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Time Passes; Heads of Provinces
11 Now (A)the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the rest of the people (B)cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, (C)the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities. 2 And the people blessed all the men who (D)volunteered to live in Jerusalem.
3 (E)Now these are the heads of the provinces who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah (F)each lived on his own property in their cities—the [a]Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the [b](G)temple servants and the [c](H)descendants of Solomon’s servants. 4 Some of the sons of Judah and some of the sons of Benjamin lived in Jerusalem. From the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez; 5 and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Col-hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite. 6 All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 able men.
7 Now these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah; 8 and after him Gabbai and Sallai, 928. 9 Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second [d]in command of the city.
10 From the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, 11 Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the leader of the house of God, 12 and their [e]kinsmen who performed the work of the [f]temple, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, 13 and his kinsmen, heads of fathers’ households, 242; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, 14 and their brothers, valiant warriors, 128. And their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of [g]Haggedolim.
15 Now from the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; 16 and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the [h]leaders of the Levites, who were [i]in charge of (I)the outside work of the house of God; 17 and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of [j]Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the [k]leader in beginning the thanksgiving at prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brethren; and [l]Abda the son of [m]Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. 18 All the Levites in (J)the holy city were 284.
19 Also the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brethren who kept watch at the gates, were 172.
Outside Jerusalem
20 The rest of Israel, of the priests and of the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each (K)on his own inheritance. 21 But (L)the temple servants were living in Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were [n]in charge of the temple servants.
22 Now (M)the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica, from the sons of Asaph, who were the singers for the [o]service of the house of God. 23 (N)For there was a commandment from the king concerning them and a firm regulation for the song leaders (O)day by day. 24 Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons (P)of Zerah the son of Judah, was the (Q)king’s [p]representative in all matters concerning the people.
25 Now as for the villages with their fields, some of the sons of Judah lived in (R)Kiriath-arba and its [q]towns, in (S)Dibon and its [r]towns, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, 26 and in Jeshua, in Moladah and Beth-pelet, 27 and in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its towns, 28 and in Ziklag, in Meconah and in its towns, 29 and in En-rimmon, in Zorah and in Jarmuth, 30 Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, Azekah and its towns. So they encamped from Beersheba as far as the valley of Hinnom. 31 The sons of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, at Bethel and its towns, 32 at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 35 Lod and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. 36 From the Levites, some divisions in Judah belonged to Benjamin.
Priests and Levites Who Returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel
12 Now these are (T)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 [s]kinsmen in the days of Jeshua.
8 The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah who was [t]in charge of the songs of thanksgiving, he and his brothers. 9 Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, stood opposite them (U)in their service divisions. 10 Jeshua [u]became the father of Joiakim, and Joiakim [v]became the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib [w]became the father of Joiada, 11 and Joiada became the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan became the father of 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 [x]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; 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 The heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers opposite them, (V)to praise and give thanks, [y]as prescribed by David the man of God, (W)division corresponding to division. 25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping watch at (X)the storehouses of the gates. 26 These served in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of (Y)Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest and scribe.
14 Therefore, my (A)beloved, flee from (B)idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say. 16 Is not the (C)cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the [a](D)bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one [b]bread, we (E)who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one [c]bread. 18 Look at [d]the nation (F)Israel; are not those who (G)eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? 19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or (H)that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they (I)sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. 21 (J)You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and (K)the table of demons. 22 Or do we (L)provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not (M)stronger than He, are we?
23 (N)All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things (O)edify. 24 Let no one (P)seek his own good, but that of his [e]neighbor. 25 (Q)Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; 26 (R)for the earth is the Lord’s, and [f]all it contains. 27 If (S)one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, (T)eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake. 28 But (U)if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake; 29 I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for (V)why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, (W)why am I slandered concerning that for which I (X)give thanks?
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or (Y)whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 (Z)Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to (AA)the church of God; 33 just as I also (AB)please all men in all things, (AC)not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, (AD)so that they may be saved.
11 (A)Come, you children, listen to me;
(B)I will teach you (C)the fear of the Lord.
12 (D)Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may (E)see good?
13 Keep (F)your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking (G)deceit.
14 (H)Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and (I)pursue it.
15 The (J)eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The (K)face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To (L)cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous (M)cry, and the Lord hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord (N)is near to the (O)brokenhearted
And saves those who are [a](P)crushed in spirit.
19 (Q)Many are the (R)afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord (S)delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones,
(T)Not one of them is broken.
21 (U)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be [b]condemned.
22 The Lord (V)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who (W)take refuge in Him will be [c]condemned.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.