Nehemiah 12

¹ Na the Priests and Levites wey come back to the land of Judah be these. Dem come back with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua. Na the lists of their names be this: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

² Amariah, Malluch, Hattush

³ Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,

⁴ Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,

⁵ Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah,

⁶ Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,

⁷ Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These men na leaders of the priests and their relatives in the days of Jeshua.

⁸ Na Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and also Mattaniah be the Levites. These men, with Mattaniah relatives, dey in charge of singing songs of praise to God.

⁹ Na Bakbukiah and Unni be relatives of those Levites. These two men dey stand across from them in the service.

¹⁰ Na Jeshua be Joiakim papa. Joiakim na Eliashib papa. Eliashib na Joiada papa.

¹¹ Joiada na Jonathan papa, and na Jonathan be Jaddua papa.

¹² Na these men be the leaders of the families of priests, in the days of Joiakim:Na Meraiah be the leader of Seraiah family. Na Hananiah be the leader of Jeremiah.

¹³ Na Meshullam be the leader of Ezra family. Na Jehohanan be the leader of Amariah family.

¹⁴ Na Jonathan be the leader of Malluch family, na Joseph be the leader of Shecaniah.

¹⁵ Na Adna be the leader of Harim family. Na Helkai be the leader of Meremoth family.

¹⁶ Na Zechariah be the leader of Iddo family. Na Meshullam be the leader of Ginnethon family.

¹⁷ Na Zichri be the leader of Abijah family. Na Piltai be the leader of Miniamin and Maadiah families.

¹⁸ Na Shammua be the leader of Bilgah family. Na Jehonathan be the leader of Shemaniah family.

¹⁹ Na Mattena be the leader of Joiarib family. Na Uzzi be the leader for Jedaiah.

²⁰ Na Kallai be the leader of Sallai family. Na Eber be the leader of Amok family.

²¹ Na Hashabiah be the leader of Hilkiah family. Na Nethanel be the leader of Jedaiah family.

²² Dem write down the names of the leaders of the families of the Levites and the priests in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua during the time wey Darius the king of Persia dey rule.

²³ Dem write the leaders among the descendants of the Levites and up to the time of Johana son of Eliashib for history book.

²⁴ And na the leaders of the Levites be these: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their brothers. Their brothers con stand across from them to sing praise and honor to God. One group dey answer the other group. Na wetin David command be that.

²⁵ Na Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub be the gatemen wey dey guard the storerooms next to the gates.

²⁶ Dem serve in the days of Joiakim. Joiakim na the son of Jeshua, wey be the son of Jozadak. And the gatekeepers also serve in the days of Nehemiah wey be the governor and for the days of Ezra wey be priest and teacher.

²⁷ The people con dedicate the wall of Jerusalem. The Levites come from the town wey dem dey live. Dem come Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. Dem come sing songs of praise and thanks to God. Dem play their cymbals, harps, and lyres.

²⁸ And all the singers also come Jerusalem too. Dem come from all the towns wey dey around Jerusalem. Dem come from the town of Netophah, from Beth Gilgal, Geba, and Azmaveth.

²⁹ The singers don build small town for themselves in the area wey dey around Jerusalem.

³⁰ Naso the priests and the Levites make themselves pure with sacrifice. Dem con also make the people, the gates, and the wall of Jerusalem pure with sacrifice.

³¹ I tell the leaders of Judah say make dem go up and stand on top the wall. I con choose two large singing groups make dem give thanks to God. One group suppose start to dey go up on top the wall for the right side, toward the Rubbish Gate.

³² Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah con follow the singers.

³³ People wey dey also follow them na Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,

³⁴ Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah.

³⁵ And some of the priests with trumpets dey also follow them go on top the wall. Zechariah dey follow them too. (Zechariah na son of Jonathan, wey be son of Shemaiah, wey be son of Mattaniah, wey be son of Micaiah, wey be son of Zaccur, wey be the son of Asaph.)

³⁶ Asaph brothers also dey for there, dem be Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani. Dem get the musical instruments wey David, the man of God, don make. Na Ezra lead the group of people wey dey there to dedicate the wall.

³⁷ Dem go to Fountain Gate and dem waka up the stairs reach city of David. Dem dey on top the city wall. Dem waka on top the house of David and dem go toward the Water Gate.

³⁸ The second group of the singers con start for the other direction, go left. I follow them as dem go to the top of the wall. Half of the people dey also follow them. Dem waka pass the Tower of Ovens to the Broad Wall.

³⁹ Dem con waka pass these gates: Gate of Ephraim, Old Gate, and Fish Gate. And dem waka on top Tower of Hananel and Tower of the Hundred. Dem go far reach Sheep Gate and dem stop for Guard Gate.

⁴⁰ Then the two groups wey dey sing go to their place in Temple of God. And I stand for my place. And half of the officials dey stand for their places in the Temple.

⁴¹ Then these priests dey stand for their places: Eliakim, Maaseiah, Mijamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah. These priests get their trumpet with them.

⁴² Then these priests dey stand in their places for the Temple: Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then two groups con start dey sing and na Jezrahiah dey lead them.

⁴³ So on that special day, the priests offer plenty sacrifices. Everybody dey happy because God don make them happy. Even the women and the children dey happy. People wey dey far away fit hear the happy sounds wey dey come from Jerusalem.

⁴⁴ Dem chose men make dem dey in charge of storerooms on that day. People dey bring the first part of the harvest and one-tenth of their crops. So the men wey dey in charge put these things for the storerooms. The Jewish people dey very happy about the priests and the Levites wey dey on duty. Naso dem bring plenty things make dem put for the storerooms.

⁴⁵ The priests and the Levites dey do their work for their God. Dem do the sacrifice wey make people pure, and the singers and the gatekeepers do their part too. Dem do everything wey David and Solomon don command.

⁴⁶ (Long time ago, in the days wey David dey reign, Asaph na the director. And he get plenty songs of praise and thanks to God.)

⁴⁷ Naso for the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all the Israelites dey bring gift everyday to support the singers and the gatekeepers. The people give the Levites offering. And the Levites give the priests the portion dem suppose give.