UNROLL
Morning light across a plain wooden table in a stone room: a long rolled document tied with cord, a row of blank clay seals hanging from it, a lump of soft clay and a reed pen case beside it, pale bare plaster above.

The Book of

Nehemiah 10

Eighty-four names, and promises so practical they mention firewood.

39 verses≈ 5 min3 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

Tap any post to go deeper

In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–2The callA cupbearer prays and is sent
  2. 3–6The wallBuilt under fire in 52 days
  3. 7The peopleThe families remembered
  4. 8–10The WordRead, confessed, swornChapter 10
  5. 11–12The citySettled and dedicated
  6. 13The endingPromises broken, reforms again

Signers of the Covenant

Sealed the document

Nehemiah and the priests

  1. First to seal

    Nehemiah the governor, and Zedekiah

    Now these were the ones who sealed the document:

    Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah,

    and also Zedekiah,

  2. Priests

    Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah

    Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,

  3. Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah

    Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah,

  4. Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch

    Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,

  5. Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah

    Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,

  6. Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch

    Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,

  7. Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin

    Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,

  8. Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah

    Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah.

    These were the priests.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Close by lamplight: a hand in a plain good wool sleeve presses a small stone seal into a blob of soft clay on the cord of a rolled document, a line of finished clay seals beside it.

Sealed the document

The Levites

  1. Levites

    Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel

    The Levites:

    Jeshua son of Azaniah,

    Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel,

  2. Their associates

    Shebaniah to Hanan

    and their associates: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,

  3. Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah

    Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,

  4. Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah

    Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,

  5. Hodiah, Bani, Beninu

    Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.

A line of gray-bearded elders waits along a stone wall in morning light, each holding a small seal on a cord, the foremost stepping up to a plain table where a Levite scribe stands by a rolled document.

Sealed the document

The leaders of the people

  1. Clans of the return

    Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani

    And the leaders of the people:

    Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,

  2. Bunni, Azgad, Bebai

    Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,

  3. Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin

    Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,

  4. Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur

    Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,

  5. Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai

    Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,

  6. Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai

    Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,

  7. Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir

    Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,

  8. Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua

    Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,

  9. Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah

    Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,

  10. Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub

    Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,

  11. Hallohesh to Maaseiah

    Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,

    Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,

  12. Ahijah to Baanah

    Ahijah, Hanan, Anan,

    Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.

Question

Quick question

Who went first?

Whose name is the first on the sealed document?

The Vows of the Covenant

Morning on open ground inside Jerusalem's plain flat-topped wall: priests, Levites and families with sons and daughters stand with right hands raised, seen from behind, a woman with her hand on her daughter's shoulder, under a clear sky.

“The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the people of the land to obey the Law of God—along with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand, hereby join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the Law of God given through His servant Moses and to obey carefully all the commandments, ordinances, and statutes of the LORD our Lord.

0:27

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

We will not give our daughters in marriage to the people of the land, and we will not take their daughters for our sons.

Morning on the path up to the plain second temple: a father, mother and two boys climb with bundles of split olive wood on their backs and on a donkey, the stone altar smoking at the top of the rise, priests waiting by a stack of wood.

We have cast lots among the priests, Levites, and people for the donation of wood by our families at the appointed times each year. They are to bring it to the house of our God to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law.

Reflect

Get specific

They did not only say they were sorry. They wrote down the Sabbath, the silver and the wood. What would it mean for you to make one honest, specific promise to God this week? Write it down, and write who will help you keep it.

A woman carries a shallow basket of first grapes, figs and a round of dough on her head up a stone lane toward the plain temple, her husband beside her with a small jar of oil and a firstling lamb in the crook of his arm.

What they will bring

For the house of our God

  1. Year by year

    Firstfruits of land and trees

    We will also bring the firstfruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the house of the LORD year by year.

  2. As it is written

    Firstborn of sons and livestock

    And we will bring the firstborn of our sons and our livestock, as it is written in the Law, and will bring the firstborn of our herds and flocks to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God.

  3. To the priests

    First dough, grain, fruit, wine, oil

    Moreover, we will bring to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God the firstfruits of our dough, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees, and of our new wine and oil.

  4. To the Levites

    A tenth of the produce

    A tenth of our produce belongs to the Levites, so that they shall receive tithes in all the towns where we labor.

  5. To the storerooms

    A tenth of the tenth

    A priest of Aaron’s line is to accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of these tithes to the storerooms of the treasury in the house of our God.

  6. For those who serve

    Grain, new wine and oil brought in

    For the Israelites and the Levites are to bring the contributions of grain, new wine, and oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are kept and where the ministering priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers stay.

A long plain stone storeroom lit from one door: clay jars of grain, wine and oil in rows, a priest standing by as Levites carry in sacks, a singer and a gatekeeper sharing bread on a bench at the far end.

Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.”

Nehemiah 10:39

Pray

Pray

Give thanks for those who have made promises to God and kept them. Ask forgiveness for the promises you have let go. Ask for grace to give regularly and gladly, not only when you feel moved. Pray for those who serve God’s house and depend on His people.

What the giving was for

the house keptWood,grain,tithesbrought year byyearThe storeroomskept by the templeThose who servefedpriests, Levites,singersThey stayat theirpostsnot gone totheir fields

Whiteboard

The promises look like bookkeeping, but they kept the fire on the altar and the people who taught the Law at their work. A small people was promising that God’s house would not go without.

You’ve experienced

Nehemiah 10

0 of 13 chapters read

A verse to carry with you

Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.

Nehemiah 10:39

or swipe left