the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Avraham and Yitzchak. Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.*
My sons, don't be negligent now; for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him, to minister to him, and that you should be his ministers, and burn incense.
Among the sons of the Kohanim there were found who had married foreign women: [namely], of the sons of Yeshua, the son of Yotzadak, and his brothers, Ma`aseyah, and Eli`ezer, and Yariv, and Gedalyahu.
who came with Zerubbavel, Yeshua, Nechemyah, Serayah, Re`elayah, Mordekhai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rechum, Ba`anah. The number of the men of the people of Yisra'el:
Then rose up Zerubbavel the son of She'alti'el, and Yeshua the son of Yotzadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Yerushalayim; and with them were the prophets of God, helping them.
Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moshe, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn't destroy them.
Therefore thus says the LORD, If you return, then will I bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take forth the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth: they shall return to you, but you shall not return to them.
Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.
But the Kohanim the Levites, the sons of Tzadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Yisra'el went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord GOD:
In the second year of Daryavesh the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the Word of the LORD came by Chaggai, the prophet, to Zerubbavel, the son of She'alti'el, governor of Yehudah, and to Yehoshua, the son of Yehotzadak, the Kohen Gadol, saying,
Then Zerubbavel, the son of She'alti'el, and Yehoshua, the son of Yehotzadak, the Kohen Gadol, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD, their God, and the words of Chaggai, the prophet, as the LORD, their God, had sent him; and the people feared the LORD.
Yet now be strong, Zerubbavel,' says the LORD. 'Be strong, Yehoshua, son of Yehotzadak, the Kohen Gadol. Be strong, all you people of the land,' says the LORD, 'and work, for I am with you,' says the LORD of Armies.
I asked the angel who talked with me, *What are these?* He answered me, *These are the horns which have scattered Yehudah, Yisra'el, and Yerushalayim.*
Hear now, Yehoshua the Kohen Gadol, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant, the Branch.
*Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!* says the LORD of Armies.
Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.*
At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.