3. I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.”
4. Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt.
5. So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families. I found the genealogical record of those who had been the first to return. This is what I found written there:
6. These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,
64. These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.
65. The governor, therefore, ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there should be a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.
66. The whole company numbered 42,360,
67. besides their 7,337 male and female slaves; and they also had 245 male and female singers.
68. There were 736 horses, 245 mules,
69. 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.