“Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the holy city Jerusalem. Nine tenths remained in the other towns. The people blessed all those who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. These are the leaders of the province who lived in Jerusalem. But in the towns of Judah every one lived on his property in their towns. This included the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants.”

Obviously not all the people could live in Jerusalem. The most important officials lived in Jerusalem. They cast lots so that 1 out of 10 people in Judah could live in Jerusalem. This would make Jerusalem the power town in Judah. However, 90% lived in the rest of Judah. Some people were happy that a number of people were willing to live in Jerusalem instead of their own land. The leaders of the provinces lived in Jerusalem along with the priests, the Levites, the Temple servants and the descendents of Solomon’s servants. Otherwise, everyone lived on their own property in Judah.