MSB NEH Chapter 12

The Priests and Levites Who Returned

Now these are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua:

• Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
2 
• Amariah, Malluch,[fn] Hattush,
3 
• Shecaniah, Rehum,[fn] Meremoth,
4 
• Iddo, Ginnethon,[fn] Abijah,
5 
• Mijamin,[fn] Maadiah,[fn] Bilgah,[fn]
6 
• Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,
7 
• Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, [and] Jedaiah.
• These were the leaders of the priests and their associates in the days of Jeshua.
8 

The Levites [were] Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who, with his associates, led the songs of thanksgiving. 9 Bakbukiah and Unni, their associates, [stood] across from them in the services.

• Jeshua was the father of Joiakim,
• Joiakim was the father of Eliashib,
• Eliashib was the father of Joiada,
11 
• Joiada was the father of Jonathan,[fn]
• and Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.
12 

In the days of Joiakim, these were the heads of the priestly families:

• of [the family of] Seraiah, Meraiah;
• of Jeremiah, Hananiah;
13 
• of Ezra, Meshullam;
• of Amariah, Jehohanan;
14 
• of Malluchi,[fn] Jonathan;
• of Shebaniah,[fn] Joseph;
15 
• of Harim, Adna;
• of Meraioth,[fn] Helkai;
16 
• of Iddo, Zechariah;
• of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
17 
• of Abijah, Zichri;
• of Miniamin and of Moadiah,[fn] Piltai;
18 
• of Bilgah, Shammua;
• of Shemaiah, Jonathan;
19 
• of Joiarib, Mattenai;
• of Jedaiah, Uzzi;
20 
• of Sallai,[fn] Kallai;
• of Amok, Eber;
21 
• of Hilkiah, Hashabiah;
• [and] of Jedaiah, Nethanel.
22 

In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan,[fn] and Jaddua, during the reign of Darius the Persian, the heads of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded.

As for the descendants of Levi, the family heads up to the days of Johanan son of Eliashib were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles 24 The leaders of the Levites [were] Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel,[fn] along with their associates, [who stood] across from them to give praise and thanksgiving as one section alternated with the other, as prescribed by David the man of God.

Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, [and] Akkub [were] gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates. 26 They [served] in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak,[fn] and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.

The Dedication of the Wall

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from all their homes and brought to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing, accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 vvv The singers were also assembled from the region around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites, 29 from Beth-gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for [they] had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. 30 After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and I appointed two great thanksgiving [choirs]. One was to proceed along the top of the wall[fn] to the right, toward the Dung Gate. 32 Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed 33 along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, 35 and some of the priests with trumpets, and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah,[fn] the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, 36 and his associates— Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani— with the musical instruments [prescribed by] David the man of God. Ezra the scribe led the procession. 37 At the Fountain Gate they went directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east.

The second thanksgiving [choir] proceeded to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, 39 over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate,[fn] the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.

The two thanksgiving [choirs] then stood in the house of God, as did I, along with the half of the officials accompanying me, 41 as well as the priests with their trumpets — Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah — 42 and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the choirs sang out under the direction of Jezrahiah.

On that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy The women and children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.

Provisions for Temple Worship

And on that same day men were appointed over the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tithes. The portions [specified] by the Law for the priests and Levites were gathered into [these storerooms] from the fields of the villages, because Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who were serving.

They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed. 46 For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for the descendants of Aaron.