

³³

The people of West Nebo

³⁴

The citizens of West Elam

1,254

³⁵

The citizens of Harim

320

³⁶

The citizens of Jericho

345

³⁷

The citizens of Lod, Hadid, and Ono

721

³⁸

The citizens of Senaah

3,930

³⁹These are the priests who returned from exile:

The family of Jedaiah (through the line of Jeshua)

973

⁴⁰

The family of Immer

1,052

⁴¹

The family of Pashhur

1,247

⁴²

The family of Harim

1,017

⁴³These are the Levites who returned from exile:

The families of Jeshua and Kadmiel (descendants of Hodaviah)

⁴⁴

The singers of the family of Asaph

148

⁴⁵

The gatekeepers of the families of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai

138

⁴⁶The descendants of the following Temple servants returned from exile:

Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,

⁴⁷Keros, Siaha, Padon,

⁴⁸Lebanah, Hagabah, Shalmai,

⁴⁹Hanan, Giddel, Gahar,

⁵⁰Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda,

⁵¹Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah,

⁵²Besai, Meunim, Nephusim,

⁵³Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,

⁵⁴Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,

⁵⁵Barkos, Sisera, Temah,

⁵⁶Neziah, and Hatipha.

⁵⁷The descendants of these servants of King Solomon returned from exile:

Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda,

⁵⁸Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel,

⁵⁹Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-hazzebaim, and Ami.

⁶⁰In all, the Temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants numbered 392.

⁶¹Another group returned at this time from the towns of Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Kerub, Addan, and Immer. However, they could not prove that they or their families were descendants of Israel. ⁶²This group included the families of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda—a total of 642 people.

⁶³Three families of priests—Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai—also returned. (This Barzillai had married a woman who was a descendant of Barzillai of Gilead, and he had taken her family name.) ⁶⁴They searched for their names in the genealogical records, but they were not found, so they were disqualified from serving as priests. ⁶⁵The governor told them not to eat the priests’ share of food from the sacrifices until a priest could consult the Lord about the matter by using the Urim and Thummim—the sacred lots.

⁶⁶So a total of 42,360 people returned to Judah, ⁶⁷in addition to 7,337 servants and 245 singers, both men and women. ⁶⁸They took with them 736 horses, 245 mules, ⁶⁹435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

⁷⁰Some of the family leaders gave gifts for the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 gold coins, 50 gold basins, and 530 robes for the priests. ⁷¹The other leaders gave to the treasury a total of 20,000 gold coins and some 2,750 pounds of silver for the work. ⁷²The rest of the people gave 20,000 gold coins, about 2,500 pounds of silver, and 67 robes for the priests.

⁷³So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Temple servants, and some of the common people settled near Jerusalem. The rest of the people returned to their own towns throughout Israel.

Chapter 8 Ezra Reads the Law

In October, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, ^8:1all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given for Israel to obey.

²So on October 8 Ezra the priest brought the Book of the Law before the assembly, which included the men and women and all the children old enough to understand. ³He faced the square just inside the Water Gate from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law.

⁴Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform that had been made for the occasion. To his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah. To his left stood Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. ⁵Ezra stood on the platform in full view of all the people. When they saw him open the book, they all rose to their feet.

⁶Then Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people chanted, “Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

⁷The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—then instructed the people in the Law while everyone remained in their places. ⁸They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage.

⁹Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

¹⁰And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

¹¹And the Levites, too, quieted the people, telling them, “Hush! Don’t weep! For this is a sacred day.” ¹²So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them.

The Festival of Shelters

¹³On October 9 the family leaders of all the people, together with the priests and Levites, met with Ezra the scribe to go over the Law in greater detail. ¹⁴As they studied the Law, they discovered that the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should live in shelters during the festival to be held that month. ¹⁵He had said that a proclamation should be made throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, telling the people to go to the hills to get branches from olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees. They were to use these branches to make shelters in which they would live during the festival, as prescribed in the Law.

¹⁶So the people went out and cut branches and used them to build shelters on the roofs of their houses, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of God’s Temple, or in the squares just inside the Water Gate and the Ephraim Gate. ¹⁷So everyone who had returned from captivity lived in these shelters during the festival, and they were all filled with great joy! The Israelites had not celebrated like this since the days of Joshua son of Nun.

¹⁸Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God on each of the seven days of the festival. Then on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, as was required by law.

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