Bible Reading Plan

Nehemiah 12

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.

Psalms 104:1-23

Revelation 9

Chapter 9

The Fifth Trumpet: Shaft of the Abyss

¹ Then the ^(C1)fifth angel sounded, and I saw a ^(C2)star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the ^(C3)key to the ^(C4)shaft of the abyss was given to him.² He opened the shaft of the abyss, and ^(C1)smoke ascended out of the shaft like the smoke of a great furnace; and ^(C2)the sun and the air were darkened from the smoke of the shaft.³ Then out of the smoke came ^(C1)locusts ^(F1)upon the earth, and power was given them, as the ^(C2)scorpions of the earth have power.⁴ They were told not to ^(C1)hurt the ^(C2)grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the people who do not have the ^(C3)seal of God on their foreheads.⁵ And ^(F1)they were not permitted to kill ^(F2)anyone, but to torment for ^(C1)five months; and their torment was like the torment of a ^(C2)scorpion when it ^(F3)stings a person.⁶ And in those days ^(C1)people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death ^(F1)will flee from them!

⁷ The ^(F1)(C1)appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like human faces.⁸ They had hair like the hair of women, and their ^(C1)teeth were like the teeth of lions.⁹ They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the ^(C1)sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle.¹⁰ They have tails like ^(C1)scorpions, and stings; and in their ^(C2)tails is their power to hurt people for ^(C3)five months.¹¹ They have as king over them, the angel of the ^(C1)abyss; his name in ^(C2)Hebrew is ^(F1)(C3)Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name ^(F2)Apollyon.

^12 (C1)The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

The Sixth Trumpet: Army from the East

¹³ Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard ^(F1)a voice from the ^(F2)four ^(C1)horns of the ^(C2)golden altar which is before God,¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the ^(C1)four angels who are bound at the ^(C2)great river Euphrates."¹⁵ And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were ^(C1)released, so that they would kill a ^(C2)third of mankind.¹⁶ The number of the armies of the horsemen was ^(C1)two hundred million; ^(C2)I heard the number of them.¹⁷ And this is how I saw ^(C1)in my vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire, of hyacinth, and of ^(F1)(C2)brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and ^(C3)out of their mouths ^(*)came fire and smoke and ^(F1)(C2)brimstone.¹⁸ A ^(C1)third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the ^(C2)fire, the smoke, and the ^(F1)brimstone which came out of their mouths.¹⁹ For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.

²⁰ The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^(C1)did not repent of ^(C2)the works of their hands so as not to ^(C3)worship demons and ^(C4)the idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;²¹ and they ^(C1)did not repent of their murders, nor of their ^(C2)witchcraft, nor of their ^(C3)sexual immorality, nor of their thefts.