Nehemiah 7:61-65

Some of the people could not prove who their *ancestors were. Some of these people were priests. God appointed the *descendants of Aaron (who was the brother of Moses) to be priests. So the priests had to prove that they were *descendants of Aaron. Otherwise, they could not serve as priests.

God gave some priests the Urim and Thummim. (Urim and Thummim means ‘perfect lights’. These objects were probably precious stones.) Somehow, these priests used these objects to know what God was telling the people to do. The priest would wear these objects in his jacket, over his heart (Leviticus 8:8).

But at that time there was no priest who could use the Urim and Thummim to make a decision.

So the men who had no family records needed such a priest. That priest would use the Urim and Thummim in order to ask God for direction. Then God would show that priest what to do about these men. These men could not prove their *ancestors. But perhaps God would allow them to serve as priests in the end. But until that happened, these men could not work as priests. The work of the priests was sacred and important. So the chief officer would not allow anyone who might not be a priest to work in the *temple.

v66 The total number of all the people was 42 360.

v67 There were also 7337 male and female servants and 245 male and female singers.

v68 There were 736 horses and 245 mules (strong animals that could carry people).

v69 There were 435 camels and 6720 donkeys (small animals that could carry people).

v70 Some of the leaders of the families gave gifts to the work.

The chief officer of *Judah gave these things to the store of the *temple:

• 8.5 kilos of gold

• 50 bowls

• 530 sets of special clothes for the priests to wear.

v71 Some of the leaders of the families gave these things to the store of the *temple:

• 170 kilos of gold

• 1200 kilos of silver.

v72 The rest of the people gave a total of:

• 170 kilos of gold

• 1100 kilos of silver

• 67 sets of special clothes for the priests to wear.