2:1 These are the people who returned to Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had brought them as prisoners to Babylon. Each person returned to his own town.
2:2 Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah. This is the number of Israelite men from each clan:
2:57 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Ami.
2:58 There were 392 men who were temple servants and the descendants of Solomon's servants.
2:59 Some people came from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer. But these people could not show that they belonged to Israelite families. They may not have been descendants of Israel.
2:60 These people included 652 descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda.
2:61 These priests also could not show what families they belonged to: The descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai. (This Barzillai had married one of the daughters of a man from Gilead called Barzillai. So he took Barzillai's name for himself.)
2:62 These people tried to find their names in the lists of priests' families. But they could not find anything. So they could not serve as priests.
2:63 The officer in Judah said that they could not eat the priests' special food. They must wait until there was a leader of the priests who could use the Urim and Thummim to decide the right thing to do.
2:64 All together, 42,360 people returned to Jerusalem.
2:65 There were also 7,337 male and female servants, as well as 200 male and female singers.
2:68 They arrived at the Lord's temple in Jerusalem. Some of the leaders of their families gave gifts to build the temple again where it had been before.
2:69 They each gave as much money as they were able to give. Together they gave about 500 kilograms of gold and nearly 3,000 kilograms of silver. They also gave 100 special sets of clothes for the priests.
2:70 The priests, the Levites, the singers, temple guards and other workers lived in their towns near Jerusalem. The other Israelites went to live in the towns where their ancestors had lived.
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