7:1 After the wall had been rebuilt, the doors set up, and the gatekeepers, singers and Levites appointed,
7:2 I put in charge over Jerusalem, my brother Hanani along with Hananiah the commander of the fortress, for he was a man of integrity and feared God more than many.
7:3 I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened until the sun is hot. While those are still on duty, have them shut and bar the doors. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their post and some near their homes.”
7:4 Now the city was spacious and large, but there were few people within it and no houses were being built.
7:5 So my God put into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be registered by genealogy. I found the scroll of the genealogical record of those who formerly returned. I found the following written there:
7:6 These are the people of the province who returned from the captivity of the exile, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken away, and who returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each man to his own town.
7:7 Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of Bnei-Yisrael was:
7:57 The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida,
7:58 the sons of Jala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,
7:59 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim and the sons of Amon.
7:60 All the Temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants—392.
7:61 Now the following were the ones who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon and Immer—but they were not able to identify their ancestral houses or whether their descendants were from Israel:
7:62 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah and the sons of Nekoda—642.
7:63 Also of the kohanim: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai. (Their ancestor took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and subsequently was called by their name.)
7:64 These sought their names in the genealogies, but were not found; so they were disqualified from the priesthood.
7:65 The governor said to them that they should not eat any of the most holy things until a kohen arose with Urim and Thummim.
7:69 Some from among the family leaders contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury: gold drachmas—1,000; bowls—50; and priestly tunics—500.
7:70 Those from the heads of ancestral lines gave to the treasury for the work: gold drachmas—20,000; silver minas—2,000.
7:71 The rest of the people gave: gold drachmas—20,000; silver minas—2,000; and priestly tunics—67.
7:72 So the kohanim, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, and the Temple servants, even all Israel, dwelt in their towns. Then the seventh month came and Bnei-Yisrael were in their towns.
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