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And now the wall had been rebuilt, the gates had all been put in place, and the Temple guards, the members of the sacred choir, and the other Levites had been assigned their work.
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I put two men in charge of governing the city of Jerusalem: my brother Hanani and Hananiah, commanding officer of the fortress. Hananiah was a reliable and God-fearing man without equal.
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I told them not to have the gates of Jerusalem opened in the morning until well after sunrise and to have them closed and barred before the guards went off duty at sunset. I also told them to appoint guards from among the people who lived in Jerusalem and to assign some of them to specific posts and others to patrol the area around their own houses.
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Jerusalem was a large city, but not many people were living in it, and not many houses had been built yet.
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God inspired me to assemble the people and their leaders and officials and to check their family records. I located the records of those who had first returned from captivity, and this is the information I found:
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Many of the exiles left the province of Babylon and returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own hometown. Their families had been living in exile in Babylonia ever since King Nebuchadnezzar had taken them there as prisoners.
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Their leaders were Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah.
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This is the list of the clans of Israel, with the number of those from each clan who returned from exile: Parosh - 2,172
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Pahath Moab (descendants of Jeshua and Joab) - 2,818
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Ater (also called Hezekiah) - 98
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People whose ancestors had lived in the following towns also returned: Bethlehem and Netophah - 188
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Kiriath Jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth - 743
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The other Elam - 1,254
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Lod, Hadid, and Ono - 721
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This is the list of the priestly clans that returned from exile: Jedaiah (descendants of Jeshua) - 973
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Clans of Levites who returned from exile: Jeshua and Kadmiel (descendants of Hodaviah) - 74
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Temple musicians (descendants of Asaph) - 148
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Temple guards (descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai) - 138
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Clans of temple workmen who returned from exile: Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
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Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai,
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Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda,
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Besai, Meunim, Nephushesim,
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Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
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Bazlith, Mehida, Harsha,
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Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
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Clans of Solomon's servants who returned from exile: Sotai, Sophereth, Perida,
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Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel,
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Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth Hazzebaim, and Amon.
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The total number of descendants of the temple workmen and of Solomon's servants who returned from exile was 392.
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There were 642 belonging to the clans of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda who returned from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer;
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but they could not prove that they were descendants of Israelites.
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The following priestly clans could find no record to prove their ancestry: Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai. (The ancestor of the priestly clan of Barzillai had married a woman from the clan of Barzillai of Gilead and taken the name of his father-in-law's clan.)
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Since they were unable to prove who their ancestors were, they were not accepted as priests.
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The Jewish governor told them that they could not eat the food offered to God until there was a priest who could use the Urim and Thummim.
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Total number of exiles who returned - 42,360 Their male and female servants - 7,337
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Male and female musicians - 245
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Horses - 736, Mules - 245
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Camels - 435, Donkeys - 6,720
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Many of the people contributed to help pay the cost of restoring the Temple: The governor 8 kilogrammes of gold, 50 ceremonial bowls, 530 robes for priests
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eads of clans 168 kilogrammes of gold, 1,250 kilogrammes of silver,
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he rest of the people 168 kilogrammes of gold, 140 kilogrammes of silver, 67 robes for priests
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The priests, the Levites, the temple guards, the musicians, many of the ordinary people, the temple workmen - all the people of Israel - settled in the towns and cities of Judah.
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