Nehemiah 12

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

2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,

3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,

4 Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,

5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,

6 Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah.

7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua.

8 Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who was over the thanksgiving, he and his brothers.

9 Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, were over against them according to their offices.

10 Jeshua became the father of Joiakim, and Joiakim became the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib became the father of Joiada,

11 and Joiada became the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan became the father of Jaddua.

12 In the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of ancestral houses: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

13 of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;

14 of Malluch, Jonathan; of Shecaniah, Joseph;

15 of Harim, Adna; of Meremoth, Helkai;

16 of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;

17 of Abijah, Zikri; of Minjamin, of Moadiah, Piltai;

18 of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;

19 and of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi;

20 of Sallu, Kallai; of Amok, Eber;

21 of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

22 As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, there were recorded the heads of ancestral houses; also the priests, in the reign of Daryavesh the Persian.

23 The sons of Levi, heads of ancestral houses, were written in the scroll of the chronicles, even until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib.

24 The chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers over against them, to praise and give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch next to watch.

25 Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were gatekeepers keeping the watch at the storehouses of the gates.

26 These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest the scribe.

27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with giving thanks, and with singing, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and with harps.

28 The sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the plain around Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Netophathites;

29 also from Beth Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for the singers had built them villages around Jerusalem.

30 The priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.

31 Then I brought up the leaders of Judah onto the wall, and appointed two great companies who gave thanks and went in procession. One went on the right hand on the wall toward the Dung Gate;

32 and after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the leaders of Judah,

33 and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam,

34 Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah,

35 and certain of the priests' sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zakkur, the son of Asaph;

36 and his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was before them.

37 By the Fountain Gate, and straight before them, they went up by the stairs of the City of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, even to the Water Gate eastward.

38 The other company of those who gave thanks went to meet them, and I after them, with the half of the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall,

39 and above the Ephraim Gate, and by the Jeshanah Gate, and by the Fish Gate, and the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, and as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stood still in the Gate of the Guard.

40 So stood the two companies of those who gave thanks in God's house, and I, and the half of the rulers with me;

41 and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets;

42 and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer.

43 They offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced; for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and the women also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

44 On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, for the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions appointed by the law for the priests and Levites, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered.

45 They performed the duty of their God, and the duty of the purification, and so did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son.

46 For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

47 All Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the gatekeepers, as every day required: and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.