Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 12

Priests and Levites Who Returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel

¹ Now these are ^(C1)the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,² Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,³ Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,⁴ Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah,⁵ Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,⁶ Shemaiah and Joiarib, Jedaiah,⁷ Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their kinsmen in the days of Jeshua.

⁸ And the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah who was ^(F1)in charge of the songs of thanksgiving, he and his brothers.⁹ Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, stood opposite them ^(C1)in their service divisions.¹⁰ Jeshua fathered Joiakim, Joiakim fathered Eliashib, Eliashib fathered Joiada,¹¹ Joiada fathered Jonathan, and Jonathan fathered Jaddua.

¹² Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the heads of fathers' households were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;¹³ of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;¹⁴ of ^(F1)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; and of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

The Chief Levites

²² As for the Levites, the heads of fathers' households were registered in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua; so were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian.²³ The sons of Levi, the heads of fathers' households, were registered in the Book of the Chronicles up to the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib.²⁴ And the heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers opposite them, ^(C1)to praise and give thanks, ^(F1)as prescribed by David the man of God, ^(C2)division corresponding to division.²⁵ Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping watch at ^(C1)the storerooms of the gates.²⁶ These men served in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of ^(C1)Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.

Dedication of the Wall

²⁷ Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they could celebrate the dedication with joy, with songs of thanksgiving and with songs ^(C1)to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps, and lyres.²⁸ So the sons of the singers were assembled from the territory around Jerusalem, and from ^(C1)the villages of the Netophathites,²⁹ from Beth-gilgal and from their fields in Geba and Azmaveth, because the singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem.³⁰ The priests and the Levites ^(C1)purified themselves; they also purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

Procedures for the Temple

³¹ Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large ^(F1)choirs, ^(F2)(C1)the first proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward ^(C2)the Dung Gate.³² Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them,³³ with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,³⁴ Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah,³⁵ and some of the sons of the priests with trumpets; and Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph,³⁶ and his kinsmen, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, ^(C1)with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them.³⁷ At ^(C1)the Fountain Gate they went directly up ^(C2)the steps of the city of David by the stairway of the wall, above the house of David to ^(C3)the Water Gate on the east.

^38 (C1)The second ^(F1)choir proceeded to the ^(F2)left, while I followed them with half of the people on the wall, ^(C2)above the Tower of Furnaces, to ^(C3)the Broad Wall,³⁹ and above ^(C1)the Gate of Ephraim, by ^(C2)the Ancient Gate, by the ^(C3)Fish Gate, ^(C4)the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate; and they stopped at ^(C5)the Gate of the Guard.⁴⁰ Then the two choirs took their positions in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials with me;⁴¹ and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with the trumpets;⁴² and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers ^(F1)sang, with Jezrahiah their leader,⁴³ and on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because ^(C1)God had given them great joy, and the women and children rejoiced as well, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from far away.

⁴⁴ On that day ^(C1)men were also appointed over the chambers for the supplies, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions required by the Law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ^(F1)served.⁴⁵ For they performed the ^(F1)worship of their God and the service of purification, together with the singers and the gatekeepers ^(C1)in accordance with the command of David and of his son Solomon.⁴⁶ For in the days of David and ^(C1)Asaph, in ancient times, there were ^(F1)(C2)leaders of the singers, songs of praise and songs of thanksgiving to God.⁴⁷ So all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah gave the portions due the singers and the gatekeepers ^(C1)as each day required, and they ^(F1)(C2)set apart the consecrated portion for the Levites, and the Levites ^(F1)set apart the consecrated portion for the sons of Aaron.

Chapter 13

Foreigners Excluded

¹ On that day the Book of Moses was ^(C1)read aloud ^(F1)as the people listened; and there was found written in it that ^(C2)no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to enter the assembly of God,² because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and water, but ^(C1)hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, ^(C2)our God turned the curse into a blessing.³ So when they heard the Law, ^(C1)they excluded ^(C2)all foreigners from Israel.

Tobiah Expelled and the Temple Cleansed

⁴ Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, ^(C1)who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being ^(F1)related to ^(C2)Tobiah,⁵ had prepared a large ^(F1)room for him, where previously they used to put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil ^(C1)prescribed for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the ^(F2)contributions for the priests.⁶ But during all this time I was not in Jerusalem, for in ^(C1)the thirty-second year of ^(C2)Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had come to the king. After some time, however, I requested a leave of absence from the king,⁷ and I came to Jerusalem and ^(F1)learned about the evil that Eliashib had committed for ^(F2)Tobiah, ^(C1)by preparing a ^(F3)room for him in the courtyards of the house of God.⁸ It was very displeasing to me, so I ^(C1)threw all of Tobiah's household articles out of the room.⁹ Then I gave an order, and ^(C1)they cleansed the rooms; and I returned the utensils of the house of God there with the grain offering and the frankincense.

Tithes Restored

¹⁰ I also ^(F1)discovered that ^(C1)the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so the Levites and the singers who performed the service had ^(F2)gone away, ^(C2)each to his own field.¹¹ So I ^(F1)(C1)reprimanded the officials and said, "^(C2)Why has the house of God been neglected?" Then I gathered them together and stationed them at their posts.¹² All Judah then brought ^(C1)the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.¹³ To be in charge of the storehouses, I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah from the Levites, and in addition to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for ^(C1)they were considered reliable, and it was ^(F1)their task to distribute to their kinsmen.^14 (C1)Remember me for this, my God, and do not wipe out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.

Sabbath Restored

¹⁵ In those days I saw in Judah people who were treading wine presses ^(C1)on the Sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and every kind of load, ^(C2)and they were bringing them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So ^(C3)I admonished them on the day they sold food.¹⁶ Also people of Tyre were living ^(F1)there who imported fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them to the sons of Judah on the Sabbath, even in Jerusalem.¹⁷ Then ^(C1)I ^(F1)reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, ^(F2)by profaning the Sabbath day?¹⁸ "^(C1)Did your fathers not do the same, so that our God brought on us and on this city all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath."

¹⁹ And ^(C1)it came about that just as it became dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered that the doors be shut, ^(F1)and that they were not to open them until after the Sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load would enter on the Sabbath day.²⁰ Once or twice the traders and merchants of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem.²¹ Then ^(C1)I warned them and said to them, "Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will ^(F1)use force against you." From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.²² And I ordered the Levites that ^(C1)they were to purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the Sabbath day. For this also ^(C2)remember me, my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your mercy.<