Nehemiah 12

12 ¹These are the priests and Levites who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, ²Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, ³Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, ⁴Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, ⁵Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, ⁶Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, ⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah—heads of the priests and their relatives in Jeshua's days.

⁸The Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who with his brothers led the songs of thanksgiving. ⁹Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, stood opposite them during their turns of service. ¹⁰Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada, ¹¹Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua.

¹²In Joiakim's days, these priests headed ancestral houses: Meraiah for Seraiah's house, Hananiah for Jeremiah's, ¹³of Ezra's, Meshullam; of Amariah's, Jehohanan; ¹⁴of Malluchi's, Jonathan; of Shebaniah's, Joseph; ¹⁵of Harim's, Adna; of Meraioth's, Helkai; ¹⁶of Iddo's, Zechariah; of Ginnethon's, Meshullam; ¹⁷of Abijah's, Zichri; of Miniamin's and Moadiah's, Piltai; ¹⁸of Bilgah's, Shammua; of Shemaiah's, Jehonathan; ¹⁹of Joiarib's, Mattenai; of Jedaiah's, Uzzi; ²⁰of Sallai's, Kallai; of Amok's, Eber; ²¹of Hilkiah's, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah's, Nethanel.

²²In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the heads of the Levite families were recorded, as were the priests during the reign of Darius the Persian. ²³Levite family heads were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles until Johanan son of Eliashib's days. ^a a v23 The Book of the Chronicles here is an official state register, not the biblical books of Chronicles. ²⁴The Levite leaders were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, with their brothers opposite them, praising and giving thanks, one group answering the other, as David the man of our Father had commanded. ²⁵Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers guarding the storerooms by the gates. ²⁶These served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.

The Wall Dedicated With Great Joy

²⁷For the dedication of Jerusalem's wall, they sought out the Levites from wherever they lived and brought them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with joy—thanksgiving, singing, cymbals, harps, and lyres. ²⁸The singers also gathered together from the district around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites, ²⁹from Beth-gilgal and the countryside of Geba and Azmaveth, since the singers had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. ³⁰When the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

³¹Then I brought Judah's leaders up onto the wall and set two large thanksgiving choirs in place. One marched right, atop the wall, toward the Dung Gate. ³²Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed them, ³³along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, ³⁵and some priests' sons 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, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani—with the musical instruments of David, the man of our Father; Ezra the scribe led the procession. ³⁷At the Fountain Gate, they went straight up the stairs of the City of David, up the wall's ascent, past the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east.

³⁸The second choir went left; I followed with half the people, atop the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, ³⁹and past the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, the Tower of the 100, to the Sheep Gate, stopping at the Gate of the Guard. ⁴⁰The two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of our Father—so did I, with half the officials who were with me, ⁴¹and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah with their trumpets. ⁴²Also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang, led by Jezrahiah. ⁴³That day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for our Father gave them great joy. Women and children rejoiced too, and Jerusalem's joy was heard far away.

Caring for Those Who Serve the Father

⁴⁴That day men were appointed over the storerooms for contributions, firstfruits, and the tenth, to gather from the town fields the portions the Law assigns to priests and Levites, since Judah rejoiced over the serving priests and Levites. ⁴⁵They kept their duty to our Father and to purification, as did the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had commanded. ⁴⁶For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were song leaders who led praise and thanksgiving to our Father. ⁴⁷In the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel gave daily portions to the singers and gatekeepers, and set apart a share for the Levites, who set apart a share for Aaron's descendants.