6g You alone are the LORD;
h You have made heaven,
i The heaven of heavens, with jall their host,
The earth and everything on it,
The seas and all that is in them,
And You kpreserve them all.
The host of heaven worships You.
7“You are the LORD God,
Who chose lAbram,
And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,
And gave him the name mAbraham;
8You found his heart nfaithful before You,
And made a ocovenant with him
To give the land of the Canaanites,
The Hittites, the Amorites,
The Perizzites, the Jebusites,
And the Girgashites—
To give it to his descendants.
You phave performed Your words,
For You are righteous.
9“Youq saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And rheard their cry by the Red Sea.
10You sshowed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants,
And against all the people of his land.
For You knew that they tacted 3proudly against them.
So You umade a name for Yourself, as it is this day.
11v And You divided the sea before them,
So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land;
And their persecutors You threw into the deep,
w As a stone into the mighty waters.
12Moreover You xled them by day with a cloudy pillar,
And by night with a pillar of fire,
To give them light on the road
Which they should travel.
13“Youy came down also on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven,
And gave them zjust ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14You made known to them Your aholy Sabbath,
And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws,
By the hand of Moses Your servant.
15You bgave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
And cbrought them water out of the rock for their thirst,
And told them to dgo in to possess the land
Which You had 4sworn to give them.
16“Bute they and our fathers acted 5proudly,
f Hardened6 their necks,
And did not heed Your commandments.
17They refused to obey,
And gthey were not mindful of Your wonders
That You did among them.
But they hardened their necks,
And 7in their rebellion
They appointed ha leader
To return to their bondage.
But You are God,
Ready to pardon,
i Gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger,
Abundant in kindness,
And did not forsake them.
18“Even jwhen they made a molded calf for themselves,
And said, ‘This is your god
That brought you up out of Egypt,’
And worked great provocations,
19Yet in Your kmanifold mercies
You did not forsake them in the wilderness.
The lpillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on the road;
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To show them light,
And the way they should go.
20You also gave Your mgood Spirit to instruct them,
And did not withhold Your nmanna from their mouth,
And gave them owater for their thirst.
21p Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness;
They lacked nothing;
Their qclothes did not wear out
And their feet did not swell.
22“Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations,
And divided them into 8districts.
So they took possession of the land of rSihon,
9 The land of the king of Heshbon,
And the land of Og king of Bashan.
23You also multiplied stheir children as the stars of heaven,
And brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers
To go in and possess.
24So tthe 10people went in
And possessed the land;
u You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land,
The Canaanites,
And gave them into their hands,
With their kings
And the people of the land,
That they might do with them as they wished.
25And they took strong cities and a vrich land,
And possessed whouses full of all goods,
Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,
And 11fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and xgrew fat,
And delighted themselves in Your great ygoodness.
26“Nevertheless they zwere disobedient
And rebelled against You,
a Cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your bprophets, who 12testified against them
To turn them to Yourself;
And they worked great provocations.
27c Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies,
Who oppressed them;
And in the time of their trouble,
When they cried to You,
You dheard from heaven;
And according to Your abundant mercies
e You gave them deliverers who saved them
From the hand of their enemies.
28“But after they had rest,
f They again did evil before You.
Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies,
So that they had dominion over them;
Yet when they returned and cried out to You,
You heard from heaven;
And gmany times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29And 13testified against them,
That You might bring them back to Your law.
Yet they acted 14proudly,
And did not heed Your commandments,
But sinned against Your judgments,
h‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’
And they shrugged their shoulders,
15 Stiffened their necks,
And would not hear.
30Yet for many years You had patience with them,
And 16testified iagainst them by Your Spirit jin Your prophets.
Yet they would not listen;
k Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31Nevertheless in Your great mercy
l You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them;
For You are God, gracious and merciful.
32“Now therefore, our God,
The great, the mmighty, and awesome God,
Who keeps covenant and mercy:
Do not let all the 17trouble seem small before You
That has come upon us,
Our kings and our princes,
Our priests and our prophets,
Our fathers and on all Your people,
n From the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.
33However oYou are just in all that has befallen us;
For You have dealt faithfully,
But pwe have done wickedly.
34Neither our kings nor our princes,
Our priests nor our fathers,
Have kept Your law,
Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies,
With which You testified against them.
35For they have qnot served You in their kingdom,
Or in the many good things that You gave them,
Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;
Nor did they turn from their wicked works.
And the land that You gave to our fathers,
To eat its fruit and its bounty,
Here we are, servants in it!
37And sit yields much increase to the kings
You have set over us,
Because of our sins;
Also they have tdominion over our bodies and our cattle
At their pleasure;
And we are in great distress.
38“And because of all this,
We umake a sure covenant and write it;
Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests vseal it.”
Nehemiah 10
The People Who Sealed the Covenant
1Now those who placed their seal on the document were:
Nehemiah the 1governor, athe son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah,
2bSeraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
3Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah,
4Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
5Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
6Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
7Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
8Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests.
9The Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, and Kadmiel.
10Their brethren: Shebaniah, Hodijah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
11Micha, Rehob, Hashabiah,
12Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
13Hodijah, Bani, and Beninu.
14The leaders of the people: cParosh, Pahath-Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,
15Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
16Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,
17Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
18Hodijah, Hashum, Bezai,
19Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
20Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,
21Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
22Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,
23Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
24Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,
25Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
26Ahijah, Hanan, Anan,
27Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.
The Covenant That Was Sealed
28dNow the rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, eand all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and understanding—
29these joined with their brethren, their nobles, fand entered into a curse and an oath gto walk in God’s Law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes:
30We would not give hour daughters as wives to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons;
31iif the peoples of the land brought 2wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and we would forego the jseventh year’s produce and the kexacting3 of every debt.
32Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to exact from ourselves yearly lone-third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God:
33for mthe showbread, for the regular grain offering, for the nregular burnt offering of the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the set feasts; for the holy things, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.
34We cast lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, ofor bringing the wood offering into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at the appointed times year by year, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God pas it is written in the Law.
35And we made ordinances qto bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of the LORD;
36to bring the rfirstborn of our sons and our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks, to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God;
37sto bring the firstfruits of our dough, our offerings, the fruit from all kinds of trees, the new wine and oil, to the priests, to the storerooms of the 4house of our God; and to bring tthe tithes of our land to the Levites, for the Levites should receive the tithes in all our farming communities.
38And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, shall be with the Levites uwhen the Levites receive tithes; and the Levites shall bring up a tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to vthe rooms of the storehouse.
39For the children of Israel and the children of Levi wshall bring the offering of the grain, of the new wine and the oil, to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are, where the priests who minister and the gatekeepers xand the singers are; and we will not yneglect the house of our God.
Nehemiah 11
The People Dwelling in Jerusalem
1Now the leaders of the people dwelt at Jerusalem; the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, athe holy city, and nine-tenths were to dwell in other cities.
2And the people blessed all the men who bwillingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.
3cThese are the heads of the province who dwelt in Jerusalem. (But in the cities of Judah everyone dwelt in his own possession in their cities—Israelites, priests, Levites, dNethinim, and edescendants of Solomon’s servants.)
4Also fin Jerusalem dwelt some of the children of Judah and of the children of Benjamin.
The children 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 children of gPerez;
5and 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 Shiloni.
6All the sons of Perez who dwelt at Jerusalem were four hundred and sixty-eight valiant men.
7And 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;
8and after him Gabbai and Sallai, nine hundred and twenty-eight.
9Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah the son of 1Senuah was second over the city.
10hOf the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, and Jachin;
11Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, was the leader of the house of God.
12Their brethren who did the work of the house were eight hundred and twenty-two; 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,
13and his brethren, heads of the fathers’ houses, were two hundred and forty-two; and Amashai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,
14and their brethren, mighty men of valor, were one hundred and twenty-eight. Their overseer was Zabdiel 2the son of one of the great men.
15Also of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;
16iShabbethai and jJozabad, of the heads of the Levites, had the oversight of kthe business outside of the 3house of God;
17Mattaniah the son of 4Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the leader who began the thanksgiving with prayer; Bakbukiah, the second among his brethren; and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.
18All the Levites in lthe holy city were two hundred and eighty-four.
19Moreover the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brethren who kept the gates, were one hundred and seventy-two.
20And the rest of Israel, of the priests and Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, everyone in his inheritance.
21mBut the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel. And Ziha and Gishpa were over the Nethinim.
22Also the overseer of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micha, of the sons of Asaph, the singers in charge of the 5service of the 6house of God.
23For nit was the king’s command concerning them that a 7certain portion should be for the singers, a quota day by day.
24Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the children of oZerah the son of Judah, was pthe8 king’s deputy in all matters concerning the people.
The People Dwelling Outside Jerusalem
25And as for the villages with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt in qKirjath Arba and its villages, Dibon and its villages, Jekabzeel and its villages;
26in Jeshua, Moladah, Beth Pelet,
27Hazar Shual, and Beersheba and its villages;
28in Ziklag and Meconah and its villages;
29in En Rimmon, Zorah, Jarmuth,
30Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages; in Lachish and its fields; in Azekah and its villages. They dwelt from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom.
31Also the children of Benjamin from Geba dwelt in Michmash, Aija, and Bethel, and their villages;
32in Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah;
33in Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim;
34in Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat;
35in Lod, Ono, and rthe Valley of Craftsmen.
36Some of the Judean divisions of Levites were in Benjamin.
Nehemiah 12
The Priests and Levites
(cf. Ezra 2:36–40)
1Now these are the apriests and the Levites who came up with bZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: cSeraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
2Amariah, 1Malluch, Hattush,
32Shechaniah, 3Rehum, 4Meremoth,
4Iddo, 5Ginnethoi, dAbijah,
56Mijamin, 7Maadiah, Bilgah,
6Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,
78Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.
These were the heads of the priests and their brethren in the days of eJeshua.
8Moreover the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah fwho led the thanksgiving psalms, he and his brethren.
9Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, stood across from them in their duties.
10Jeshua begot Joiakim, Joiakim begot Eliashib, Eliashib begot Joiada,
11Joiada begot Jonathan, and Jonathan begot Jaddua.
12Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the gheads of the fathers’ houses were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;
13of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;
14of 9Melichu, Jonathan; of 10Shebaniah, Joseph;
15of 11Harim, Adna; of 12Meraioth, Helkai;
16of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
17of Abijah, Zichri; the son of 13Minjamin; of 14Moadiah, Piltai;
18of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan;
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 231