Nehemiah 12 - NKJV Bible Online

Nehemiah 12

The Priests and Levites

Now these are the ^apriests and the Levites who came up with ^bZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: ^cSeraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, ¹Malluch, Hattush, 3 ¹Shechaniah, ²Rehum, ³Meremoth, 4 Iddo, ¹Ginnethoi, ^aAbijah, 5 ¹Mijamin, ²Maadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7 ¹Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.
These were the heads of the priests and their brethren in the days of ^aJeshua.
8 Moreover the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah ^awho led the thanksgiving psalms, he and his brethren. 9 Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, stood across from them in their duties.
10 Jeshua begot Joiakim, Joiakim begot Eliashib, Eliashib begot Joiada, 11 Joiada begot Jonathan, and Jonathan begot Jaddua.
12 Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the ^aheads of the fathers’ houses were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; 13 of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 14 of ¹Melichu, Jonathan; of ²Shebaniah, Joseph; 15 of ¹Harim, Adna; of ²Meraioth, Helkai; 16 of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 17 of Abijah, Zichri; the son of ¹Minjamin; of ²Moadiah, Piltai; 18 of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 19 of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 20 of ¹Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 21 of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; and of Jedaiah, Nethanel.
22 During the reign of Darius the Persian, a record was also kept of the Levites and priests who had been ^aheads of their fathers’ houses in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua. 23 The sons of Levi, the heads of the fathers’ houses until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib, were written in the book of the ^achronicles.
24 And the heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers across from them, to ^apraise and give thanks, ^bgroup¹ alternating with group, ^caccording to the command of David the man of God. 25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping the watch at the storerooms of the gates. 26 These lived in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of ¹Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah ^athe governor, and of Ezra the priest, ^bthe scribe.

Nehemiah Dedicates the Wall

27 Now at ^athe dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, ^bboth with thanksgivings and singing, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps. 28 And the sons of the singers gathered together from the countryside around Jerusalem, from the ^avillages of the Netophathites, 29 from the house of Gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem. 30 Then the priests and Levites ^apurified themselves, and purified the people, the gates, and the wall.
31 So I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs. ^aOne went to the right hand on the wall ^btoward the Refuse Gate. 32 After them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, 33 and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, 35 and some of the priests’ sons ^awith trumpets—Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, 36 and his brethren, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with ^athe musical ^binstruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. 37 ^aBy the Fountain Gate, in front of them, they went up ^bthe stairs of the ^cCity of David, on the stairway of the wall, beyond the house of David, as far as ^dthe Water Gate eastward.
38 ^aThe other thanksgiving choir went the opposite way, and I was behind them with half of the people on the wall, going past the ^bTower of the Ovens as far as ^cthe Broad Wall, 39 ^aand above the Gate of Ephraim, above ^bthe Old Gate, above ^cthe Fish Gate, ^dthe Tower of Hananel, the Tower of ¹the Hundred, as far as ^ethe Sheep Gate; and they stopped by ^fthe Gate of the Prison.
40 So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God, likewise I and the half of the rulers with me; 41 and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, ¹Minjamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; 42 also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers ¹sang loudly with Jezrahiah the director.
43 Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard ^aafar off.

Temple Responsibilities

44 ^aAnd at the same time some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings, the firstfruits, and the ^btithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who ¹ministered. 45 Both the singers and the gatekeepers kept the charge of their God and the charge of the purification, ^aaccording to the command of David and Solomon his son. 46 For in the days of David ^aand Asaph of old there were chiefs of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 In the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah all Israel gave the portions for the singers and the gatekeepers, a portion for ^aeach day. ^bThey also ¹consecrated holy things for the Levites, ^cand the Levites consecrated them for the children of Aaron.

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