Nehemiah 11

New People Move Into Jerusalem

¹Now the leaders of the Israelites moved into the city of Jerusalem. The rest of the people used lots to decide who else should move there with the leaders. They chose a tenth of the people to live in Jerusalem, the holy city. The rest of the people stayed in their own towns.

²The people who stayed asked God to bless those who were willing to move to Jerusalem.

³Some of the Israelites, priests, Levites, servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants lived in the various towns throughout Judah. These all lived on property they owned in these towns. But the area leaders lived in Jerusalem.

⁴And other people from the families of Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem.

These are the descendants of Judah who moved into Jerusalem:

⁷These are the descendants of Benjamin who moved into Jerusalem:

¹⁰These are the priests who moved into Jerusalem:

¹⁵These are the Levites who moved into Jerusalem:

¹⁹These are the gatekeepers who moved into Jerusalem:

²⁰The other Israelites, and the other priests and Levites, lived in all the towns of Judah. Everyone lived on the land that their ancestors had owned.

²¹The Temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel. Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of the Temple servants.

²²The officer over the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi. Uzzi was the son of Bani (the son of Hashabiah, who was the son of Mattaniah, who was the son of Mica). Uzzi was a descendant of Asaph. Asaph’s descendants were the singers who were responsible for the service in God’s Temple.

²³The singers obeyed orders from the king, which told them what to do from day to day.

²⁴Pethahiah son of Meshezabel told the people what the king wanted done. (Meshezabel was one of the descendants of Zerah. Zerah was Judah’s son.)

²⁵The people of Judah lived in these towns: In Kiriath Arba and the small towns around it, in Dibon and the small towns around it, in Jekabzeel and the small towns around it,

²⁶and in Jeshua, in Moladah, in Beth Pelet,

²⁷in Hazar Shual, in Beersheba and the small towns around it,

²⁸and in Ziklag, in Meconah and the small towns around it,

²⁹and in En Rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth,

³⁰and in Zanoah and Adullam and the small towns around them, in Lachish and the fields around it, and in Azekah and the small towns around it. So the people of Judah were living all the way from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom.

³¹The descendants of the family of Benjamin from Geba lived in Micmash, Aija, Bethel, and the small towns around it,

³²in Anathoth, Nob, and Ananiah,

³³in Hazor, Ramah, and Gittaim,

³⁴in Hadid, Zeboim, and Neballat,

³⁵in Lod and Ono, and in the Valley of the Craftsmen.

³⁶Some of the groups from the family of Levi moved to the land of Benjamin.