Nehemiah 11 - 12, Revelation 7, Ecclesiastes 7

The Heads of the Provinces in Jerusalem

11And ^athe officials of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the rest of the people ^bcast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, ^cthe holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities. ²And the people blessed all the men who ^afreely offered to live in Jerusalem.

³^aNow these are the heads of the provinces who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah ^beach lived in his own possession in their cities—¹the Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the ²^,^ctemple servants, and the ^dsons of Solomon’s servants. ⁴And 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, from the sons of Perez;

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 the Shilonite. ⁶All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 valiant men.

⁷Now 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, 928. ⁹Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second ¹in command of the city.

¹⁰From the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin,

¹¹Seraiah 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, ¹²and their ¹relatives who did the work of the ²house, 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, ¹³and his relatives, heads of fathers’ households, 242; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, ¹⁴and their relatives, mighty men of valor, 128. And their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of ¹Haggedolim.

¹⁵Now from the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;

¹⁶and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the ¹chiefs of the Levites, who were over ^athe outside work of the house of God; ¹⁷and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of ¹Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the ²chief in beginning the thanksgiving in prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his relatives; and ³Abda the son of ⁴Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.

¹⁸All the Levites in ^athe holy city were 284.

¹⁹Now the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their relatives who kept watch at the gates, were 172.

Villages Outside Jerusalem

²⁰The rest of Israel, of the priests and of the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each ^aon his own inheritance. ²¹But ^athe temple servants were living in Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants.

²²Now ^athe 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 ¹over the work of the house of God. ²³^aFor there was a commandment from the king concerning them and a firm regulation for the song leaders ^bday by day. ²⁴Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons ^aof Zerah the son of Judah, was the ^bking’s ¹representative in all matters concerning the people.

²⁵Now as for the villages with their fields, some of the sons of Judah lived in ^aKiriath-arba and its ¹towns, in ^bDibon and its towns, and in Jekabzeel and its villages,

²⁶and in Jeshua, in Moladah and Beth-pelet, ²⁷and in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its towns, ²⁸and in Ziklag, in Meconah and in its towns, ²⁹and in En-rimmon, in Zorah and in Jarmuth, ³⁰Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, Azekah and its towns. So they encamped from Beersheba as far as the valley of Hinnom. ³¹The sons of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, at Bethel and its towns, ³²at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, ³³Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, ³⁴Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, ³⁵Lod and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. ³⁶From the Levites, some divisions in Judah belonged to Benjamin.

Priests and Levites Come Up with Zerubbabel

12Now these are ^athe priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

²Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, ³Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, ⁴Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, ⁵Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, ⁶Shemaiah and Joiarib, Jedaiah, ⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the heads of the priests and their ¹relatives in the days of Jeshua.

⁸The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah who was over of the songs of thanksgiving, he and his brothers.

⁹Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, stood opposite them ^ain keeping their responsibilities. ¹⁰Jeshua ¹became the father of Joiakim, and Joiakim became the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib became the father of Joiada, ¹¹and Joiada became the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan became the father of Jaddua.

¹²Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the heads of fathers’ households were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

¹³of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; ¹⁴of ¹Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; ¹⁵of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; ¹⁶of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; ¹⁷of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; ¹⁸of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; ¹⁹of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; ²⁰of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; ²¹of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

The Heads of the Levites

²²As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan and Jaddua, the heads of fathers’ households were written down; the priests were also in the reign of Darius the Persian. ²³The sons of Levi, the heads of fathers’ households, were written down in the Book of the Chronicles up to the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib.

²⁴The heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers opposite them, ^ato praise and give thanks, by the commandment of David the man of God, ^bwatch by watch. ²⁵Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping watch at ^athe storerooms of the gates.

²⁶These served in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of ^aNehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest and scribe.

Dedication of the Wall

²⁷Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they might celebrate the dedication with gladness, with hymns of thanksgiving and with songs ^ato the accompaniment of cymbals, harps and lyres. ²⁸So the sons of the singers were gathered from the district around Jerusalem and from ^athe villages of the Netophathites, ²⁹from Beth-gilgal and from their fields in Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem. ³⁰The priests and the Levites ^acleansed themselves; they also cleansed the people, the gates, and the wall.

The Choirs in the House of God

³¹Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on top of the wall, and I had two great choirs of thanksgiving stand, ¹^,^athe first proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward ^bthe Dung Gate.

³²Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them, ³³with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, ³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, ³⁵and some of the sons of the priests with trumpets; and Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph, ³⁶and his ¹relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, ^awith the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them.

³⁷At ^athe Spring Gate they went directly up ^bthe steps of the city of David by the stairway of the wall above the house of David to ^cthe Water Gate on the east.

³⁸^aThe second ¹choir proceeded to the ²left, while I followed them with half of the people on the wall, ^babove the Tower of Furnaces, to ^cthe Broad Wall, ³⁹and above ^athe Gate of Ephraim, by ^bthe Old Gate, by the ^cFish Gate, ^dthe Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate; and they stood at ^ethe Gate of the Guard. ⁴⁰Then the two choirs took their stand in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials with me; ⁴¹and the priests: Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah, with the trumpets;

⁴²and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers made their voices heard, with Jezrahiah their overseer,

⁴³and on that day they offered great sacrifices and were glad because ^aGod had given them great gladness, even the women and children were glad, so that the gladness of Jerusalem was heard from afar.

⁴⁴On that day ^amen were also appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions required by the law for the priests and Levites; for Judah was glad over the priests and Levites who stood to minister. ⁴⁵And they kept their responsibility given by their God and the responsibility of cleansing, together with the singers and the gatekeepers, ^aaccording to the commandment of David and his son Solomon. ⁴⁶For in the days of David and ^aAsaph, in ancient times, there were ¹^,^bchiefs of the singers, songs of praise and hymns of thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷So all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah were giving the portions due the singers and the gatekeepers ^aas each day required, and ^bset apart the holy portion for the Levites, and the Levites set apart the holy portion for the sons of Aaron.

The 144,000

7After this I saw ^afour angels standing at the ^bfour corners of the earth, holding back ^cthe four winds of the earth, ^dso that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. ²Then I saw another angel ascending ^afrom the rising of the sun, having the ^bseal of ^cthe living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the ^dfour angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, ³saying, “^aDo not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have ^bsealed the slaves of our God on their ^cforeheads.”

⁴And I heard the ^anumber of those having been sealed, ^b144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

⁵from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 having been sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, ⁶from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, ⁷from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, ⁸from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000 having been sealed.

A Multitude from Every Nation

⁹After these things I looked, and behold, a great ¹multitude which no one could count, from ^aevery nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing ^bbefore the throne and ^cbefore the Lamb, clothed in ^dwhite robes, and ^epalm branches were in their hands; ¹⁰and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “^aSalvation belongs to our God ^bwho sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” ¹¹And all the angels were standing ^aaround the throne and ^bthe elders and the ^cfour living creatures, and they ^dfell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying, “^aAmen, ^bthe blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength, be to our God forever and ever. ^cAmen.”

¹³Then one of the elders ^aanswered, saying to me, “These, clothed in the ^bwhite robes, who are they, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴And I ¹said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the ^agreat tribulation, and they ^bwashed their robes and made them ^cwhite in the ^dblood of the Lamb. ¹⁵“For this reason, they are ^abefore the throne of God; and they ^bserve Him day and night in His ¹^,^csanctuary; and ^dHe who sits on the throne will ²^,^edwell over them. ¹⁶“^aThey will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun ¹beat down on them, nor any heat; ¹⁷for the Lamb at the center of the throne will ^ashepherd them and will guide them to springs of the ¹^,^bwater of life. And ^cGod will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Wisdom and Folly Contrasted

7Better is a ^agood name than good oil,And better is the ^bday of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.²Better to go to a house of mourningThan to go to a house of feastingBecause ¹that is the ^aend of all mankind,And the living ^bputs this in his heart.³^aBetter is vexation than laughter,For ^bwhen a face is sad a heart may be merry.⁴The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,While the heart of fools is in the house of gladness.⁵Better to ^alisten to the rebuke of a wise manThan for one to listen to the song of fools.⁶For as the crackling sound of ^athorn bushes under a pot,So is the ^blaughter of the fool;And this too is vanity.⁷For ^aoppression gives a wise man over to madness,And a ^bbribe ¹destroys the heart.⁸Better is the ^aend of a matter than its beginning;^bBetter is patience of spirit than haughtiness of spirit.⁹Do not be ¹^,^aeager in your spirit to be vexed,For vexation rests in the bosom of fools.¹⁰Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?”For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.¹¹Wisdom along with an inheritance is goodAnd an ^aadvantage to those who see the sun.¹²For ^awisdom is a ^bshadow of protection as money is a shadow of protection,And the advantage of knowledge is that ^cwisdom preserves the lives of its masters.¹³See the ^awork of God,For who is ^bable to straighten what He has bent?¹⁴^aIn the day when there is good be of good cheer,But ^bin the day when there is evil see—God has made the one as well as the otherSo that man will ^cnot find out anything that will be after him.

¹⁵I have seen everything during my ^adays of vanity; there is ^ba righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is ^ca wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. ¹⁶Do not be excessively ^arighteous, and do not ^bbe overly wise. Why should you make yourself desolate? ¹⁷Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a simpleminded fool. Why should you ^adie before your time? ¹⁸It is good that you seize one thing and also not ¹let go of the other; for the one who ^afears God comes forth with ²both of them.

¹⁹^aWisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten men with power who are in a city. ²⁰Indeed, ^athere is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. ²¹Also, do not give your heart to all words which are spoken, so that you will not hear your slave ^acursing you. ²²For your heart also knows that you likewise have many times cursed others.

²³I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” ^abut it was far from me. ²⁴What has been is far away and ^aexceedingly deep. ^bWho can find it? ²⁵I ^aturned my heart to know, to explore, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the wickedness of foolishness and the simpleminded folly of madness. ²⁶And I found more ^abitter than death the woman whose heart is ^bsnares and nets, whose hands are chains. ^cOne who is good before God will escape from her, but ^dthe sinner will be captured by her.

²⁷“See, I have found this,” says the Preacher, “adding one thing to another to find an explanation, ²⁸which my soul still seeks but has not found. I have found one man out of a thousand, but I have not found a ^awoman among all these. ²⁹“See, I have found only this, that ^aGod made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”