Apr 25 - Nehemiah 11-13
Nehemiah
1Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. Yet truly, the remainder of the people cast lots, so that they might choose one part in ten who were to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine parts for the other cities2Then the people blessed all the men who freely offered themselves to live in Jerusalem3And so these are the leaders of the province, who were living in Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah. Now each one lived in his possession, in their cities: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the sons of the servants of Solomon4And in Jerusalem, there lived some of the sons of Judah, and some of the sons of Benjamin: of the sons of Judah, Athaiah, the son of Aziam, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez5Maaseiah, the son of Baruch, the son of Colhozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of a Silonite6All these sons of Perez lived in Jerusalem, four hundred sixty-eight strong men7Now these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu, the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah8and after him Gabbai, Sallai. These were nine hundred twenty-eight9And Joel, the son of Zichri, was their foremost leader. And Judah, the son of Hassenuah, was second over the city10And from the priests, there were Jedaiah, the son of Joiarib, Jachin11Seraiah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God12and their brothers, who were doing the works of the temple: eight hundred twenty-two. And Adaiah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zachariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah13and his brothers, the leaders among the fathers: two hundred forty-two. And Amassai, the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer14and their brothers, who were very powerful: one hundred twenty-eight. And their foremost leader was Zabdiel, the son of the powerful15And from the Levites, there were Shemaiah, the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni16and Shabbethai and Jozabad, who were over all the works which were exterior to the house of God, from among the leaders of the Levites17And Mattaniah, the son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, was the leader of praise and confession in prayer, with Bakbukiah, second among his brothers, and Abda, the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun18All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred eighty-four19And the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers, who guarded the doorways, were one hundred seventy-two20And the remainder of Israel, the priests and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each one in his own possession21And the temple servants were living at Ophel, with Ziha and Gishpa, of the temple servants22And the director of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi, the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. The singing men in the ministry of the house of God were from the sons of Asaph23In fact, there was a precept of the king about them, and an order among the singing men, throughout each day24And Pethahiah, the son of Meshezabel, from the sons of Zerah, the son of Judah, was at the hand of the king concerning every word of the people25and in the houses throughout all their regions. Some of the sons of Judah lived at Kiriatharba and in its daughter villages, and at Dibon and in its daughter villages, and at Jekabzeel and in its vicinity26and at Jeshua, and at Moladah, and at Bethpelet27and at Hazarshual, and at Beersheba and in its daughter villages28and at Ziklag, and at Meconah and in its daughter villages29and at Enrimmon, and at Zorah, and at Jarmuth30Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish and its regions, and at Azekah and in its daughter villages. And they dwelt from Beersheba as far as the valley of Hinnom31But the sons of Benjamin lived from Geba, at Michmash, and Aija, and Bethel and in its daughter villages32to Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah33Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim34Hadid, Zeboim, and Neballat, Lod35and Ono, the valley of craftsmen36And some of the Levites were apportioned with Judah and Benjamin
1Now these are the priests and the Levites who ascended with Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra2Amariah, Malluch, Hattush3Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth4Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah5Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah6Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah, Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah7These were the leaders of the priests and of their brothers, in the days of Jeshua8And the Levites, Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, Mattaniah, they and their brothers were over the hymns9with Bakbukiah, as well as Hannai, and their brothers, each one in his office10Now Jeshua conceived Joiakim, and Joiakim conceived Eliashib, and Eliashib conceived Joiada11and Joiada conceived Jonathan, and Jonathan conceived Jaddua12And in the days of Joiakim, the priests and the leaders of the families were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah13of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan14of Maluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph15of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai16of Adaiah, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam17of Abijah, Zichri; of Mijamin and Moadiah, Piltai18of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan19of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi20of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber21of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel22The Levites, in the days of Eliashib, and Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, and the priests, were written according to the leaders of the families, during the reign of Darius the Persian23The sons of Levi, according to the leaders of the families, were written in the book of the words of those days, even to the days of Johanan, the son of Eliashib24Now the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua, the son of Kadmiel, and their brothers, in their turns, so that they would praise and confess, according to the precept of David, the man of God. And they served equally and in order25Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were keepers of the gates and of the vestibules before the gates26These 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 and scribe27Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites from all their places, so that they might bring them to Jerusalem, and so that they might keep the dedication, and rejoice with thanksgiving, and with singing, and with cymbals, psalteries, and lyres28Now the sons of the singing men were gathered from the plains surrounding Jerusalem, and from the villages of Netophati29and from the house of Gilgal, and from the regions of Geba and Azmaveth. For the singing men had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem30And the priests and the Levites were cleansed, and they cleansed the people, and the gates, and the wall31Then I caused the leaders of Judah to ascend the wall, and I appointed two great choirs to give praise. And they went to the right upon the wall, toward the dung gate32And after them went Hoshaiah, and one half part of the leadership of Judah33and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam,34Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah.35And some of the sons of the priests went forth with trumpets: Zachariah, the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph36And his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, and Hanani, went forth with the canticles of David, the man of God. And Ezra, the scribe, was before them at the fountain gate37And opposite them, they ascended 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 east38And the second choir of those who gave thanks went forth on the opposite side, and I went after them, and one half part of the people were upon the wall, and upon the tower of the furnaces, as far as the widest wall39and above the gate of Ephraim, and above the ancient gate, and above the fish gate, and the tower of Hananel, and the tower of Hamath, and as far as the flock gate. And they stood still at the watch gate40And the two choirs of those who gave praise stood still at the house of God, with myself and one half part of the magistrates who were with me41And the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Mijamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, Hananiah, went forth with trumpets42with Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers were singing clearly, and Jezrahiah was their foremost leader43And on that day, they immolated great sacrifices, and they rejoiced. For God had caused them to rejoice with great joy. And their wives and children also were glad. And the rejoicing of Jerusalem was heard from far away44On that day also, they enrolled men over the storehouses of the treasury, for the libations, and for the first-fruits, and for the tithes, so that the leaders of the city might bring these in, by them, with proper thanksgiving, for the priests and the Levites. For Judah was rejoicing in the priests and the Levites who were assisting45And they kept the vigil of their God, and the vigil of expiation, with the singing men and the gatekeepers, in accord with the precept of David, and of Solomon, his son46For in the days of David and Asaph, from the beginning, there were leaders appointed over the singers, to give praise in verses, and to confess to God47And all of Israel, in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave portions to the singing men and to the gatekeepers, for each day, and they sanctified the Levites, and the Levites sanctified the sons of Aaron
1Now on that day, they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it, there was found written that the Ammonites and the Moabites must not enter the church of God, even for all time2because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, and they hired Balaam against them, to curse them. But our God turned the curse into a blessing3Now it happened that, when they had heard the law, they separated every foreigner from Israel4And Eliashib, the priest, was over this task; he had been given charge of the treasury of the house of our God, and he was a close relative of Tobiah5Then he made for himself a large storeroom, and in that place, there was laid before him gifts, and frankincense, and vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, the portions of the Levites, and of the singing men, and of the gatekeepers, and the first-fruits of the priests6But during all this, I was not in Jerusalem, because in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, the king of Babylon, I went to the king, and at the end of some days, I petitioned the king7And I went to Jerusalem, and I understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, such that he would make him a storeroom in the vestibules of the house of God8And it seemed to me very evil. And I cast the vessels of the house of Tobiah outside of the storeroom9And I gave instructions, and they cleansed again the storeroom. And I brought back, into that place, the vessels of the house of God, the sacrifice, and the frankincense10And I realized that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, and that each one had fled into his own region, from the Levites, and from the singing men, and from those who were ministering11And I brought the case before the magistrates, and I said, "Why have we forsaken the house of God?" And I gathered them together, and I caused them to stand at their stations12And all of Judah brought the tithes of the grain, and the wine, and the oil into the storehouses13And we appointed over the storehouses, Shelemiah, the priest, and Zadok, the scribe, and Pedaiah from the Levites, and next to them Hanan, the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah. For they had proven to be faithful. And so the portions of their brothers were entrusted to them14Remember me, O my God, because of this, and may you not wipe away my acts of compassion, which I have done for the house of my God and for his ceremonies15In those days, I saw, in Judah, some who were treading the presses on the Sabbath, and who were carrying sheaves, and placing on donkeys burdens of wine, and of grapes, and of figs, and all manner of burdens, and who were bringing these into Jerusalem on the day of the Sabbath. And I contended with them, so that they would sell on a day when it was permitted to sell16And some Tyrians dwelt within, who were bringing fish and all kinds of items for sale. And they were selling on the Sabbaths to the sons of Judah in Jerusalem17And I put the nobles of Judah under oath, and I said to them: "What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day18Did not our fathers do these things, and so our God brought all this evil upon us and upon this city? And you are adding more wrath upon Israel by violating the Sabbath!19And it happened that, when the gates of Jerusalem had rested on the day of the Sabbath, I spoke, and they closed the gates. And I instructed that they should not open them until after the Sabbath. And I appointed some of my servants over the gates, so that no one would carry in a burden on the day of the Sabbath20And so the merchants and those who sold all kinds of items remained just outside of Jerusalem, once and again21And I contended with them, and I said to them: "Why are you remaining just beyond the wall? If you do this again, I will send hands upon you." And so, from that time, they no longer came on the Sabbath22I also spoke to the Levites, so that they would be cleansed, and would arrive to guard the gates and to sanctify the day of the Sabbath. Because of this also, O my God, remember me and spare me, in accord with the multitude of your mercies23But also in those days, I saw some Jews taking wives from the Ashdodites, and the Ammonites, and the Moabites24And their sons spoke partly in the speech of Ashdod, and they did not know how to speak the Jewish language, and they were speaking according to the language of one people or another25And I put them under oath, and I cursed them. And I struck some of their men, and I shaved off their hair, and I made them swear to God that they would not give their daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for their sons, nor for themselves, saying26"Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin in this kind of thing? And certainly, among many nations, there was no king similar to him, and he was beloved of his God, and God set him as king over all of Israel. And yet foreign women led even him into sin27So how could we disobey and do all this great evil, so that we would transgress against our God, and take foreign wives?28Now one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the high priest, was a son-in-law to Sanballat, a Horonite, and I made him flee from me29O Lord, my God, remember against those who defile the priesthood and the law of the priests and the Levites30And so I cleansed them from all foreigners, and I established the orders of the priests and the Levites, each one in his ministry31O my God, remember me also, for good, because of the offering of wood, at the appointed times, and because of the first-fruits. Amen