1 These also are the Priestes and the Leuites that went vp with Zerubbabel, the sonne of Shealtiel, and Ieshua: to wit, Seraiah, Ieremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Merimoth, 4 Iddo, Ginnetho, Abiiah, 5 Miamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, and Ioiarib, Iedaiah, 7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiiah, Iedaiah: these were the chiefe of the Priests, and of their brethren in the dayes of Ieshua. 8 And the Leuites, Ieshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Iudah, Mattaniah were ouer the thankesgiuings, he, and his brethren. 9 And Bakbukiah and Vnni, and their brethren were about them in the watches. 10 And Ieshua begate Ioiakim: Ioiakim also begate Eliashib, and Eliashib begate Ioiada. 11 And Ioiada begate Ionathan, and Ionathan begate Iaddua, 12 And in the daies of Ioiakim were these, the chiefe fathers of the Priests: vnder Seraiah was Meraiah, vnder Ieremiah, Hananiah, 13 Vnder Ezra, Meshullam, vnder Amariah, Iehohanan, 14 Vnder Melicu, Ionathan, vnder Shebaniah, Ioseph, 15 Vnder Harim, Adna, vnder Maraioth, Helkai, 16 Vnder Iddo, Zechariah, vnder Ginnithon, Meshullam, 17 Vnder Abiiah, Zichri, vnder Miniamin, and vnder Moadiah, Piltai, 18 Vnder Bilgah, Shammua, vnder Shemaiah, Iehonathan, 19 Vnder Ioiarib, Mattenai, vnder Iedaiah, Vzzi, 20 Vnder Sallai, Kallai, vnder Amok, Eber, 21 Vnder Hilkiah, Hashabiah, vnder Iedaiah, Nethaneel. 22 In the dayes of Eliashib, Ioiada, and Iohanan and Iaddua were the chiefe fathers of the Leuites written, and the Priests in the reigne of Darius the Persian. 23 The sonnes of Leui, the chiefe fathers were written in the booke of the Chronicles euen vnto the dayes of Iohanan the sonne of Eliashib. 24 And the chiefe of the Leuites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Ieshua the sonne of Kadmiel, and their brethren about them to giue prayse and thankes, according to the ordinance of Dauid the man of God, ward ouer against warde. 25 Mattaniah and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub were porters keeping the warde at the thresholds of the gates. 26 These were in the dayes of Ioiakim, the sonne of Ieshua, the sonne of Iozadak, and in the dayes of Nehemiah the captaine, and of Ezra the Priest and scribe. 27 And in the dedication of the wall at Ierusalem they sought the Leuites out of all their places to bring them to Ierusalem to keepe the dedication and gladnes, both with thankesgiuings and with songs, cymbales, violes and with harpes. 28 Then the singers gathered themselues together both from the plaine countrey about Ierusalem, and from the villages of Netophathi, 29 And from the house of Gilgal, and out of the countreis of Geba, and Azmaueth: for the singers had built them villages round about Ierusalem. 30 And the Priests and Leuites were purified, and clensed the people, and the gates, and the wall. 31 And I brought vp the princes of Iudah vpon the wall, and appointed two great companies to giue thankes, and the one went on the right hand of the wall toward the dung gate. 32 And after them went Hoshaiah, and halfe of the princes of Iudah, 33 And Azariah, Ezra and Meshullam, 34 Iudah, Beniamin, and Shemaiah, and Ieremiah, 35 And of the Priests sonnes with trumpets, Zechariah the sonne of Ionathan, the sonne of Shemaiah, the sonne of Mattaniah, the sonne of Michaiah, the sonne of Zaccur, ye sonne of Asaph. 36 And his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azareel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethaneel, and Iudah, Hanani, with the musicall instruments of Dauid the man of God: and Ezra the scribe went before them. 37 And to the gate of the fountaine, euen ouer against them went they vp by the staires of the citie of Dauid, at the going vp of the wall beyond the house of Dauid, euen vnto the water gate Eastward. 38 And the seconde companie of them that gaue thankes, went on the other side, and I after them, and the halfe of the people was vpon the wall, and vpon the towre of the furnaces euen vnto the broad wall. 39 And vpon the gate of Ephraim, and vpon the olde gate, and vpon the fishgate, and the towre of Hananeel, and the towre of Meah, euen vnto the sheepegate: and they stood in the gate of the warde. 40 So stood the two companies (of them that gaue thankes) in the house of God, and I and the halfe of the rulers with me. 41 The Priests also, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, Hananiah, with trumpets, 42 And Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Vzzi, and Iehohanan, and Malchiiah, and Elam, and Ezer: and the singers sang loude, hauing Izrahiah which was the ouerseer. 43 And the same day they offered great sacrifices and reioyced: for God had giuen them great ioy, so that both the women, and the children were ioyfull: and the ioy of Ierusalem was heard farre off. 44 Also at the same time were men appointed ouer the chambers of the store for the offerings (for the first fruites, and for the tithes) to gather into them out of the fieldes of the cities, the portions of the Law for the Priests and the Leuites: for Iudah reioyced for the Priests and for the Leuites, that serued. 45 And both the singers and the Leuites kept the ward of their God, and the warde of the purification according to the commandement of Dauid, and Salomon his sonne. 46 For in the dayes of Dauid and Asaph, of olde were chiefe singers, and songs of praise and thankesgiuing vnto God. 47 And in the dayes of Zerubbabel, and in the dayes of Nehemiah did al Israel giue portions vnto the singers and porters, euerie day his portion, and they gaue the holy things vnto the Leuites, and the Leuites gaue the holy things vnto the sonnes of Aaron.
List of Priests and Levites
1 The following is a list of the priests and Levites who returned from exile with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with the High Priest Joshua:
2-7 Priests:Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.These men were leaders among all their fellow priests in the days of Joshua.
8 Levites:The following were in charge of the singing of hymns of thanksgiving: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah.
9 The following formed the choir that sang the responses: Bakbukiah, Unno, and their fellow Levites.
Descendants of the High Priest Joshua
10 Joshua 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.
Heads of the Priestly Clans
12-21 When Joiakim was High Priest, the following priests were the heads of the priestly clans:
Priest ClanMeraiah SeraiahHananiah JeremiahMeshullam EzraJehohanan AmariahJonathan MalluchiJoseph ShebaniahAdna HarimHelkai MeraiothZechariah IddoMeshullam GinnethonZichri Abijah… MiniaminPiltai MoadiahShammua BilgahJehonathan ShemaiahMattenai JoiaribUzzi JedaiahKallai SallaiEber AmokHashabiah HilkiahNethanel JedaiahRecord of the Priestly and Levite Families
22 A record was kept of the heads of the Levite families and of the priestly families during the lifetimes of the following High Priests: Eliashib, Joiada, Jonathan, and Jaddua. This record was finished when Darius was emperor of Persia.
23 The heads of the Levite families, however, were recorded in the official records only until the time of Jonathan, the grandson of Eliashib.
Assignment of Duties in the Temple
24 Under the direction of Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua, Binnui, and Kadmiel, the Levites were organized into groups. Two groups at a time praised God responsively and gave thanks to him, in accordance with the instructions given by King David, the man of God.
25 The following Temple guards were in charge of guarding the storerooms by the gates to the Temple: Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub.
26 These people lived during the time of Joiakim, the son of Joshua and grandson of Jehozadak, and the time of Nehemiah the governor, and the time of Ezra, the priest who was a scholar of the Law.
Nehemiah Dedicates the City Wall
27 When the city wall of Jerusalem was dedicated, the Levites were brought in from wherever they were living, so that they could join in celebrating the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals and harps. 28 The Levite families of singers gathered from the area where they had settled around Jerusalem and from the towns around Netophah, 29 and from Bethgilgal, Geba, and Azmaveth. 30 The priests and the Levites performed ritual purification for themselves, the people, the gates, and the city wall.
31 I assembled the leaders of Judah on top of the wall and put them in charge of two large groups to march around the city, giving thanks to God.
The first group went to the right on top of the wall toward the Rubbish Gate. 32 Hoshaiah marched behind the singers, followed by half the leaders of Judah. 33-35 The following priests, blowing trumpets, marched next: Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah. Next came Zechariah, the son of Jonathan and grandson of Shemaiah. (His ancestors also included Mattaniah, Micaiah, and Zaccur, of the clan of Asaph.) 36 He was followed by other members of his clan—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani—all of whom carried musical instruments of the kind played by King David, the man of God. Ezra the scholar led this group in the procession. 37 At the Fountain Gate they went up the steps that led to David's City, past David's palace, and back to the wall at the Water Gate, on the east side of the city.
38 The other group of those who gave thanks went to the left along the top of the wall, and I followed with half of the people. We marched past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, 39 and from there we went past Ephraim Gate, Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate. We ended our march near the gate to the Temple.
40 So both the groups that were giving thanks to God reached the Temple area.
In addition to the leaders who were with me, 41 my group included the following priests, blowing trumpets: Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah; 42 and they were followed by Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers, led by Jezrahiah, sang at the top of their voices.
43 That day many sacrifices were offered, and the people were full of joy because God had made them very happy. The women and the children joined in the celebration, and the noise they all made could be heard for miles.
Providing for Worship in the Temple
44 At that time men were put in charge of the storerooms where contributions for the Temple were kept, including the tithes and the first grain and fruit that ripened each year. These men were responsible for collecting from the farms near the various cities the contributions for the priests and the Levites which the Law required. All the people of Judah were pleased with the priests and the Levites, 45 because they performed the ceremonies of purification and the other rituals that God had commanded. The Temple musicians and the Temple guards also performed their duties in accordance with the regulations made by King David and his son Solomon. 46 From the time of King David and the musician Asaph long ago, the musicians have led songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 In the time of Zerubbabel and also in the time of Nehemiah, all the people of Israel gave daily gifts for the support of the Temple musicians and the Temple guards. The people gave a sacred offering to the Levites, and the Levites gave the required portion to the priests.