7 1 Now when the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites were appointed. 2 I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah the commander of the fortress, for he was a faithful man and feared our Father more than many others. 3 I said to them, "The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot; and while the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Appoint guards from among the residents of Jerusalem, some at their posts and some in front of their own houses."
4 Now the city was spacious and large, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt.
The Father's People Counted Home
5 Then my Father put it into my heart to gather the nobles, the officials, and the people to register their family lines. I found the book of the genealogy of those who had come up first, and in it I found written:
6 These are the people of the province who came back from exile, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away; they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, 7 coming with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
8 The descendants of Parosh, 2,172;
9 The descendants of Shephatiah, 372;
10 The descendants of Arah, 652;
11 The descendants of Pahath-moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab), 2,818;
12 The descendants of Elam, 1,254;
13 The descendants of Zattu, 845;
14 The descendants of Zaccai, 760;
15 The descendants of Binnui, 648;
16 The descendants of Bebai, 628;
17 The descendants of Azgad, 2,322;
18 The descendants of Adonikam, 667;
19 The descendants of Bigvai, 2,067;
20 The descendants of Adin, 655;
21 The descendants of Ater (through Hezekiah), 98;
22 The descendants of Hashum, 328;
23 The descendants of Bezai, 324;
24 The descendants of Hariph, 112;
25 The descendants of Gibeon, 95;
26 The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188;
27 The men of Anathoth, 128;
28 The men of Beth-azmaveth, 42;
29 The men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;
30 The men of Ramah and Geba, 621;
31 The men of Michmas, 122;
32 The men of Bethel and Ai, 123;
33 The men of the other Nebo, 52;
34 The descendants of the other Elam, 1,254;
35 The descendants of Harim, 320;
36 The descendants of Jericho, 345;
37 The descendants of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721;
38 The descendants of Senaah, 3,930.
39 The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah (through the house of Jeshua), 973;
40 The descendants of Immer, 1,052;
41 The descendants of Pashhur, 1,247;
42 The descendants of Harim, 1,017.
43 The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua (through Kadmiel and the line of Hodevah), 74.
44 The singers: the descendants of Asaph, 148.
45 The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai, 138.
46 The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, 47 Keros, Sia, Padon, 48 Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai, 49 Hanan, Giddel, Gahar, 50 Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda, 51 Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah, 52 Besai, Meunim, Nephushesim, 53 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, 54 Bazlith, Mehida, Harsha, 55 Barkos, Sisera, Temah, 56 Neziah, and Hatipha.
57 The descendants of Solomon's servants: the descendants of Sotai, Sophereth, Perida, 58 Jaala, Darkon, Giddel, 59 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth-hazzebaim, and Amon. 60 All the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon's servants numbered 392.
61 The following came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove that their families were descended from Israel:
62 The descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda, 642.
63 And from the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai (who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and had taken their family name).
64 These searched for their family records, but they could not be found, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 65 The governor ordered them not to eat any of the most holy food until a priest could consult the Urim and Thummim. a a v65 The Urim and Thummim were sacred objects kept by the high priest, used to seek a clear decision from God on difficult questions.
66 The whole assembly together numbered 42,360, 67 besides their 7,337 male and female servants; and they had 245 male and female singers. 68 They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 69 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.
70 Some of the heads of families contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 gold coins, 50 bowls, and 530 garments for the priests. 71 Some of the heads of families gave to the treasury for the work 20,000 gold coins and about 2,750 pounds of silver. b b v71 A mina was a unit of weight for silver and gold, roughly one and a quarter pounds (about 600 grams). 72 The rest of the people gave 20,000 gold coins, about 2,500 pounds of silver, and 67 garments for the priests.
73 So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel settled in their own towns. When the seventh month came, the people of Israel were in their towns.