12 These are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua:
Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3Shecaniah, Rehum, Meramoth, 4Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 5Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their brothers in the time of Jeshua.
8The Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, in charge of thanksgiving songs,a he and his brothers; 9and Bakbukiah and Unni [and] their brothers served opposite them by shifts.
10Jeshua begot Joiakim; Joiakim begot Eliashib; Eliashib begot Joiada; 11Joiada begot Jonathan; Jonathan begot Jaddua.
12In the time of Joiakim, the heads of the priestly clans were: Meriaiah—of the Seraiah clan; Hananiah—of the Jeremiah clan; 13Meshullam—of the Ezra clan; Jehohanan—of the Amariah clan; 14Jonathan—of the Melicu clan; Joseph—of the Shebaniah clan; 15Adna—of the Harim clan; Helkai—of the Meraioth clan; 16Zechariah—of the Iddo clan; Meshullam—of the Ginnethon clan; 17Zichri—of the Abijah clan … of the Miniamin clan; Piltai—of the Moadiah clan; 18Shammua—of the Bilgah clan; Jehonathan—of the Shemaiah clan; 19Mattenai—of the Joiarib clan; Uzzi— of the Jedaiah clan; 20Kallai—of the Sallai clan; Eber—of the Amok clan; 21Hashabiah—of the Hilkiah clan; Nethanel—of the Jedaiah clan.
22The Levites and the priests were listed by heads of clans in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, down to the reign of Darius the Persian. 23But the Levite heads of clans are listed in the book of the chronicles to the time of Johanan son of Eliashib.
24The heads of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their brothers served opposite them, singing praise and thanksgiving hymns by the ordinance of David the man of God—served opposite them in shifts; 25Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub, guarding as gatekeepers by shifts at the vestibules of the gates.
26These were in the time of Joiakim son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the time of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe.
27At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites, wherever they lived, were sought out and brought to Jerusalem to celebrate a joyful dedication with thanksgiving and with song, accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28The companies of singers assembled from the [Jordan] plain, the environs of Jerusalem, and from the Netophathite villages; 29from Beth-hagilgal, from the countryside of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers built themselves villages in the environs of Jerusalem.
30The priests and Levites purified themselves; then they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.
31I had the officers of Judah go up onto the wall, and I appointed two large thanksgiving [choirs] and processions. [One marched] south on the wall, to the Dung Gate; 32behind them were Hoshaiah and half the officers of Judah, 33and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, 35and some of the young priests, with trumpets; Zechariah son of Jonathan son of Shemaiah son of Mattaniah son of Micaiah son of Zaccur son of Asaph, 36and his brothers Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David, the man of God; and Ezra the scribe went ahead of them. 37From there to the Fountain Gate, where they ascended the steps of the City of David directly before them, by the ascent on the wall, above the house of David, [and onward] to the Water Gate on the east.
38The other thanksgiving [choir] marched on the wall in the opposite direction, with me and half the people behind it, above the Tower of Ovens to the Broad Wall; 39and above the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate; and they halted at the Gate of the Prison Compound. 40Both thanksgiving choirs halted at the House of God, and I and half the prefects with me, 41and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, Hananiah, with trumpets, 42and Maaseiah and Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the singers sounded forth, with Jezrahiah in charge.
43On that day, they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God made them rejoice greatly; the women and children also rejoiced, and the rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard from afar.
44At that time men were appointed over the chambers that served as treasuries for the gifts, the first fruits, and the tithes, into which the portions prescribed by the Teaching for the priests and Levites were gathered from the fields of the towns; for the people of Judah were grateful to the priests and Levites who were in attendance, 45who kept the charge of their God and the charge of purity, as well as to the singers and gatekeepers [serving] in accord with the ordinance of David and Solomon his son—46for the chiefs of the singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God already existed in the time of David and Asaph. 47And in the time of Zerubbabel, and in the time of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions of the singers and the gatekeepers, and made sacred contributions for the Levites, and the Levites made sacred contributions for the Aaronites.
13 At that time they read to the people from the Book of Moses, and it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite might ever enter the congregation of God, 2since they did not meet Israel with bread and water, and hired Balaam against them to curse them; but our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3When they heard the Teaching, they separated all the alien admixture from Israel.
4Earlier, the priest Eliashib, a relative of Tobiah, who had been appointed over the rooms in the House of our God, 5had assigned to hima a large room where they used to store the meal offering, the frankincense, the equipment, the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, the dues of the Levites, singers and gatekeepers, and the gifts for the priests. 6During all this time, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon, I went to the king, and only after a while did I ask leave of the king [to return]. 7When I arrived in Jerusalem, I learned of the outrage perpetrated by Eliashib on behalf of Tobiah in assigning him a room in the courts of the House of God. 8I was greatly displeased, and had all the household gear of Tobiah thrown out of the room; 9I gave orders to purify the rooms, and had the equipment of the House of God and the meal offering and the frankincense put back.
10I then discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been contributed, and that the Levites and the singers who performed the [temple] service had made off, each to his fields. 11I censured the prefects, saying, “How is it that the House of God has been neglected?’’ Then I recalled [the Levites] and installed them again in their posts; 12and all Judah brought the tithes of grain, wine, and oil into the treasuries. 13I put the treasuries in the charge of the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites; and assisting them was Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah—for they were regarded as trustworthy persons, and it was their duty to distribute the portions to their brothers.
14O my God, remember me favorably for this, and do not blot out the devotion I showed toward the House of my God and its attendants.
15At that time I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the sabbath, and others bringing heaps of grain and loading them onto asses, also wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of goods, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the sabbath. I admonished them there and then for selling provisions. 16Tyrians who lived there brought fish and all sorts of wares and sold them on the sabbath to the Judahites in Jerusalem. 17I censured the nobles of Judah, saying to them, “What evil thing is this that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day! 18This is just what your ancestors did, and for it God brought all this misfortune on this city; and now you give cause for further wrath against Israel by profaning the sabbath!’’
19When shadows filled the gateways of Jerusalem at the approach of the sabbath, I gave orders that the doors be closed, and ordered them not to be opened until after the sabbath. I stationed some of my servants at the gates, so that no goods should enter on the sabbath. 20Once or twice the merchants and the vendors of all sorts of wares spent the night outside Jerusalem, 21but I warned them, saying, “What do you mean by spending the night alongside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands upon you!’’ From then on they did not come on the sabbath. 22I gave orders to the Levites to purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to preserve the sanctity of the sabbath.
This too, O my God, remember to my credit, and spare me in accord with your abundant faithfulness.
23Also at that time, I saw that Jews had married Ashdodite, Ammonite, and Moabite women; 24a good number of their children spoke the language of Ashdod and the language of those various peoples, and did not know how to speak Judean. 25I censured them, cursed them, flogged them, tore out their hair, and adjured them by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, or take any of their daughters for your sons or yourselves.
