CHAPTER 12

¹And these are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua: Seriah, Jeremiah, Ezra, ²Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, ³Shechaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, ⁴Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, ⁵Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, ⁶Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, ⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their brothers in the days of Jeshua. ⁸And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, Mattaniah, who was over the thanksgiving psalms, he and his brothers. ⁹And Bakbukiah and Unni their brothers, opposite them in watches. ¹⁰And Jeshua begot Joiakim, and Joiakim begot Eliashib, and Eliashib begot Joiada, ¹¹and Joiada begot Jonathan, and Jonathan begot Jaddua. ¹²And in the days of Joiakim, Seraiah, Meriaiah, Jeremiah, and Hananiah had priests who were patriarchal chiefs: ¹³from Ezra, Meshullam; from Amariah, Jehohanan; ¹⁴from Melicu, Jonathan; from Shebaniah, Joseph; ¹⁵from Harim, Adna; from Meraioth, Helkai; ¹⁶from Iddo, Zechariah; from Ginnethon, Meshullam; ¹⁷from Abijah, Zichri; from Miniamin [. . . ]; from Moadiah, Piltai; ¹⁸from Bilgah, Shammua; from Shemaiah, Jehonathan; ¹⁹from Joiarib, Mattenai; from Jedaiah, Uzzi; ²⁰from Sallai, Kallai; from Amok, ²¹Eber; from Hilkiah, Hashabiah; from Jedaiah, Nethaneel. ²²The Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua were written down as patriarchal chiefs down to the reign of Darius the Persian. ²³The sons of Levi, patriarchal chiefs, were written down in the book of chronicles until the days of Johanan son of Eliashib. ²⁴And the heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel and their brothers were opposite them to praise, to give thanks, by the command of David man of God, one watch relieving another. ²⁵Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were guarding as gatekeepers in watches at the thresholds of the gates. ²⁶These were in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua son of Jozadak and in the days of Nehemiah the satrap and Ezra the priest and scribe.

²⁷And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the priests from all their places to bring them to Jerusalem to make a dedication and a rejoicing with thanksgiving processions and song, cymbals, lyres, and lutes. ²⁸And the sons of the choristers gathered from the plain, from the environs of Jerusalem, and from the outlying villages of the Netophathites. ²⁹And from Beth Gilgal and from the Geba fields the choristers had built themselves hamlets all around Jerusalem. ³⁰And the priests and the Levites purified themselves and they purified the people and the gates and the wall. ³¹And I brought the officers of Judah up on the wall and arranged two great thanksgiving processions, one procession going on the wall to the south to the Dung Gate. ³²And Hoshaiah and half the officers of Judah walked after them, and ³³Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, ³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, ³⁵and from the sons of the priests with trumpets, Zechariah son of Jonathan son of Shemaiah son of Mattaniah son of Michaiah son of Zaccur son of Asaph, ³⁶and his brothers Shemaiah and Azarael, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David man of God. And Ezra the scribe was before them, ³⁷and as far as the Fountain Gate, and in front of them they went up the steps of the City of David on the ascent of the wall above the house of David and as far as the Water Gate on the east. ³⁸And the second thanksgiving procession was opposite and I was behind it, and half the people were on the wall above the Tower of Ovens as far as the Broad Wall, ³⁹and above the Ephraim Gate and above the Jeshanah Gate and above the Fish Gate and Hananeel Tower and the Tower of the Hundred and as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of the Prison Compound. ⁴⁰And the two thanksgiving processions stopped at the house of God, and I and half the prefects with me. ⁴¹And the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, Hananiah, were with trumpets, ⁴²and Maaseiah and Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the choristers sounded forth with Jezrahiah the official. ⁴³And they offered great sacrifices on that day and rejoiced, for God had given them a great rejoicing, and the women and the children rejoiced as well, and the rejoicing of Jerusalem could be heard from afar. ⁴⁴And on that day men were appointed over the chambers of the treasuries for the donations, for the first fruits and for the tithes, to store in them from the fields of the towns the portions [as in] the Teaching, for the priests and for the Levites, for the joy of Judah was upon the priests and upon the Levites who were serving. ⁴⁵And they kept the watch of their God and the watch of purity, and the choristers and the gatekeepers were according to the command of David and Solomon his son, ⁴⁶for as in the days of David and Asaph in time past were the heads of the choristers and the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah would give the portions of the choristers day after day and would consecrate to the Levites, and the Levites would consecrate to the sons of Aaron.