The Priests and the Levites Who Returned to Jerusalem

¹These are the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,[#tn Heb “who went up.”]

²Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,

³Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,

⁴Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,[#tc Most Hebrew MSS read “Ginnethoi”; the present translation follows a number of Hebrew MSS and the Vulgate (cf. Neh 12:16 and NIV, NCV, NLT).]

⁵Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah,

⁶Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,

⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the leaders of the priests and their colleagues in the days of Jeshua.[#tn Heb “heads” (so also in v. 12).; #tn Heb “brothers” (also in vv. 8, 9, 24, 36).]

⁸And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who together with his colleagues was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving.[#tn Heb “he and his brothers.”]

⁹Bakbukiah and Unni, their colleagues, stood opposite them in the services.[#tc The translation reads וְעֻנִּי (vÿ’unni) with the Qere rather than וְעֻנּוֹ (vÿ’uno) of the MT Kethib.]

¹⁰Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim was the father of Eliashib, Eliashib was the father of Joiada,[#tn Heb “begat.”]

¹¹Joiada was the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.

¹²In the days of Joiakim, these were the priests who were leaders of the families: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

¹³of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;

¹⁴of Malluch, Jonathan; of Shecaniah, Joseph;[#tc The present translation reads with the LXX לְמַלּוּךְ (lÿmallukh) rather than לִמְלוּכִי (limlukhi) of the Kethib (by dittography) or לִמְלִיכוּ (limlikhu) of the Qere.; #tc Most Hebrew MSS read “Shebaniah” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, CEV); the present translation follows the reading of some Hebrew MSS, some LXX MSS, and the Syriac (cf. Neh 12:3 and NIV, NCV, NLT).]

¹⁵of Harim, Adna; of Meremoth, Helkai;[#tc The present translation reads with the Lucianic Greek recension and the Syriac Peshitta לִמְרֵמוֹת (limremot, cf. NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT “Meremoth”) rather than the MT reading לִמְרָיוֹת (limrayot, cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV, CEV “Meraioth”). Cf. v. 3.]

¹⁶of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;[#tc The present translation (along with most English versions) reads with the Qere and the Syriac Peshitta לְעִדּוֹא (lÿ’iddo’, “Iddo”) rather than the MT reading לַעֲדָיָא (la’adaya’) which probably arose through graphic confusion. Cf. v. 4.]

¹⁷of Abijah, Zicri; of Miniamin and of Moadiah, Piltai;[#tn Or “of Miniamin, …; of Moadiah, Piltai,” where the name of the leader of the family of Miniamin has dropped out of the text due to a problem in transmission.]

¹⁸of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;

¹⁹of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi;

²⁰of Sallu, Kallai; of Amok, Eber;[#tc The present translation reads סַלּוּ (sallu, cf. NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT “Sallu”) rather than the MT reading סַלַּי (sallai, cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV, CEV “Sallai” ). Cf. v. 7.]

²¹of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

²²As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan and Jaddua the heads of families were recorded, as were the priests during the reign of Darius the Persian.[#tn Some scholars delete these words, regarding them as a later scribal addition to the text.]

²³The descendants of Levi were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles as heads of families up to the days of Johanan son of Eliashib.[#tn Or “the Book of the Annals” (so NRSV); NLT “The Book of History.”]

²⁴And the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their colleagues, who stood opposite them to offer praise and thanks, one contingent corresponding to the other, as specified by David the man of God.[#tn Heb “in [accord with] the commandment of.”]

²⁵Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who were guarding the storerooms at the gates.

²⁶These all served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priestly scribe.[#tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”]

The Wall of Jerusalem is Dedicated

²⁷At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought out the Levites from all the places they lived to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication joyfully with songs of thanksgiving and songs accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.[#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.; #tn Heb “from all their places.” The words “they lived” are implied.]

²⁸The singers were also assembled from the district around Jerusalem and from the settlements of the Netophathites[#tn Heb “the sons of the singers.”]

²⁹and from Beth Gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built settlements for themselves around Jerusalem.

³⁰When the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

³¹I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed on the top of the wall southward toward the Dung Gate.[#tc The translation reads וְהָאַחַת הֹלֶכֶת (vÿha’akhat holekhet, “and one was proceeding”) rather than the MT reading וְתַהֲלֻכֹת (vÿtahalukhot, “and processions”).]

³²Going after them were Hoshaiah, half the leaders of Judah,

³³Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,

³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah,

³⁵some of the priests with trumpets, Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph,[#tn Heb “some of the sons of the priests.”]

³⁶and his colleagues – Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani – with musical instruments of David the man of God. (Ezra the scribe led them.)[#tn Or “prescribed by” (NIV, NLT); TEV “of the kind played by.” The precise relationship of these musical instruments to David is not clear.; #tn Heb “was before them.”]

³⁷They went over the Fountain Gate and continued directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall. They passed the house of David and continued on to the Water Gate toward the east.

³⁸The second choir was proceeding in the opposite direction. I followed them, along with half the people, on top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall,[#tc The translation reads הוֹלֶכֶת (holekhet, “was proceeding”) rather than the MT הַהוֹלֶכֶת (haholekhet, “the one proceeding”). The MT probably reflects dittography – accidental writing of ה (hey) twice instead of once.]

³⁹over the Ephraim Gate, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate. They stopped at the Gate of the Guard.[#tn Or “the Old Gate” (so KJV, NASB, NCV, NRSV).; #tn Heb “they stood.”]

⁴⁰Then the two choirs that gave thanks took their stations in the temple of God. I did also, along with half the officials with me,[#tn Heb “stood.”]

⁴¹and the priests – Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with their trumpets –

⁴²and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam, and Ezer. The choirs sang loudly under the direction of Jezrahiah.[#tn Heb “caused to hear.”]

⁴³And on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard from far away.

⁴⁴On that day men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, first fruits, and tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions prescribed by the law for the priests and the Levites, for the people of Judah took delight in the priests and Levites who were ministering.[#tc The translation reads מִשְּׂדֶי (missÿde, “from the fields”) rather than the MT reading לִשְׂדֵי (lisdey, “to the fields”).; #tn Heb “for Judah.” The words “the people of” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, since “Judah” is a proper name as well as a place name.; #tn Heb “standing.”]

⁴⁵They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, according to the commandment of David and his son Solomon.[#tc With many medieval Hebrew MSS and the ancient versions the translation reads the conjunction (“and”). It is absent in the Leningrad MS that forms the textual basis for BHS.]

⁴⁶For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanks to God.[#tn Heb “heads.” The translation reads with the Qere the plural רֹאשֵׁי (ro’shey, “heads”) rather than the Kethib singular רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “head”) of the MT.]

⁴⁷So in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, all Israel was contributing the portions for the singers and gatekeepers, according to the daily need. They also set aside the portion for the Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.[#tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”; #tn Heb “were sanctifying.”]