The Priests and Levites Who Returned
And these are the priests and the Levites who went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,
Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah,
Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,
Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah,
Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua.
And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, Mattaniah — he and his brothers were over the thanksgiving songs.
And Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, were opposite them in the watches.
And Jeshua fathered Joiakim, and Joiakim fathered Eliashib, and Eliashib fathered Joiada,
and Joiada fathered Jonathan, and Jonathan fathered Jaddua.
And in the days of Joiakim these were priests, heads of the fathers’ houses: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;
of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;
of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph;
of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai;
of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai;
of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;
and of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi;
of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber;
of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.
The Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, were recorded as heads of fathers’ houses; and the priests, until the reign of Darius the Persian.
The sons of Levi, heads of the fathers’ houses, were recorded in the book of the chronicles, and until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib.
And the heads of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, and their brothers opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God — watch alongside watch.
Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were keeping watch as gatekeepers, a watch at the storehouses of the gates.
These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest, the scribe.
The Dedication of the Wall
And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to keep the dedication with rejoicing — with thanksgivings and with song, with cymbals, harps, and lyres.
And the sons of the singers gathered, both from the plain around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites,
and from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth — for the singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem.
And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.
And I brought the officers of Judah up onto the wall, and appointed two great thanksgiving choirs and processions. One went to the right, on the wall, toward the Dung Gate;
and after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the officers of Judah,
and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam,
Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah;
and some of the sons of the priests with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph;
and his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the instruments of song of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe was before them.
And at the Spring Gate, and opposite them, they went up by the steps of the City of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, and as far as the Water Gate to the east.
And the second thanksgiving choir went to the left, and I after it, with half of the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, and as far as the Broad Wall,
and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Old Gate, and by the Fish Gate, and the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, and as far as the Sheep Gate; and they stood still at the Gate of the Guard.
And the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God — and I, and half of the deputies with me;
and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, Hananiah, with trumpets;
and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers made themselves heard, with Jezrahiah the overseer.
And on that day they sacrificed great sacrifices and rejoiced — for God had made them rejoice with great rejoicing; and the women and the children also rejoiced. And the rejoicing of Jerusalem was heard from far away.
Provisions for Temple Worship
And on that day men were appointed over the chambers for the stores, for the contributions, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes — to gather into them, from the fields of the cities, the portions of the instruction for the priests and for the Levites; for the joy of Judah was over the priests and over the Levites who stood there.
And they kept the charge of their God and the charge of the purification — and so did the singers and the gatekeepers — according to the commandment of David and of Solomon his son.
For in the days of David and Asaph, of old, there were heads of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgivings to God.
And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the portions of the singers and the gatekeepers, the matter of a day in its day; and they consecrated the holy things for the Levites, and the Levites consecrated them for the sons of Aaron.