These are the provincial leaders ¹  who settled in Jerusalem. (While other Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple attendants, and the sons of the servants of Solomon settled in the cities of Judah, each on his own property in their cities,

After them the men of Tekoa worked on another section, from opposite the great protruding tower to the wall of Ophel.

And between the room above the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and traders worked.

On the sealed documents were the following names: ¹  Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah, along with Zedekiah,

The sum total of the descendants of Perez who were settling in Jerusalem was 468 exceptional men.

And the gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon and their colleagues who were guarding the gates – 172.

These are the priests and Levites who returned ¹  with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

So I purified them of everything foreign, and I assigned specific ¹  duties to the priests and the Levites.

But if you repent ¹  and obey ²  my commandments and do them, then even if your dispersed people are in the most remote location, ³  I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for my name to reside.’

And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, ¹  and our children are just like their children, ²  still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. ³  Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, ⁴  since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” ⁵ 

“Due to your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. The pillar of cloud did not stop guiding them in the path by day, ¹  nor did the pillar of fire stop illuminating for them by night the path on which they should travel.

The Israelites and the Levites will bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the utensils of the sanctuary are kept, and where the priests who minister stay, along with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the temple of our God.”

So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.

and the temple servants who were living on Ophel worked ¹  up to the area opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the protruding tower.

The builders to a man had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter ¹  remained with me.

But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Would someone like me flee to the temple in order to save his life? ¹  I will not go!”

They searched for their records in the genealogical materials, but none were found. They were therefore excluded ¹  from the priesthood.

You guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night to illumine for them the path they were to travel.

(10:1) ¹  “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant ²  in written form; ³  our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names ⁴  on the sealed document.”

We accept responsibility for fulfilling ¹  the commands to give ²  one third of a shekel each year for the work of the temple ³  of our God,