Nehemiah 12

¹These are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubʹbabel the son of She-alʹti-el, and Jeshua: Seraiʹah, Jeremiah, Ezra, ²Amariʹah, Malluch, Hattush, ³Shecaniʹah, Rehum, Merʹemoth, ⁴Iddo, Ginʹnethoi, Abiʹjah, ⁵Miʹjamin, Ma-adiʹah, Bilgah, ⁶Shemaiʹah, Joiʹarib, Jedaiʹah, ⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiʹah, Jedaiʹah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brethren in the days of Jeshua.

⁸And the Levites: Jeshua, Binʹnui, Kadʹmi-el, Sherebiʹah, Judah, and Mattaniʹah, who with his brethren was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. ⁹And Bakbukiʹah and Unno their brethren stood opposite them in the service. ¹⁰And Jeshua was the father of Joiʹakim, Joiʹakim the father of Eliʹashib, Eliʹashib the father of Joiʹada, ¹¹Joiʹada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jadʹdu-a.

¹²And in the days of Joiʹakim were priests, heads of fathers’ houses: of Seraiʹah, Meraiʹah; of Jeremiah, Hananiʹah; ¹³of Ezra, Meshulʹlam; of Amariʹah, Jehohaʹnan; ¹⁴of Malʹluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniʹah, Joseph; ¹⁵of Harim, Adna; of Meraiʹoth, Helʹkai; ¹⁶of Iddo, Zechariʹah; of Ginʹnethon, Meshulʹlam; ¹⁷of Abiʹjah, Zichri; of Miniʹamin, of Moadiʹah, Pilʹtai; ¹⁸of Bilgah, Shamʹmu-a; of Shemaiʹah, Jehonʹathan; ¹⁹of Joiʹarib, Matteʹnai; of Jedaiʹah, Uzzi; ²⁰of Salʹlai, Kalʹlai; of Amok, Eber; ²¹of Hilkiʹah, Hashabiʹah; of Jedaiʹah, Nethanʹel.

²²As for the Levites, in the days of Eliʹashib, Joiʹada, Johaʹnan, and Jadʹdu-a, there were recorded the heads of fathers’ houses; also the priests until the reign of Darius the Persian. ²³The sons of Levi, heads of fathers’ houses, were written in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johaʹnan the son of Eliʹashib. ²⁴And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiʹah, Sherebiʹah, and Jeshua the son of Kadʹmi-el, with their brethren over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch corresponding to watch. ²⁵Mattaniʹah, Bakbukiʹah, Obadiʹah, Meshulʹlam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers standing guard at the storehouses of the gates. ²⁶These were in the days of Joiʹakim the son of Jeshua son of Joʹzadak, and in the days of Nehemiʹah the governor and of Ezra the priest the scribe.

²⁷And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. ²⁸And the sons of the singers gathered together from the circuit round Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophʹathites; ²⁹also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azʹmaveth; for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. ³⁰And the priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.

³¹Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies which gave thanks and went in procession. One went to the right upon the wall to the Dung Gate; ³²and after them went Hoshaiʹah and half of the princes of Judah, ³³and Azariʹah, Ezra, Meshulʹlam, ³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiʹah, and Jeremiah, ³⁵and certain of the priests’ sons with trumpets: Zechariʹah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiʹah, son of Mattaniʹah, son of Micaiʹah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; ³⁶and his kinsmen, Shemaiʹah, Azʹarel, Milʹalai, Gilʹalai, Maʹai, Nethanʹel, Judah, and Hanaʹni, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe went before them. ³⁷At the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east.

³⁸The other company of those who gave thanks went to the left, and I followed them with half of the people, upon the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall, ³⁹and above the Gate of Eʹphraim, and by the Old Gate, and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananʹel and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard. ⁴⁰So both companies of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me; ⁴¹and the priests Eliʹakim, Ma-aseiʹah, Miniʹamin, Micaiʹah, Eli-o-eʹnai, Zechariʹah, and Hananiʹah, with trumpets; ⁴²and Ma-aseiʹah, Shemaiʹah, Eleaʹzar, Uzzi, Jehohaʹnan, Malchiʹjah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiʹah as their leader. ⁴³And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off.

⁴⁴On that day men were appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. ⁴⁵And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. ⁴⁶For in the days of David and Asaph of old there was a chief of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷And all Israel in the days of Zerubʹbabel and in the days of Nehemiʹah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.