Nehemiah 12

The Priests and Levites Who Returned

¹Now these are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua:

Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

• NEH 12:1[NOTE]ZERUBBABEL. The leader of the first return, about 90 years earlier. He is in Jesus' family line, Matthew 1:12 to 13, so his name is underlined.

²Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,

³Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,

⁴Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,

⁵Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,

⁶Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,

⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.

These were the leaders of the priests and their associates in the days of Jeshua.

⁸The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who, with his associates, led the songs of thanksgiving. ⁹Bakbukiah and Unni, their associates, stood across from them in the services.

¹⁰Jeshua was the father of Joiakim,

Joiakim was the father of Eliashib,

Eliashib was the father of Joiada,

¹¹Joiada was the father of Jonathan,

and Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.

¹²In the days of Joiakim, these were the heads of the priestly families:

of the family of Seraiah, Meraiah;

of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

¹³of Ezra, Meshullam;

of Amariah, Jehohanan;

¹⁴of Malluchi, Jonathan;

of Shebaniah, Joseph;

¹⁵of Harim, Adna;

of Meraioth, Helkai;

¹⁶of Iddo, Zechariah;

of Ginnethon, Meshullam;

¹⁷of Abijah, Zichri;

of Miniamin and of Moadiah, Piltai;

¹⁸of Bilgah, Shammua;

of Shemaiah, Jonathan;

¹⁹of Joiarib, Mattenai;

of Jedaiah, Uzzi;

²⁰of Sallai, Kallai;

of Amok, Eber;

²¹of Hilkiah, Hashabiah;

and of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

²²In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, during the reign of Darius the Persian, the heads of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded.

• NEH 12:22[ARCHAEOLOGY]Elephantine Papyri
• NEH 12:22[ARCHAEOLOGY]Darius II of Persia is named in his own records, and Elephantine papyri are dated by his years, see The Elephantine Papyri Field Notes page
• NEH 12:22[NOTE]DARIUS THE PERSIAN. Most think this is Darius II, 423 to 404 BC. A letter from 407 BC names Johanan as high priest. See The Elephantine Papyri Field Notes page. Josephus says Jaddua was high priest when Alexander the Great came, 332 BC, so some think this is Darius III.

²³As for the descendants of Levi, the family heads up to the days of Johanan son of Eliashib were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles. ²⁴The leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their associates, who stood across from them to give praise and thanksgiving as one section alternated with the other, as prescribed by David the man of God.

²⁵Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates. ²⁶They served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.

The Dedication of the Wall

²⁷At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from all their homes and brought to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing, accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres. ²⁸The singers were also assembled from the region around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites, ²⁹from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for they had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. ³⁰After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

³¹Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and I appointed two great thanksgiving choirs. One was to proceed along the top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate. ³²Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed, ³³along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, ³⁵and some of the priests with trumpets, and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, ³⁶and his associates—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani—with the musical instruments prescribed by David the man of God. Ezra the scribe led the procession. ³⁷At the Fountain Gate they went directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east.

• NEH 12:31[NOTE]TWO CHOIRS. One choir marched to the right and one to the left, on top of the wall, and they met at the temple.

³⁸The second thanksgiving choir proceeded to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, ³⁹over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.

⁴⁰The two thanksgiving choirs then stood in the house of God, as did I, along with the half of the officials accompanying me, ⁴¹as well as the priests with their trumpets—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah— ⁴²and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the choirs sang out under the direction of Jezrahiah.

⁴³On that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.

Provisions for Temple Worship

⁴⁴And on that same day men were appointed over the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tithes. The portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites were gathered into these storerooms from the fields of the villages, because Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who were serving.

⁴⁵They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed. ⁴⁶For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

⁴⁷So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for the descendants of Aaron.