The Organization of Jerusalem
1 After the wall had been rebuilt, and I had set up its doors, and the gatekeepers, singers and L’vi’im had been appointed,
2 I put my kinsman Hanani in charge of Yerushalayim, along with Hananyah the commander of the citadel. For he was a faithful man, and he feared God more than most.
3 I said to them, “The gates of Yerushalayim are not to be opened until the sun is hot; and while the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors; and you, put up the bars. Appoint watchmen from among those living in Yerushalayim; assign each one his time to guard, and have each one serving near his own house.”
4 The city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not been rebuilt.
The Plan Put into Nehemiah's Heart
5 My God put it in my heart to assemble the nobles, the leaders and the people, so that they could be registered according to their genealogies. I located the record of the genealogies of those who had come up at the beginning and found written in it:
6 “Here is a list of the people of the province who had been exiled, carried off to Bavel by N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel, but who later returned from exile and went up to Yerushalayim and Y’hudah, each to his own city;
7 they went with Z’rubavel, Yeshua, Nechemyah, ‘Azaryah, Ra‘amyah, Nachmani, Mordekhai, Bilshan, Misperet, Bigvai, N’chum and Ba‘anah. “The number of men from the people of Isra’el: —
8 descendants of Par‘osh — 2,172 —
9 descendants of Sh’fatyah — 372 —
10 descendants of Arach — 652 —
11 descendants of Pachat-Mo’av, — from the descendants of Yeshua and Yo’av — 2,818 —
12 descendants of ‘Eilam — 1,254 —
13 descendants of Zatu — 845 —
14 descendants of Zakkai — 760 —
15 descendants of Binui — 648 —
16 descendants of B’vai — 628 —
17 descendants of ‘Azgad — 2,322 —
18 descendants of Adonikam — 667 —
19 descendants of Bigvai — 2,067 —
20 descendants of ‘Adin — 655 —
21 descendants of Ater, of Y’chizkiyah — 98 —
22 descendants of Hashum — 328 —
23 descendants of Betzai — 324 —
24 descendants of Harif — 112 —
25 descendants of Giv‘on — 95 —
26 people of Beit-Lechem and N’tofah — 188 —
27 people of ‘Anatot — 128 —
28 people of Beit-‘Azmavet — 42 —
29 people of Kiryat-Ye‘arim, K’firah and Be’erot — 743 —
30 people of Ramah and Geva — 621 —
31 people of Mikhmas — 122 —
32 people of Beit-El and ‘Ai — 123 —
33 people from the other N’vo — 52 —
34 people from the other ‘Eilam — 1,254 —
35 descendants of Harim — 320 —
36 descendants of Yericho — 345 —
37 descendants of Lod, Hadid and Ono — 721 —
38 descendants of S’na’ah — 3,930
39 “The cohanim: — descendants of Y’da‘yah, of the house of Yeshua — 973 —
40 descendants of Immer — 1,052 —
41 descendants of Pash’chur — 1,247 —
42 descendants of Harim — 1,017
43 “The L’vi’im: — descendants of Yeshua, of Kadmi’el, — of the descendants of Hodvah — 74 —
44 “The singers: — descendants of Asaf — 148 —
45 “The gatekeepers: — descendants of Shalum, — descendants of Ater, — descendants of Talmon, — descendants of ‘Akuv, — descendants of Hatita, and — descendants of Shovai — 138 —
46 “The temple servants: — descendants of Tzicha, — descendants of Hasufa, — descendants of Taba‘ot, —
47 descendants of Keros, — descendants of Si‘a, — descendants of Padon, —
48 descendants of L’vanah, — descendants of Hagava, — descendants of Salmai, —
49 descendants of Hanan, — descendants of Giddel, — descendants of Gachar, —
50 descendants of Re’ayah, — descendants of Retzin, — descendants of N’koda, —
51 descendants of Gazam, — descendants of ‘Uza, — descendants of Paseach, —
52 descendants of Besai, — descendants of Me‘unim, — descendants of N’fish’sim, —
53 descendants of Bakbuk, — descendants of Hakufa, — descendants of Harhur, —
54 descendants of Batzlit, — descendants of M’chida, — descendants of Harsha, —
55 descendants of Barkos, — descendants of Sisra, — descendants of Temach, —
56 descendants of N’tziach, and — descendants of Hatifa. —
57 “The descendants of Shlomo’s servants: — descendants of Sotai, — descendants of Soferet, — descendants of P’rida, —
58 descendants of Ya‘lah, — descendants of Darkon, — descendants of Giddel, —
59 descendants of Sh’fatyah, — descendants of Hatil, — descendants of Pokheret-Hatzvayim, and — descendants of Amon. —
60 “All the temple servants and the — descendants of Shlomo’s servants numbered — 392
61 “The following went up from Tel-Melach, Tel-Harsha, K’ruv, Adon and Immer; but they could not state which fathers’ clan they and their children belonged to, [so it was not clear] whether they were from Isra’el: —
62 descendants of D’layah, — descendants of Toviyah, and — descendants of N’koda — 642
63 and of the cohanim: — descendants of Havayah, — descendants of Hakotz, and descendants of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gil‘adi and was named after them.
64 “These tried to locate their geneaolgical records, but they weren’t found. Therefore they were considered defiled and were not allowed to serve as cohanim.
65 The Tirshata told them not to eat any of the especially holy food until a cohen appeared who could consult the urim and tumim.
66 “The entire assembly numbered 42,360,
67 not including their male and female slaves, of whom there were 7,337. They also had 245 male and female singers.
68 Their horses numbered 736; their mules, 245;
69 their camels, 435; and their donkeys, 6,720.
Gifts of the Remnant for the Work
70 “Some from among the heads of fathers’ clans made contributions for the work. The Tirshata contributed to the treasury a thousand gold darkmonim [twenty-one pounds], fifty basins and 530 tunics for the cohanim.
71 Some of the heads of fathers’ clans gave into the treasury for the work 20,000 gold darkmonim [420 pounds] and 2,200 silver manim [one-and-a-third tons].
72 The rest of the people gave 20,000 gold darkmonim, 2,000 silver manim [about one-and-a-quarter tons] and sixty-seven tunics for the cohanim.
73 “So the cohanim, the L’vi’im, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants and all Isra’el lived in their towns.” [(8:1)] When the seventh month arrived, after the people of Isra’el had resettled in their towns,