The People Who Sealed the Covenant

10 ^e“On the seals are the names of¹ Nehemiah ^fthe governor, ^gthe son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2 ^hSeraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 ⁱHattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. 9 And the Levites: ^jJeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of ^kHenadad, Kadmiel; 10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The chiefs of the people: ^lParosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

The Obligations of the Covenant

28 ^m“The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, ⁿand all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, 29 join with their brothers, their nobles, ^oand enter into a curse and an oath ^pto walk in God’s Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes. 30 ^qWe will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31 ^rAnd if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the ^sseventh year and the ^texaction of every debt.

32 “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly ^ua third part of a shekel² for the service of the house of our God: 33 ^vfor the showbread, ^wthe regular grain offering, ^wthe regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 34 ^xWe, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots ^yfor the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, ^zas it is written in the Law. 35 We obligate ourselves ^ato bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; 36 also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, ^bas it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; 37 ^cand to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, ^dto the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. 38 And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of ^ethe storehouse. 39 For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi ^fshall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. ^gWe will not neglect the house of our God.”

The Leaders in Jerusalem

11 Now the leaders of the people ^hlived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people ⁱcast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem ^jthe holy city, while nine out of ten¹ remained in the other towns. 2 And the people blessed all the men ^kwho willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.

3 ^lThese are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah ^meveryone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, ⁿthe temple servants, ^oand the descendants of Solomon’s servants. 4 And in Jerusalem lived certain of the sons of Judah and of the sons of Benjamin. Of the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the sons of ^pPerez; 5 and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, son of the Shilonite. 6 All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 valiant men.

7 And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah, 8 and his brothers, men of valor, 928.² 9 Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.

10 Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, 11 Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, ruler of the house of God, 12 and their brothers who did the work of the house, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, 13 and his brothers, heads of fathers’ houses, 242; and Amashsai, the son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer, 14 and their brothers, mighty men of valor, 128; their overseer was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.

15 And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni; 16 and Shabbethai and ^qJozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were over ^rthe outside work of the house of God; 17 and ^sMattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who was the leader of the praise,³ who gave thanks, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun. 18 All the Levites in ^tthe holy city were 284.

19 The gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172. 20 And the rest of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, ^uevery one in his inheritance. 21 ^vBut the temple servants lived on Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.

22 The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the work of the house of God. 23 ^wFor there was a command from the king concerning them, and a fixed provision for the singers, ^xas every day required. 24 And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king’s side⁴ in all matters concerning the people.

Villages Outside Jerusalem

25 And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in ^yKiriath-arba and its villages, and in Dibon and its villages, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, 26 and in Jeshua and in Moladah and Beth-pelet, 27 in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its villages, 28 in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages, 29 in En-rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, 30 Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they encamped from Beersheba to ^zthe Valley of Hinnom. 31 The people of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages, 32 Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 35 Lod, and ^aOno, the valley of craftsmen. 36 And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah were assigned to Benjamin.

Priests and Levites

12 These are ^bthe priests and the Levites who came up with ^cZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and ^dJeshua: ^eSeraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua.

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

12 ^hAnd in the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers’ houses: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; 13 of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 14 of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; 15 of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; 16 of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 17 of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; 18 of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 19 of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 20 of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 21 of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

22 In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were recorded as heads of fathers’ houses; so too were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. 23 As for the sons of Levi, their heads of fathers’ houses ⁱwere written in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. 24 And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and ^jJeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers who stood opposite them, ^kto praise and to give thanks, ^laccording to the commandment of David ^mthe man of God, ⁿwatch by watch. 25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers standing guard at ^othe storehouses of the gates. 26 These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the days of ^pNehemiah the governor and of ^pEzra, the priest and scribe.

Dedication of the Wall

27 And at ^qthe 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, ^rwith cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; 29 also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. 30 And the priests and the Levites ^spurified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.

31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. ^tOne went to the south on the wall to ^uthe Dung Gate. 32 And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, 33 and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, 35 and certain of the priests’ sons ^vwith trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; 36 and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, ^wwith the musical instruments of David ^xthe man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. 37 At ^ythe Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by ^zthe stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to ^athe Water Gate on the east.

38 ^bThe other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above ^cthe Tower of the Ovens, to ^dthe Broad Wall, 39 and above ^ethe Gate of Ephraim, and by ^fthe Gate of Yeshanah,¹ and by ^gthe Fish Gate and ^hthe Tower of Hananel and ^hthe Tower of the Hundred, to ⁱthe Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at ^jthe Gate of the Guard. 40 So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me; 41 and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, ^kwith trumpets; 42 and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. 43 And 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 far away.

Service at the Temple

44 ^lOn that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, 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. 45 And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, ^maccording to the command of David and his son Solomon. 46 For long ago in the days of David and ⁿAsaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs² of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the ^odaily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; ^pand they set apart that which was for the Levites; ^qand the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.

Nehemiah’s Final Reforms

13 On that day ^rthey read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written ^sthat no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, 2 for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 As soon as the people heard the law, ^tthey separated from Israel all ^uthose of foreign descent.

4 Now before this, ^vEliashib the priest, who ^wwas appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to ^xTobiah, 5 prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, ^ywhich were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. 6 While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for ^zin the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes ^aking of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king 7 and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, ^bpreparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. 8 And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. 9 Then I gave orders, and they ^ccleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

10 I also found out that ^dthe portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each ^eto his field. 11 ^fSo I confronted the officials and said, ^g“Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. 12 Then all Judah brought ^hthe tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 And ⁱI appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, ^jfor they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. 14 ^kRemember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses ^lon the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, ^mwhich they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And ⁿI warned them on the day when they sold food. 16 Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! 17 ^oThen I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, ^pprofaning the Sabbath day? 18 ^qDid not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster¹ on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

19 As soon as it ^rbegan to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 ^sBut I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. 22 Then I commanded the Levites ^tthat they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. ^uRemember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.

23 In those days also I saw the Jews ^vwho had married women ^wof Ashdod, ^xAmmon, and ^xMoab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. 25 ^oAnd I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. ^yAnd I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26 ^zDid not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? ^aAmong the many nations there was no king like him, and he was ^bbeloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. 27 Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and ^cact treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”

28 And one of the sons of ^dJehoiada, the son of ^eEliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of ^fSanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. 29 ^gRemember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood ^hand the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

30 ⁱThus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31 and I provided ^jfor the wood offering ^kat appointed times, and for the firstfruits.

^lRemember me, O my God, for good.

Esther

The King’s Banquets

1 Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned ^afrom India to Ethiopia over ^b127 provinces, 2 in those days when King Ahasuerus ^csat on his royal throne in ^dSusa, the citadel, 3 in the third year of his reign ^ehe gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, 4 while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. 5 And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of ^fthe garden of the king’s palace. 6 There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods¹ and marble pillars, and also ^gcouches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. 7 Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. 8 And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. 9 Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.