Nehemiah 11:1,2

The leaders of the people lived in the city. They would help Hanani and Hananiah to rule the people (Nehemiah 7:2). But a city can only be a great city if many people live there. The people who lived in the other towns and villages already had houses and land. If they moved to live in Jerusalem, they would have to build new houses and to find new work. The people used *lots to decide who would live in the city. They used *lots in order to find out what God wanted them to do (Proverbs 16:33). So they chose one tenth (1/10th) of the people to live in Jerusalem. All the people were grateful for those people who were willing to live in Jerusalem.

v3-4 In the other towns in *Judah, the people lived on their own land. This included the *Israelites, the priests, the *Levites and the people who served in the *temple. And the people who were *descendants of King Solomon’s servants also lived on their own land. Other people from the *descendants of *Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem. The leaders of the district lived in Jerusalem. This is a list of their names.

Among the *descendants of Judah were:

• Athaiah who was the son of Uzziah and was the grandson of Zechariah. (Zechariah was the son of Amariah and was the grandson of Shephatiah. Shephatiah was the son of Mahalalel and he was a *descendant of Perez.)

• v5 Maaseiah who was the son of Baruch and was the grandson of Col-Hozeh. (Col-Hozeh was the son of Hazaiah and was the grandson of Adaiah. Adaiah was the son of Joiarib and was the grandson of Zechariah. And he was a *descendant of Shelah.)

• v6 There were 486 *descendants of Perez who lived in Jerusalem. They were all strong men.

v7 Among the *descendants of Benjamin were:

• Sallu who was the son of Meshullam and was the grandson of Joed. (Joed was the son of Pedaiah and was the grandson of Kolaiah. Kolaiah was the son of Maaseiah and was the grandson of Ithiel. And he was a *descendant of Jeshaiah.)

• v8 And after Sallu there were Gabbai and Sallai.

• The total number of men was 928.

v9 Joel, the son of Zicri, was their chief officer. And *Judah, the son of Hassenuah, was the second officer of the city.