Theme: Achieving goals

Reading: Nehemiah 6:15 onwards

The Wall Is Finished

¹⁵ So the wall of Jerusalem was completed on the 25th day of the month of Elul.^[a] It had taken 52 days to finish building the wall. ¹⁶ Then all our enemies heard that we had completed the wall, and all the nations around us saw that it was finished. So they lost their courage, because they understood that this work had been done with the help of our God.

¹⁷ Also in those days after the wall had been completed, the rich people of Judah were sending many letters to Tobiah, and he was answering their letters. ¹⁸ They sent those letters because many people in Judah had promised to be loyal to him. The reason for this is that Tobiah was son-in-law to Shecaniah son of Arah. And Tobiah’s son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam. Meshullam is the son of Berekiah. ¹⁹ And in the past, those people had made a special promise to Tobiah. So they kept telling me how good Tobiah was. And they kept telling Tobiah what I was doing. Tobiah kept sending me letters to make me afraid.

7 After we finished building the wall and put the doors in the gates, we chose the men who would guard the gates and the men to sing in the Temple and help the priests. ² Next, I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem. I chose another man named Hananiah to be the commander of the fort. I picked Hanani because he was a very honest man and he feared God more than most people do. ³ Then I said to Hanani and Hananiah, “Each day you must wait until the sun has been up for several hours before you open the gates of Jerusalem. You must shut and lock the gates before the sun goes down. Also choose people who live in Jerusalem as guards. Put some of them at special places to guard the city, and put the other people near their own houses.”

The List of Captives Who Returned

⁴ Now the city was large and there was plenty of room. But there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt. ⁵ So my God put it in my heart to have all the people meet together. I called together all the important people, the officials, and the common people. I did this so that I could make a list of all the families. I found the family lists^[b] of the people who had been the first to return from captivity. This is what I found written there:

⁶ These are the people of the province who came back from captivity. In the past, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took them as prisoners to Babylon. These people came back to Jerusalem and Judah. They all went to their own towns. ⁷ They returned with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. This is the list of names and numbers of men from Israel who came back:

⁸ the descendants of Parosh 2172

⁹ the descendants of Shephatiah 372

¹⁰ the descendants of Arah 652

¹¹ the descendants of Pahath Moab of the family line of Jeshua and Joab 2818

¹² the descendants of Elam 1254

¹³ the descendants of Zattu 845

¹⁴ the descendants of Zaccai 760

¹⁵ the descendants of Binnui 648

¹⁶ the descendants of Bebai 628

¹⁷ the descendants of Azgad 2322

¹⁸ the descendants of Adonikam 667

¹⁹ the descendants of Bigvai 2067

²⁰ the descendants of Adin 655

²¹ the descendants of Ater through the family of Hezekiah 98

²² the descendants of Hashum 328

²³ the descendants of Bezai 324

²⁴ the descendants of Hariph 112

²⁵ the descendants of Gibeon 95

²⁶ from the towns of Bethlehem and Netophah 188

²⁷ from the town of Anathoth 128

²⁸ from the town of Beth Azmaveth 42

²⁹ from the towns of Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah, and Beeroth 743

³⁰ from the towns of Ramah and Geba 621

³¹ from the town of Micmash 122

³² from the towns of Bethel and Ai 123

³³ from the other town of Nebo 52

³⁴ from the other town of Elam 1254

³⁵ from the town of Harim 320

³⁶ from the town of Jericho 345

³⁷ from the towns of Lod, Hadid, and Ono 721

³⁸ from the town of Senaah 3930

³⁹ These are the priests:

the descendants of Jedaiah through the family of Jeshua 973

⁴⁰ the descendants of Immer 1052

⁴¹ the descendants of Pashhur 1247

⁴² the descendants of Harim 1017

⁴³ These are the people from the tribe of Levi:

the descendants of Jeshua through Kadmiel through the family of Hodeiah^[c] 74

⁴⁴ These are the singers:

the descendants of Asaph 148

⁴⁵ These are the gatekeepers:

the descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai 138

⁴⁶ These are the special Temple servants:

the descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,

⁴⁷ Keros, Sia, Padon,

⁴⁸ Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai,

⁴⁹ Hanan, Giddel, Gahar,

⁵⁰ Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda,

⁵¹ Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah,

⁵² Besai, Meunim, Nephussim,

⁵³ Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,

⁵⁴ Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,

⁵⁵ Barkos, Sisera, Temah,

⁵⁶ Neziah, and Hatipha.

⁵⁷ These are the descendants of the servants of Solomon:

Sotai, Sophereth, Perida,

⁵⁸ Jaala, Darkon, Giddel,

⁵⁹ Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth Hazzebaim, and Amon,

⁶⁰ the Temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants 392

⁶¹ Some people came to Jerusalem from these towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer. But these people could not prove that their families really came from the Israelites:

⁶² the descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda 642

⁶³ From the family of priests there were the descendants of

Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai. (If a man married a daughter of Barzillai from Gilead, he was counted as a descendant of Barzillai.)

⁶⁴ These people searched for their family histories, but they could not find them. They could not prove that their ancestors were priests, so they could not serve as priests. Their names were not included in the list of priests. ⁶⁵ The governor ordered them not to eat any of the most holy food until a priest could use the Urim and Thummim to ask God what to do.

^66-67 All together, there were 42,360 people in the group who came back. This is not counting their 7337 men and women slaves. They also had 245 men and women singers with them. ^68-69 They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6720 donkeys.

⁷⁰ Some of the family leaders gave money to support the work. The governor gave 19 pounds^[d] of gold to the treasury. He also gave 50 bowls and 530 pieces of clothing for the priests. ⁷¹ The family leaders gave 375 pounds^[e] of gold to the treasury to support the work. They also gave 2750 pounds^[f] of silver. ⁷² All together the other people gave 375 pounds of gold, 2500 pounds^[g] of silver, and 67 pieces of clothing for the priests.

⁷³ So the priests, the people from the tribe of Levi, the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Temple servants settled down in their own towns. And all the other Israelites settled down in their own towns. By the seventh month^[h] of the year, all the Israelites had settled down in their own towns.

Ezra Reads the Law

8 So all the Israelites met together in the seventh month of the year. They were united and in complete agreement. They all met together in the open place in front of the Water Gate. All the people asked Ezra the teacher to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given to the Israelites. ² So Ezra the priest brought the law before those who had met together. This was on the first day of the month.^[i] It was the seventh month of the year. Men, women, and anyone old enough to listen and understand were at the meeting. ³ Ezra read in a loud voice from the Book of the Law from early morning until noon. He was facing the open place that was in front of the Water Gate. He read to all the men and women, and to everyone old enough to listen and understand. All the people listened carefully and paid attention to the Book of the Law.

⁴ Ezra stood on a high wooden stage. It had been built just for this special time. On his right side stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah. And on his left side stood Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

⁵ So Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them on the high stage. As he opened the Book of the Law, all the people stood up. ⁶ Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people held up their hands and said, “Amen! Amen!” Then all the people bowed down and put their faces low to the ground and they worshiped the Lord.

⁷ These men from the tribe of Levi taught the people about the law as they were all standing there. The Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah. ⁸ They read the Book of the Law of God. They made it easy to understand, and explained what it meant. They did this so that the people could understand what was being read.

⁹ Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher, and the Levites who were teaching the people spoke. They said, “Today is a special day^[j] to the Lord your God. Don’t be sad and cry.” They said that because all the people had begun to cry as they were listening to the messages of God in the law.

¹⁰ Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy the good food and sweet drinks. Give some food and drinks to those who didn’t prepare any food. Today is a special day to our Lord. Don’t be sad, because the joy of the Lord will make you strong.”

¹¹ The Levites helped the people to calm down. They said, “Be quiet, calm down, this is a special day. Don’t be sad.”

¹² Then all the people went to eat the special meal. They shared their food and drinks. They celebrated that special day. They were happy that they could hear the reading of God’s law and were now able to understand it.

¹³ Then on the second day of the month,^[k] the leaders of all the families went to meet with Ezra, the priests, and the Levites. They all gathered around Ezra the teacher to study the words of the law.

^14-15 They studied and found these commands in the law. The Lord gave this command to the people through Moses: In the seventh month of the year, the Israelites must go to Jerusalem to celebrate a special festival. They must live in temporary shelters. And the people are supposed to go through all of their towns and Jerusalem and say this: “Go out into the hill country and get branches from different kinds of olive trees. Get branches from myrtle trees, palm trees, and shade trees. Use the branches to make temporary shelters. Do what the law says.”

¹⁶ So the people went out and got tree branches. Then they built temporary shelters for themselves. They built shelters on their own roofs and in their own yards. And they built shelters in the Temple yard, in the open place near the Water Gate, and near Ephraim Gate. ¹⁷ The whole group that had come back from captivity built shelters. They lived in the shelters they had built. Since the days of Joshua son of Nun up until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated the Festival of Shelters like this. Everyone was very happy!

¹⁸ Ezra read to them from the Book of the Law every day of the festival from the first day of the festival to the last day. The Israelites celebrated the festival for seven days. Then on the eighth day, the people met together for a special meeting, as the law says.

The People of Israel Confess Their Sins

9 Then on the 24th day of that same month, the Israelites gathered together for a day of fasting. They wore sackcloth and put ashes on their heads to show they were sad and upset. ² Those people who were true Israelites separated themselves from foreigners. The Israelites stood and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. ³ They stood there for about three hours, and the people read the Book of the Law of the Lord their God. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and bowed down to worship the Lord their God.

⁴ Then these Levites stood on the stairs: Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani. They called out to the Lord their God with loud voices. ⁵ Then these Levites spoke again: Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah. They said, “Stand up and praise the Lord your God! God has always lived and will live forever.

“People should praise your glorious name.
    May your name be lifted above all blessing and praise.
⁶ You are God.
    Lord, only you are God.
You made the sky and the highest heavens
    and everything in them.
You made the earth
    and everything on it.
You made the seas
    and everything in them.
You give life to everything.
    All the heavenly angels bow down and worship you.
⁷ You are the Lord,
    the God who chose Abram.
You led him from Ur in Babylonia.
    You changed his name to Abraham.
⁸ You saw he was true and loyal to you,
    and you made an agreement with him.
You promised to give him the land
    of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites.
But you promised to give that land to Abraham’s descendants.
    And you kept your promise because you are good.
⁹ You saw our ancestors suffering in Egypt
    and heard them call for help by the Red Sea.
¹⁰ You showed the miracles to Pharaoh.
    You did amazing things to his officials and his people.
You knew that the Egyptians thought
    they were better than our ancestors.
But you proved how great you are,
    and they remember that even today.
¹¹ You split the Red Sea in front of them,
    and they walked through on dry land.
The Egyptian soldiers were chasing them,
    but you threw that enemy into the sea.
    And they sank like a rock into the sea.
¹² With the tall cloud, you led them by day,
    and at night you used the column of fire.
That is the way you lit their path
    and showed them where to go.
¹³ Then you came down to Mount Sinai.
    You spoke to them from heaven.
You gave them good laws.
    You gave them true teachings.
    You gave them laws and commands that were very good.
¹⁴ You told them about your special day of rest—the Sabbath.
    Through your servant Moses,
    you gave them commands, laws, and teachings.
¹⁵ They were hungry,
    so you gave them food from heaven.
They were thirsty,
    so you gave them water from a rock.
You told them,
    ‘Come, take this land.’
You used your power,
    and took the land for them.
¹⁶ But our ancestors became proud and stubborn.
    They refused to obey your commands.
¹⁷ They refused to listen.
    They forgot the amazing things you did with them.
They became stubborn.
    They decided to return to Egypt and become slaves again.

“But you are a forgiving God!
    You are kind and full of mercy.
You are patient and full of love.
So you didn’t leave them!
¹⁸ You didn’t leave them even when they made golden calves and said,
    ‘These are the gods that led us out of Egypt.’
¹⁹ You are very kind,
    so you didn’t leave them in the desert.
You didn’t take the tall cloud
    away from them by day.
You continued to lead them.
You didn’t take the column of fire
    away from them at night.
You continued to light their path
    and to show them which way to go.
²⁰ You gave them your good Spirit to make them wise.
    You gave them manna for food.
    You gave them water for their thirst.
²¹ You took care of them for 40 years.
    They had all they needed in the desert.
Their clothes didn’t wear out,
    and their feet didn’t swell and hurt.
²² You gave them kingdoms and nations,
    and you gave them faraway places where few people live.
They got the land of King Sihon of Heshbon.
    They got the land of King Og of Bashan.
²³ You made their descendants
    as many as the stars in the sky.
You brought them to the land
    you promised to give their ancestors.
    They went in and took that land.
²⁴ Their children took the land.
They defeated the Canaanites living there.
    You let them defeat those people.
You let them do whatever they wanted
    to those nations, people, and kings.
²⁵ They defeated powerful cities.
    They took the fertile land.
They got houses filled with good things.
    They got wells that were already dug.
They got vineyards, olive trees, and plenty of fruit trees.
    They ate until they were full and fat.
They enjoyed all the wonderful things you gave them.
²⁶ And then they turned against you.
    They threw away your teachings.
    They killed your prophets.
Those prophets warned the people.
    They tried to bring them back to you.
    But our ancestors said terrible things against you.
²⁷ So you let their enemies have them.
    The enemy caused them much trouble.
When trouble came, our ancestors called to you for help.
    And in heaven, you heard them.
You are very kind,
    so you sent people to save them.
    And they rescued them from their enemies.
²⁸ Then as soon as our ancestors were rested,
    they started doing terrible things again!
So you let the enemy defeat them
    and punish them.
They called to you for help,
    and in heaven you heard them and helped them.
You are so kind.
    That happened so many times.
²⁹ You warned them.
You told them to come back,
    but they were too proud.
    They refused to listen to your commands.
If people obey your laws, they will live.
    But our ancestors broke your laws.
They were stubborn.
    They turned their backs on you.
    They refused to listen.

³⁰ “You were very patient with our ancestors.
    You let them mistreat you for many years.
You warned them with your Spirit.
    You sent the prophets to warn them.
But our ancestors didn’t listen.
    So you gave them to people in other countries.

³¹ “But you are so kind!
    You didn’t completely destroy them.
You didn’t leave them.
    You are such a kind and merciful God!
³² Our God, you are the great God,
    the awesome, powerful soldier!
You are kind and loyal.
    You keep your agreement.
We have had many troubles,
    and our troubles are important to you.
Bad things happened to all our people,
    and to our kings and leaders,
    and to our priests and prophets.
Those terrible things have happened
    from the days of the king of Assyria until today!
³³ But God, you were right about everything that happened to us.
    You were right, and we were wrong.
³⁴ Our kings, leaders, priests, and fathers did not obey your law.
    They didn’t listen to your commands.
    They ignored your warnings.
³⁵ Our ancestors didn’t serve you even when they were living in their own kingdom.
    They didn’t stop doing evil.
    They enjoyed all the wonderful things you gave them.
They enjoyed the rich land and had plenty of room,
    but they didn’t stop their evil ways.
³⁶ And now, we are slaves.
We are slaves in this land,
    the land you gave our ancestors
    so they could enjoy its fruit
    and all the good things that grow here.
³⁷ The harvest is big in this land.
    But we sinned, so that harvest goes to the kings you put over us.
They control us and our cattle.
    They do anything they want.
    We are in a lot of trouble.

³⁸ “Because of all these things, we are making an agreement that cannot be changed. We are putting this agreement in writing. Our leaders, Levites, and priests are signing their names to this agreement and sealing it with a seal.”

10 These are the names on the sealed agreement:

Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah. Zedekiah, ² Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, ³ Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah, ⁴ Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, ⁵ Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, ⁶ Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, ⁷ Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, ⁸ Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests who put their names on the sealed agreement.

⁹ And these are the Levites who put their names on the sealed agreement:

Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui from the family of Henadad, Kadmiel, ¹⁰ and their brothers: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, ¹¹ Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, ¹² Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, ¹³ Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.

¹⁴ And these are the names of the leaders who put their names on the sealed agreement:

Parosh, Pahath-Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, ¹⁵ Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, ¹⁶ Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, ¹⁷ Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, ¹⁸ Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, ¹⁹ Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, ²⁰ Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, ²¹ Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, ²² Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, ²³ Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, ²⁴ Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, ²⁵ Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, ²⁶ Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, ²⁷ Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.

^28-29 So all these people now make this special promise to God. And they all ask for bad things to happen if they don’t keep their promise. All these people promise to follow the law of God. That law of God was given to us through Moses his servant. These people promise with an oath to carefully obey all the commands, rules, and teachings of our Lord God. Now, these are the people who are making this promise: The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, Temple servants, and all the Israelites who separated themselves from the people living around them. They have separated themselves to obey God’s law. Their wives, sons, and daughters who are able to listen and understand also did this. All these people joined their brothers and the important people to accept for themselves the promise to obey God’s law. And they accepted the curse that asks for bad things to happen to them if they don’t obey God’s law.

³⁰ “We promise not to let our daughters marry the people living around us. And we promise not to let our sons marry their daughters.

³¹ “We promise not to work on the Sabbath day. If the people living around us bring grain or other things to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy them on that special day or on any other festival. Every seventh year,^[l] we will not plant or work the land. And every seventh year, we will cancel every debt that other people owe to us.

³² “We will accept the responsibility for obeying the commands to take care of God’s Temple. We will give 1/3 shekel^[m] of silver each year to support the Temple service to honor our God. ³³ This money will pay for the special bread that the priests put on the table in the Temple. It will pay for the daily grain offerings and burnt offerings. It will pay for the offerings on the Sabbaths, New Moon celebrations, and other special meeting days. It will pay for the holy offerings and for the sin offerings that make the Israelites pure. It will pay for any work needed on the Temple of our God.

³⁴ “We, the priests, the Levites, and the people have thrown lots to decide when each of our families is to bring a gift of wood to the Temple of our God at certain times each year. The wood is to burn on the altar of the Lord our God. We must do that just as it is written in the law.

³⁵ “We also accept the responsibility of bringing the first part of our harvest, whether from the grain in our fields or the fruit from our trees. We will bring them to the Lord’s Temple each year.

³⁶ “Just as it is also written in the law, this is what we will do: We will bring our firstborn sons and our firstborn cattle, sheep, and goats. We will bring these to the Temple of our God, to the priests who are serving there.

³⁷ “And we will also bring the first part of our harvest to priests to put in the storage rooms of our God’s Temple. We will bring the first of our ground meal, the first of our grain offerings, the first fruit from our trees, and the first of our new wine and oil. And we will bring a tenth of our crops to the Levites, because they are the ones who collect these things in all the towns where we work. ³⁸ A priest from the family of Aaron must be with the Levites when they receive the crops. Then the Levites must bring the crops to the Temple of our God and put them in the storerooms of the Temple treasury. ³⁹ The Israelites and the Levites must bring their gifts to the storerooms. They are to bring their gifts of grain, new wine, and oil. All the things for the Temple are kept in the storerooms, and that is where the priests who are on duty stay. The singers and gatekeepers also stay there.

“We all promise that we will take care of the Temple of our God.”

New People Move Into Jerusalem

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

³ Some 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. ⁴ And other people from the families of Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem.

These are the descendants of Judah who moved into Jerusalem:

Athaiah son of Uzziah (the son of Zechariah, who was the son of Amariah, who was the son of Shephatiah, who was the son of Mahalalel, who was a descendant of Perez) ⁵ and Maaseiah son of Baruch (the son of Col-Hozeh, who was the son of Hazaiah, who was the son of Adaiah, who was the son of Joiarib, who was the son of Zechariah, who was a descendant of Shelah). ⁶ The number of Perez’s descendants living in Jerusalem was 468. All of them were brave men.

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

Sallu son of Meshullam (the son of Joed, who was the son of Pedaiah, who was the son of Kolaiah, who was the son of Maaseiah, who was the son of Ithiel, who was the son of Jeshaiah), ⁸ and those who followed Jeshaiah were Gabbai and Sallai. All together there were 928 men. ⁹ Joel son of Zicri was in charge of them. And Judah son of Hassenuah was in charge of the Second District of the city of Jerusalem.

¹⁰ These are the priests who moved into Jerusalem:

Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jakin, ¹¹ and Seraiah son of Hilkiah (the son of Meshullam, who was the son of Zadok, who was the son of Meraioth, who was the son of Ahitub), who was the supervisor in the Temple of God, ¹² and 822 men of their brothers that did the work for the Temple, and Adaiah son of Jeroham (the son of Pelaliah, who was the son of Amzi, who was the son of Zechariah, who was the son of Pashhur, who was the son of Malkijah), ¹³ and 242 men who were Adaiah’s brothers (leaders of their families), Amashsai son of Azarel (the son of Ahzai, who was the son of Meshillemoth, who was the son of Immer), ¹⁴ and 128 of Amashsai’s brothers. (These men were brave soldiers. The officer over them was Zabdiel son of Haggedolim.)

¹⁵ These are the Levites who moved into Jerusalem:

Shemaiah son of Hasshub (the son of Azrikam, who was the son of Hashabiah, who was the son of Bunni), ¹⁶ Shabbethai and Jozabad (two of the leaders of the Levites in charge of the outside work of God’s Temple), ¹⁷ Mattaniah (the son of Mica, who was the son of Zabdi, who was the son of Asaph), the director who led the people in singing songs of praise and prayer, Bakbukiah (the second in charge over his brothers), and Abda son of Shammua (the son of Galal, who was the son of Jeduthun). ¹⁸ So there were 284 Levites who moved into Jerusalem, the holy city.

¹⁹ These are the gatekeepers who moved into Jerusalem:

Akkub, Talmon, and 172 of their brothers. They watched and guarded the gates of the city.

²⁰ The 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. ²¹ The Temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel. Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of the Temple servants.

²² The 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. ²³ The singers obeyed orders from the king, which told them what to do from day to day. ²⁴ Pethahiah son of Meshezabel told the people what the king wanted done. (Meshezabel was one of the descendants of Zerah. Zerah was Judah’s son.)

²⁵ The 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, ²⁶ and in Jeshua, in Moladah, in Beth Pelet, ²⁷ in Hazar Shual, in Beersheba and the small towns around it, ²⁸ and in Ziklag, in Meconah and the small towns around it, ²⁹ and in En Rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, ³⁰ and 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.

³¹ The descendants of the family of Benjamin from Geba lived in Micmash, Aija, Bethel, and the small towns around it, ³² in Anathoth, Nob, and Ananiah, ³³ in Hazor, Ramah, and Gittaim, ³⁴ in Hadid, Zeboim, and Neballat, ³⁵ in Lod and Ono, and in the Valley of the Craftsmen. ³⁶ Some of the groups from the family of Levi moved to the land of Benjamin.

Priests and Levites

12 These are the priests and Levites who came back to the land of Judah. They came back with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua. This is a list of their names:

Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

² Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,

³ Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,

⁴ Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,

⁵ Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,

⁶ Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,

⁷ Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.

These men were the leaders of the priests and their relatives in the days of Jeshua.

⁸ The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and also Mattaniah. These men, with Mattaniah’s relatives, were in charge of the songs of praise to God. ⁹ Bakbukiah and Unni were the relatives of those Levites. These two men stood across from them in the services. ¹⁰ 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, and Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.

¹² In the days of Joiakim, these men were the leaders of the families of priests:

The leader of Seraiah’s family was Meraiah.

The leader of Jeremiah’s family was Hananiah.

¹³ The leader of Ezra’s family was Meshullam.

The leader of Amariah’s family was Jehohanan.

¹⁴ The leader of Malluch’s family was Jonathan.

The leader of Shecaniah’s family was Joseph.

¹⁵ The leader of Harim’s family was Adna.

The leader of Meremoth’s family was Helkai.

¹⁶ The leader of Iddo’s family was Zechariah.

The leader of Ginnethon’s family was Meshullam.

¹⁷ The leader of Abijah’s family was Zicri.

The leader of Miniamin and Maadiah’s families was Piltai.

¹⁸ The leader of Bilgah’s family was Shammua.

The leader of Shemaiah’s family was Jehonathan.

¹⁹ The leader of Joiarib’s family was Mattenai.

The leader of Jedaiah’s family was Uzzi.

²⁰ The leader of Sallu’s family was Kallai.

The leader of Amok’s family was Eber.

²¹ The leader of Hilkiah’s family was Hashabiah.

The leader of Jedaiah’s family was Nethanel.

²² The names of the leaders of the families of the Levites and the priests in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua were written down during the rule of Darius the Persian king. ²³ The family leaders among the descendants of the Levites and up to the time of Johanan son of Eliashib were written in the history book. ²⁴ And these were the leaders of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, and their brothers. Their brothers stood across from them to sing praise and honor to God. One group answered the other group. That is what was commanded by David the man of God.

²⁵ The gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms next to the gates were Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub. ²⁶ They served in the days of Joiakim. Joiakim was the son of Jeshua, who was the son of Jozadak. And the gatekeepers also served in the days of Nehemiah the governor and in the days of Ezra the priest and teacher.

Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem

²⁷ The people dedicated the wall of Jerusalem. They brought all the Levites to Jerusalem. The Levites came from the towns they lived in. They came to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. They came to sing songs of praise and thanks to God. They played their cymbals, harps, and lyres.

^28-29 And all the singers also came to Jerusalem. They came from the towns all around Jerusalem. They came from the town of Netophah, from Beth Gilgal, Geba, and Azmaveth. The singers had built small towns for themselves in the area around Jerusalem.

³⁰ So the priests and Levites made themselves pure in a ceremony. Then they also made the people, the gates, and the wall of Jerusalem pure in a ceremony.

³¹ I told the leaders of Judah to go up and stand on top of the wall. I also chose two large singing groups to give thanks to God. One group was to start going up on top of the wall on the right side, toward the Ash Pile Gate. ³² Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed the singers. ³³ Also following them were Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴ Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah. ³⁵ And some of the priests with trumpets also followed them up to the wall. Zechariah also followed them. (Zechariah was the son of Jonathan, who was the son of Shemaiah, who was the son of Mattaniah, who was the son of Micaiah, who was the son of Zaccur, who was the son of Asaph.) ³⁶ There were also Asaph’s brothers, who were Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani. They had the musical instruments that David, the man of God, had made. Ezra the teacher led the group of people who were there to dedicate the wall. ³⁷ They went to the Fountain Gate and walked up the stairs all the way to the City of David. They were on top of the city wall. They walked over the house of David and went toward the Water Gate.

³⁸ The second group of singers started out in the other direction, to the left. I followed them as they went up to the top of the wall. Half of the people also followed them. They went past the Tower of Ovens to the Broad Wall. ³⁹ Then they went over these gates: the Gate of Ephraim, the Old Gate, and the Fish Gate. And they went over the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred. They went as far as the Sheep Gate and stopped at the Guard Gate. ⁴⁰ Then the two singing groups went to their places in God’s Temple. And I stood in my place. And half the officials stood in their places in the Temple. ⁴¹ Then these priests stood in their places: Eliakim, Maaseiah, Mijamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah. These priests had their trumpets with them. ⁴² Then these priests stood in their places in the Temple: Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam, and Ezer.

Then two singing groups began singing with Jezrahiah leading them. ⁴³ So on that special day, the priests offered many sacrifices. Everyone was very happy because God had made them happy. Even the women and children were excited and happy. People far away could hear the happy sounds coming from Jerusalem.

⁴⁴ Men were chosen to be in charge of the storerooms on that day. People brought the first part of the harvest and a tenth of their crops. So the men in charge put these things in the storerooms. The Jewish people were very happy about the priests and Levites on duty. So they brought many things to be put in the storerooms. ⁴⁵ The priests and Levites did their work for their God. They did the ceremonies that made people pure, and the singers and gatekeepers did their part. They did everything that David and Solomon had commanded. ⁴⁶ (Long ago, in the days of David, Asaph had been the director. And he had many songs of praise and thanks to God.)

⁴⁷ So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all the Israelites gave every day to support the singers and gatekeepers. The people also set aside the money for the other Levites. And the Levites set aside the money for the descendants of Aaron.

Nehemiah’s Last Commands

13 On that day the Book of Moses was read out loud, so that all the people could hear. They found this law written there: No Ammonite and no Moabite would be permitted to join in the meetings with God. ² That law was written because those people didn’t give the Israelites food and water. And they had paid Balaam to say a curse against the Israelites. But our God changed that curse and made it a blessing for us. ³ So when the Israelites heard that law, they obeyed it. They separated themselves from the people who were descendants of foreigners.

^4-5 But, before that happened, Eliashib had given a room in the Temple to Tobiah. Eliashib was the priest in charge of the storerooms in our God’s Temple. And he was a close friend of Tobiah. That room had been used for storing the grain offerings, incense, and the Temple dishes and things. They also kept the tenth of grain, new wine, and oil for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers in that room. And they also kept the gifts for the priests in that room. But Eliashib gave that room to Tobiah.

⁶ I was not in Jerusalem while all of this was happening. I had gone back to the king of Babylon. I went back to Babylon in the 32nd year that Artaxerxes was king of Babylon.^[n] Later, I asked the king for permission to go back to Jerusalem. ⁷ So I came back to Jerusalem. There I heard about the sad thing that Eliashib had done. He had given Tobiah a room in the Temple of God! ⁸ I was very angry about what Eliashib had done, so I threw all of Tobiah’s things out of the room. ⁹ I gave commands for the rooms to be made pure and clean. Then I put the Temple dishes and things, the grain offerings, and the incense back into the rooms.

¹⁰ I also heard that the people had not given the Levites their share. So the Levites and singers had gone back to work in their own fields. ¹¹ So I told the officials that they were wrong. I asked them, “Why didn’t you take care of God’s Temple?” Then I called all Levites together and told them to go back to their places and duties in the Temple. ¹² Then everyone in Judah brought their tenth of grain, new wine, and oil to the Temple. These things were put into the storerooms.

¹³ I put these men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the teacher, and a Levite named Pedaiah. And I made Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, their helper. I knew I could trust these men. They were responsible for giving the supplies to their relatives.

¹⁴ My God, please remember me for these things I have done. Don’t forget all I have faithfully done for the Temple of my God and for its services.

¹⁵ In those days in Judah, I saw people working on the Sabbath day. I saw people pressing grapes to make wine. I saw people bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys. I saw people carrying grapes, figs, and all kinds of things in the city. They were bringing all these things into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, so I warned them about this. I told them they must not sell food on the Sabbath day.

¹⁶ There were some men from the city of Tyre living in Jerusalem. They were bringing fish and all kinds of things into Jerusalem and selling them on the Sabbath day. And the Jews were buying them. ¹⁷ I told the important people of Judah that they were wrong. I said, “You are doing a very bad thing. You are ruining the Sabbath day. ¹⁸ You know that your ancestors did the same things. That is why our God brought all the troubles and disaster to us and to this city. Now you people are making it so that more of these bad things will happen to Israel. They are doing this because you are breaking the Sabbath by treating it just as if it were any other day.”

¹⁹ So this is what I did: Every Friday evening, just before dark, I commanded the gatekeepers to shut and lock the gates to Jerusalem. They were not to be opened until the Sabbath day was over. I put some of my own men at the gates. They were commanded to make sure that no load was brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

²⁰ One or two times, traders and merchants had to stay the night outside Jerusalem. ²¹ But I warned them, “Don’t stay the night in front of the wall. If you do that again, I will arrest you.” So from that time on they didn’t come on the Sabbath day to sell their things.

²² Then I commanded the Levites to make themselves pure. After they did that, they were to go and guard the gates. This was done to make sure the Sabbath day was kept a holy day.

My God, please remember me for doing this. Be kind to me and show me your great love!

²³ In those days I also noticed that some Jewish men had married women from the countries of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. ²⁴ And half of the children from those marriages didn’t know how to speak the Jewish language. They spoke the language of Ashdod, Ammon, or Moab. ²⁵ So I told the men that they were wrong. I said bad things to them. I hit some of them, and I pulled out their hair. I forced them to make a promise in God’s name. I said to them, “You must not marry the daughters of these foreigners. Don’t let their daughters marry your sons, and don’t let your daughters marry the sons of these foreigners. ²⁶ You know that marriages like this caused Solomon to sin. In all the many nations, there was not a king as great as Solomon. God loved him and made him king over the whole nation of Israel. But even Solomon was made to sin because of foreign women. ²⁷ And now, we hear that you also are doing this terrible sin. You are not being true to our God. You are marrying foreign women.”

²⁸ Joiada was the son of Eliashib the high priest. One of Joiada’s sons was a son-in-law of Sanballat from Horon. I forced him to leave this place. I forced him to run away.

²⁹ My God, punish these people. They made the priesthood unclean. They treated it as if it was not important. They did not obey the agreement that you made with the priests and Levites. ³⁰ So I made the priests and Levites clean and pure. I took away all the foreigners and the strange things they taught. And I gave the Levites and priests their own duties and responsibilities. ³¹ And I made sure that people will bring gifts of wood and the first part of their harvest at the right times.

My God, remember me for doing these good things.

Footnotes

1. Nehemiah 6:15 Elul That is, August–September, 443 B.C.
2. Nehemiah 7:5 family lists See Ezra 2.
3. Nehemiah 7:43 Hodeiah Or “Hodaviah.”
4. Nehemiah 7:70 19 pounds Literally, “1000 drachmas” (8.63 kg).
5. Nehemiah 7:71 375 pounds Literally, “20,000 drachmas” (172.5 kg).
6. Nehemiah 7:71 2750 pounds Literally, “2200 minas” (1265 kg).
7. Nehemiah 7:72 2500 pounds Literally, “2000 minas” (1150 kg).
8. Nehemiah 7:73 seventh month That is, September–October. Also in 8:1, 14-15.
9. Nehemiah 8:2 first day of the month This was a special day of worship. The people met together and shared a fellowship meal.
10. Nehemiah 8:9 special day The first and second days of each month were special days of worship. The people met together and shared a fellowship meal.
11. Nehemiah 8:13 second day of the month The first and second days of each month were special days of worship. The people met together and shared a fellowship meal.
12. Nehemiah 10:31 seventh year See Ex. 23:10, 11.
13. Nehemiah 10:32 1/3 shekel This was probably a coin at this time, but 1 shekel is 2/5 of an ounce (11.5 g).
14. Nehemiah 13:6 the 32nd year … Babylon That is, 432 B.C.

 

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