CHAPTER 12
1 Soothly these were[the] priests and [the] deacons [or Levites], that went up with Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and with Joshua; Seraiah, Jeremy [or Jeremiah], Ezra,
2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,
3 Shechaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
4 Iddo, Ginnetho, Miamin,
5 Abiah, Maadiah, Bilgah,
6 Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah,
7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah; these were the princes of priests and their brethren, in the days of Jeshua.
8 Certainly deacons [or Levites]; Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, Mattaniah, were over the hymns, they and their brethren;
9 and Bakbukiah, and Unni, and the brethren of them, each man in his office.
10 And Jeshua begat Joiakim, and Joiakim begat Eliashib, and Eliashib begat Joiada,
11 and Joiada begat Jonathan, and Jonathan begat Jaddua.
12 And in the days of Joiakim these were the priests, and the princes of the meines of priests; Seraiah, Meraiah; Jeremy, Hananiah;
13 of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;
14 of Melicu, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph;
15 of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai;
16 of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
17 of Abiah, Zichri; of Miniamin, (*); and 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, Nethaneel.
22 Deacons [or Levites] in the days of Eliashib, and of Joiada, and of Johanan, and of Jaddua, were written princes of meines, and priests, in the realm of Darius king of Persia.
23 The sons of Levi, princes of meines, were written in the book of the words of days, and unto the days of Johanan, the son of Eliashib.
24 And the princes of deacons [or Levites]were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua, the son of Kadmiel; and the brethren of them by their whiles, or times, that they should praise and acknowledge by the commandment of king David, the man of God, and they should keep evenly by order.
25 Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, and Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were keepers of the gates, and of the porches before the gates.
26 These men were serving in the days of Joiakim, the son of Joshua, son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah, the duke, and of Ezra, the priest and writer.
27 Forsooth in the hallowing of the wall of Jerusalem they sought deacons [or Levites] of all their places, to bring them into Jerusalem, and to make the hallowing in gladness, in the doing of thankings, and in song, and in cymbals, and in psalteries, and in harps.
28 And the sons of singers were gathered together, both from the field places about Jerusalem, and from the towns of Netophathi,
29 and from the house of Gilgal, and from the country of Geba, and of Azmaveth; for the singers had builded towns to themselves in the compass of Jerusalem.
30 And [the] priests and deacons [or Levites] were cleansed, and then they cleansed the people, and the gates, and the wall.
31 And I made the princes of Judah to go up on the wall, and I ordained two great choirs, or companies, of men praising the Lord; and they went to the right side on the wall, to the gate of the dunghill.
32 And Hoshaiah went after them, and the half part of the princes of Judah,
33 and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam,
34 Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemai-ah, and Jeremy [or Jeremiah].
35 And of the sons of priests singing in trumps; Zechariah, the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph.
36 And his brethren; Shemaiah, and Azarael, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethaneel, and Judah, and Hanani, in the instruments of song of David, the man of God; and Ezra, the writer, before them,
37 in the gate of the well. And men went up against them, in the degrees of the city of David, in the ascending or going up of the wall, over the house of David, and unto the gate of the waters at the east coast.
38 And the second choir of men telling out thankings went over against, or on the other side, and I went after them; and half part of the people was on the wall, and on the tower of ovens, and they went unto the broadest wall;
39 and over the gate of Ephraim, and over the eld [or old] gate, and over the gate of fishes, and over the tower of Hananeel, and over the tower of Meah, and they came unto the gate of flock; and they stood still in the gate of keeping.
40 And the two choirs of men praising stood in the house of God, and I and the half part of magistrates with me.
41 And the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zech-ariah, Hananiah, in trumps;
42 and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer; and the singers sang clearly, and Jezrahiah, their sovereign also.
43 And they offered in that day great sacrifices, and were glad; for God had made them glad with great gladness. But also their wives and their lawful children were joyful, and the gladness of Jerusalem was heard [a] far.
44 Also they numbered in that day the men that were over the keeping places of the treasure, to receive moist [or liquor] sacrifices, and the first fruits, and tithes, that in seemliness, or fairness, of doing of thankings to the Lord, princes of the city should bring in by them, for the priests and deacons [or Levites]; for Judah was glad in priests and deacons present.
45 And they kept the keeping of their God, the keeping of cleansing; and singers, and porters, by the command-ment of David, and of Solomon, his son;
46 for in the days of David and of Asaph, from the beginning, princes of singers were ordained, praising in song, and acknowledging to God.
47 And all Israel, in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave parts to singers and to porters, by all the days; and they hallowed a part for the deacons [or Levites], and the deacons hallowed a part for the sons of Aaron.
* CHAPTER 12:17 A name is missing here in both the Hebrew and the Greek texts of the Ta’na’kh, which are the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament.