Ezra 2:70

2:70 The priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel lived in their towns.

Ezra 8:30

8:30 Then the priests and the Levites took charge of ¹  the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to transport them to Jerusalem to the temple of our God.

Ezra 6:20

6:20 The priests and the Levites had purified themselves, every last one, ²  and they all were ceremonially pure. They sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their colleagues ³  the priests, and for themselves.

Ezra 7:7

7:7 In the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, Ezra brought ⁴  up to Jerusalem ⁵  some of the Israelites and some of the priests, the Levites, the attendants, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants.

Ezra 8:29

8:29 Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, ⁶  in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.”

Ezra 1:5

The Exiles Prepare to Return to Jerusalem

1:5 Then the leaders ⁷  of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready ⁸  to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁹ 

Ezra 3:10

3:10 When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions, ¹⁰  and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by ¹¹  King David of Israel. ¹² 

Ezra 3:12

3:12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders ¹³  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ¹⁴  – were weeping loudly, ¹⁵  and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout.

Ezra 9:1

A Prayer of Ezra

9:1 Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents ¹⁶  who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

Ezra 3:8

3:8 In the second year after they had come to the temple of God in Jerusalem, ¹⁷  in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak initiated the work, ¹⁸  along with the rest of their associates, ¹⁹  the priests and the Levites, and all those who were coming to Jerusalem from the exile. They appointed ²⁰  the Levites who were at least twenty years old ²¹  to take charge of the work on the Lord’s temple.

¹ tn Heb “received.”

¹ tn Heb “as one.” The expression is best understood as referring to the unity shown by the religious leaders in preparing themselves for the observance of Passover. On the meaning of the Hebrew phrase see DCH 1:182 s.v. אֶחָד 3b. See also HALOT 30 s.v. אֶחָד 5.

² tn Heb “brothers.”

¹ tc The translation reads the Hiphil singular וַיַּעֲל (vayya’al, “he [Ezra] brought up”) rather than the Qal plural וַיַּעַלוּ (vayya’alu, “they came up”) of the MT.

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

² tn Heb “arose.”

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹ sn This was a long, straight, metallic instrument used for signal calls, rather than the traditional ram’s horn (both instruments are typically translated “trumpet” by English versions).

² tn Heb “according to the hands of.”

³ sn See Ps 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1. Cf. 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3; 20:21.

¹ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

² sn The temple had been destroyed some fifty years earlier by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.

³ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

¹ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.” So also in v. 2.

¹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

² tn Heb “began”; the phrase “the work” is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

³ tn Heb “their brothers.”

⁴ tn Heb “stood.”

⁵ tn Heb “from twenty years and upward.”