Monday, February 17, 2025
Time Passes; Heads of Provinces
11 Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities. 2 And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.
3 Now these are the heads of the provinces who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah each lived on his own property in their cities—the [a]Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the [b]temple servants and the [c]descendants of Solomon’s servants. 4 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, of the sons of Perez; 5 and 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. 6 All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 able men.
7 Now 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; 8 and after him Gabbai and Sallai, 928. 9 Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second [d]in command of the city.
10 From the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, 11 Seraiah 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, 12 and their [e]kinsmen who performed the work of the [f]temple, 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, 13 and his kinsmen, heads of fathers’ households, 242; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, 14 and their brothers, valiant warriors, 128. And their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of [g]Haggedolim.
15 Now from the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; 16 and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the [h]leaders of the Levites, who were [i]in charge of the outside work of the house of God; 17 and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of [j]Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the [k]leader in beginning the thanksgiving at prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brethren; and [l]Abda the son of [m]Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. 18 All the Levites in the holy city were 284.
19 Also the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brethren who kept watch at the gates, were 172.
Outside Jerusalem
20 The rest of Israel, of the priests and of the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each on his own inheritance. 21 But the temple servants were living in Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were [n]in charge of the temple servants.
22 Now the 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 for the [o]service of the house of God. 23 For there was a commandment from the king concerning them and a firm regulation for the song leaders day by day. 24 Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was the king’s [p]representative in all matters concerning the people.
25 Now as for the villages with their fields, some of the sons of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its [q]towns, in Dibon and its [r]towns, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, 26 and in Jeshua, in Moladah and Beth-pelet, 27 and in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its towns, 28 and in Ziklag, in Meconah and in its towns, 29 and in En-rimmon, in Zorah and in Jarmuth, 30 Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, Azekah and its towns. So they encamped from Beersheba as far as the valley of Hinnom. 31 The sons of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, at Bethel and its towns, 32 at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 35 Lod and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. 36 From the Levites, some divisions in Judah belonged to Benjamin.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 11:3 Lit Israel
- Nehemiah 11:3 Heb Nethinim
- Nehemiah 11:3 Lit sons
- Nehemiah 11:9 Lit over
- Nehemiah 11:12 Lit brothers, and so throughout the ch
- Nehemiah 11:12 Lit house
- Nehemiah 11:14 Or the great ones
- Nehemiah 11:16 Lit heads
- Nehemiah 11:16 Lit over
- Nehemiah 11:17 In 1 Chr 9:15, Zichri
- Nehemiah 11:17 Lit head
- Nehemiah 11:17 In 1 Chr 9:16, Obadiah
- Nehemiah 11:17 In 1 Chr 9:16, Shemaiah
- Nehemiah 11:21 Lit over
- Nehemiah 11:22 Or work
- Nehemiah 11:24 Lit hand
- Nehemiah 11:25 Lit daughters, and so throughout the ch
- Nehemiah 11:25 Lit daughters, and so throughout the ch
Israel’s Obstinacy
48 “Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came forth from the [a]loins of Judah,
Who swear by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in righteousness.
2 “For they call themselves after the holy city
And lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name.
3 “I declared the former things long ago
And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
4 “Because I know that you are [b]obstinate,
And your neck is an iron sinew
And your forehead bronze,
5 Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before [c]they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’
6 “You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.
7 “They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 “You have not heard, you have not known.
Even from long ago your ear has not been open,
Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;
And you have been called a [d]rebel from [e]birth.
9 “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
10 “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And My glory I will not give to another.
Deliverance Promised
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel [f]whom I called;
I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.
13 “Surely My hand founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them, they stand together.
14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15 “I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him,
I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
16 “Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the first I have not spoken in secret,
From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord [g]God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
17 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you in the way you should go.
18 “If only you had paid attention to My commandments!
Then your [h]well-being would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 “Your [i]descendants would have been like the sand,
And [j]your offspring like its grains;
Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”
20 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this,
Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
21 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He made the water flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and the water gushed forth.
22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 48:1 Lit waters
- Isaiah 48:4 Or harsh
- Isaiah 48:5 Lit it
- Isaiah 48:8 Or transgressor
- Isaiah 48:8 Lit the belly
- Isaiah 48:12 Lit My called one
- Isaiah 48:16 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 48:18 Or peace
- Isaiah 48:19 Lit seed
- Isaiah 48:19 Lit the offspring of your inward parts