Nehemiah 7:1-28

The Voice

7 Later, when the wall was completed and the doors had finally been set in their places, the temple gatekeepers were appointed to protect the city, with the help of the singers and the Levites. ² I placed Hanani, my brother, in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah, the captain of the fortress. Hanani was honest and faithful, and in the fear of God he surpassed most men. ³ I commissioned these two men.

⁴ While Jerusalem was large and open, its population was still very small. In fact, no homes had yet been rebuilt, and without people it seemed empty.

⁵ It was at that time that God inspired me to gather those people who were in the city. I called the nobles, the officials of the city, and the common folk. I had found the genealogical record of those who had been the first to return to Jerusalem; this is what the record showed:

⁶ A list of the Jews exiled under Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, living in the province of Jerusalem who returned from captivity in Babylon. They came back to Jerusalem and other towns around Judah, each returning to his home. ⁷ They were the first to journey back, following the leadership of Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah.

The men of the population of Israel, listed by their family of origin— ⁸ Parosh’s descendants: 2,172; ⁹ Shephatiah’s descendants: 372; ¹⁰ Arah’s descendants: 652; ¹¹ Pahath-moab’s descendants (from Jeshua and Joab’s line): 2,818; ¹² Elam’s descendants: 1,254; ¹³ Zattu’s descendants: 845; ¹⁴ Zaccai’s descendants: 760; ¹⁵ Binnui’s descendants: 648; ¹⁶ Bebai’s descendants: 628; ¹⁷ Azgad’s descendants: 2,322; ¹⁸ Adonikam’s descendants: 667; ¹⁹ Bigvai and his descendants: 2,067; ²⁰ Adin’s descendants: 655; ²¹ Ater’s descendants (from Hezekiah’s line): 98; ²² Hashum’s descendants: 328; ²³ Bezai’s descendants: 324; ²⁴ Hariph’s descendants: 112; ²⁵ Gibeon’s descendants: 95.

The men in the population of Israel listed by their place of origin— ²⁶ the people of Bethlehem and Netophah: 188; ²⁷ the people of Anathoth: 128; ²⁸ the people of Beth-azmaveth: 42;