Nehemiah 1-5

New Century Version

Nehemiah’s Prayer

1 These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.

In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year,^[a] I, Nehemiah, was in the capital city of Susa. ² One of my brothers named Hanani came with some other men from Judah. I asked them about Jerusalem and the Jewish people who lived through the captivity.

³ They answered me, “Those who are left from the captivity are back in Judah, but they are in much trouble and are full of shame. The wall around Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned.”

⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and cried for several days. I was sad and fasted. I prayed to the God of heaven, ⁵ “Lord, God of heaven, you are the great God who is to be respected. You are loyal, and you keep your agreement with those who love you and obey your commands. ⁶ Look and listen carefully. Hear the prayer that I, your servant, am praying to you day and night for your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we Israelites have done against you. My father’s family and I have sinned against you. ⁷ We have been wicked toward you and have not obeyed the commands, rules, and laws you gave your servant Moses.

⁸ “Remember what you taught your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. ⁹ But if you return to me and obey my commands, I will gather your people from the far ends of the earth. And I will bring them from captivity to where I have chosen to be worshiped.’

¹⁰ “They are your servants and your people, whom you have saved with your great strength and power. ¹¹ Lord, listen carefully to the prayer of your servant and the prayers of your servants who love to honor you. Give me, your servant, success today; allow this king to show kindness to me.”

I was the one who served wine to the king.

Nehemiah Is Sent to Jerusalem

2 It was the month of Nisan in the twentieth year Artaxerxes was king. He wanted some wine, so I took some and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before. ² So the king said, “Why does your face look sad even though you are not sick? Your heart must be sad.”

Then I was very afraid. ³ I said to the king, “May the king live forever! My face is sad because the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire.”

⁴ Then the king said to me, “What do you want?”

First I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I answered the king, “If you are willing and if I have pleased you, send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so I can rebuild it.”

⁶ The queen was sitting next to the king. He asked me, “How long will your trip take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me, so I set a time.

⁷ I also said to him, “If you are willing, give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates. Tell them to let me pass safely through their lands on my way to Judah. ⁸ And may I have a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, telling him to give me timber? I will need it to make boards for the gates of the palace, which is by the Temple, and for the city wall, and for the house in which I will live.” So the king gave me the letters, because God was showing kindness to me. ⁹ Then I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and soldiers on horses with me.

¹⁰ When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite officer heard about this, they were upset that someone had come to help the Israelites.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem

¹¹ I went to Jerusalem and stayed there three days. ¹² Then at night I started out with a few men. I had not told anyone what God had caused me to do for Jerusalem. There were no animals with me except the one I was riding.

¹³ I went out at night through the Valley Gate. I rode toward the Dragon Well and the Trash Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and the gates that had been destroyed by fire. ¹⁴ Then I rode on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for the animal I was riding to pass through. ¹⁵ So I went up the valley at night, inspecting the wall. Finally, I turned and went back in through the Valley Gate. ¹⁶ The guards did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. I had not yet said anything to the Jewish people, the priests, the important men, the officers, or any of the others who would do the work.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You can see the trouble we have here. Jerusalem is a pile of ruins, and its gates have been burned. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so we won’t be full of shame any longer.” ¹⁸ I also told them how God had been kind to me and what the king had said to me.

Then they answered, “Let’s start rebuilding.” So they began to work hard.

¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite officer, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they made fun of us and laughed at us. They said, “What are you doing? Are you turning against the king?”

²⁰ But I answered them, “The God of heaven will give us success. We, his servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no share, claim, or memorial in Jerusalem.”

Builders of the Wall

3 Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They gave it to the Lord’s service and set its doors in place. They worked as far as the Tower of the Hundred and gave it to the Lord’s service. Then they went on to the Tower of Hananel. ² Next to them, the people of Jericho built part of the wall, and Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.

³ The sons of Hassenaah rebuilt the Fish Gate, laying its boards and setting its doors, bolts, and bars in place. ⁴ Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, made repairs next to them. Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs next to Meremoth. And Zadok son of Baana made repairs next to Meshullam. ⁵ The people from Tekoa made repairs next to them, but the leading men of Tekoa would not work under their supervisors.

⁶ Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate. They laid its boards and set its doors, bolts, and bars in place. ⁷ Next to them, Melatiah from Gibeon, other men from Gibeon and Mizpah, and Jadon from Meronoth made repairs. These places were ruled by the governor of Trans-Euphrates. ⁸ Next to them, Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a goldsmith, made repairs. And next to him, Hananiah, a perfume maker, made repairs. These men rebuilt Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. ⁹ The next part of the wall was repaired by Rephaiah son of Hur, the ruler of half of the district of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Next to him, Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his own house. And next to him, Hattush son of Hashabneiah made repairs. ¹¹ Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab repaired another part of the wall and the Tower of the Ovens. ¹² Next to them Shallum son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half of the district of Jerusalem, and his daughters made repairs.

¹³ Hanun and the people of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate, rebuilding it and setting its doors, bolts, and bars in place. They also repaired the five hundred yards of the wall to the Trash Gate.

¹⁴ Malkijah son of Recab, the ruler of the district of Beth Hakkerem, repaired the Trash Gate. He rebuilt that gate and set its doors, bolts, and bars in place.

¹⁵ Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it, put a roof over it, and set its doors, bolts, and bars in place. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam next to the King’s Garden all the way to the steps that went down from the older part of the city. ¹⁶ Next to Shallun was Nehemiah^[b] son of Azbuk, the ruler of half of the district of Beth Zur. He made repairs opposite the tombs of David and as far as the man-made pool and the House of the Heroes.

¹⁷ Next to him, the Levites made repairs, working under Rehum son of Bani. Next to him, Hashabiah, the ruler of half of the district of Keilah, for his district. ¹⁸ Next to him, Binnui son of Henadad and his relatives made repairs. Binnui was the ruler of the other half of the district of Keilah. ¹⁹ Next to them, Ezer son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, repaired another part of the wall. He worked across from the way up to the armory, as far as the bend. ²⁰ Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai worked hard on the wall that went from the bend to the entrance to the house of Eliashib, the high priest. ²¹ Next to him, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the wall that went from the entrance to Eliashib’s house to the far end of it.

²² Next to him worked the priests from the surrounding area. ²³ Next to them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their own house. Next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his own house. ²⁴ Next to him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired the wall that went from Azariah’s house to the bend and on to the corner. ²⁵ Palal son of Uzai worked across from the bend and by the tower on the upper palace, which is near the courtyard of the king’s guard. Next to Palal, Pedaiah son of Parosh made repairs. ²⁶ The Temple servants who lived on the hill of Ophel made repairs as far as a point opposite the Water Gate. They worked toward the east and the tower that extends from the palace. ²⁷ Next to them, the people of Tekoa repaired the wall from the great tower that extends from the palace to the wall of Ophel.

²⁸ The priests made repairs above the Horse Gate, each working in front of his own house. ²⁹ Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs across from his own house. Next to him, Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the guard of the East Gate, made repairs. ³⁰ Next to him, Hananiah son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, made repairs on another part of the wall. Next to them, Meshullam son of Berekiah made repairs across from where he lived. ³¹ Next to him, Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. He worked as far as the house of the Temple servants and the traders, which is across from the Inspection Gate, and as far as the room above the corner of the wall. ³² The goldsmiths and the traders made repairs between the room above the corner of the wall and the Sheep Gate.

Those Against the Rebuilding

4 When Sanballat heard we were rebuilding the wall, he was very angry, even furious. He made fun of the Jewish people. ² He said to his friends and those with power in Samaria, “What are these weak Jews doing? Will they rebuild the wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in one day? Can they bring stones back to life from piles of trash and ashes?”

³ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was next to Sanballat, said, “If a fox climbed up on the stone wall they are building, it would break it down.”

⁴ I prayed, “Hear us, our God. We are hated. Turn the insults of Sanballat and Tobiah back on their own heads. Let them be captured and stolen like valuables. ⁵ Do not hide their guilt or take away their sins so that you can’t see them, because they have insulted the builders.”

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall to half its height, because the people were willing to work.

⁷ But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from Ashdod were very angry when they heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls were continuing and that the holes in the wall were being closed. ⁸ So they all made plans to come to Jerusalem and fight and stir up trouble. ⁹ But we prayed to our God and appointed guards to watch for them day and night.

¹⁰ The people of Judah said, “The workers are getting tired. There is so much trash we cannot rebuild the wall.”

¹¹ And our enemies said, “The Jews won’t know or see anything until we come among them and kill them and stop the work.”

¹² Then the Jewish people who lived near our enemies came and told us ten times, “Everywhere you turn, the enemy will attack us.” ¹³ So I put people behind the lowest places along the wall—the open places—and I put families together with their swords, spears, and bows. ¹⁴ Then I looked around and stood up and said to the important men, the leaders, and the rest of the people: “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and powerful. Fight for your brothers, your sons and daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

¹⁵ Then our enemies heard that we knew about their plans and that God had ruined their plans. So we all went back to the wall, each to his own work.

¹⁶ From that day on, half my people worked on the wall. The other half was ready with spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers stood in back of the people of Judah ¹⁷ who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and carried a weapon with the other. ¹⁸ Each builder wore his sword at his side as he worked. The man who blew the trumpet to warn the people stayed next to me.

¹⁹ Then I said to the important people, the leaders, and everyone else, “This is a very big job. We are spreading out along the wall so that we are far apart. ²⁰ Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble there. Our God will fight for us.”

²¹ So we continued to work with half the men holding spears from sunrise till the stars came out. ²² At that time I also said to the people, “Let every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night. They can be our guards at night and workmen during the day.” ²³ Neither I, my brothers, my workers, nor the guards with me ever took off our clothes. Each person carried his weapon even when he went for water.

Nehemiah Helps Poor People

5 The men and their wives complained loudly against their fellow Jews. ² Some of them were saying, “We have many sons and daughters in our families. To eat and stay alive, we need grain.”

³ Others were saying, “We are borrowing money against our fields, vineyards, and homes to get grain because there is not much food.”

⁴ And still others were saying, “We are borrowing money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. ⁵ We are just like our fellow Jews, and our sons are like their sons. But we have to sell our sons and daughters as slaves. Some of our daughters have already been sold. But there is nothing we can do, because our fields and vineyards already belong to other people.”

⁶ When I heard their complaints about these things, I was very angry. ⁷ After I thought about it, I accused the important people and the leaders, “You are charging your own brothers too much interest.” So I called a large meeting to deal with them. ⁸ I said to them, “As much as possible, we have bought freedom for our fellow Jews who had been sold to foreigners. Now you are selling your fellow Jews to us!” The leaders were quiet and had nothing to say.

⁹ Then I said, “What you are doing is not right. Don’t you fear God? Don’t let our foreign enemies shame us. ¹⁰ I, my brothers, and my men are also lending money and grain to the people. But stop charging them so much for this. ¹¹ Give back their fields, vineyards, olive trees, and houses right now. Also give back the extra amount you charged—the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine, and oil.”

¹² They said, “We will give it back and not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.”

Then I called for the priests, and I made the important people and leaders take an oath to do what they had said. ¹³ Also I shook out the folds of my robe and said, “In this way may God shake out everyone who does not keep his promise. May God shake him out of his house and out of the things that are his. Let that person be shaken out and emptied!”

Then the whole group said, “Amen,” and they praised the Lord. So the people did what they had promised.

¹⁴ I was appointed governor in the land of Judah in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ rule. I was governor of Judah for twelve years, until his thirty-second year. During that time neither my brothers nor I ate the food that was allowed for a governor. ¹⁵ But the governors before me had placed a heavy load on the people. They took about one pound of silver from each person, along with food and wine. The governors’ helpers before me also controlled the people, but I did not do that, because I feared God. ¹⁶ I worked on the wall, as did all my men who were gathered there. We did not buy any fields.

¹⁷ Also, I fed one hundred fifty Jewish people and officers at my table, as well as those who came from the nations around us. ¹⁸ This is what was prepared every day: one ox, six good sheep, and birds. And every ten days there were all kinds of wine. But I never demanded the food that was due a governor, because the people were already working very hard.

¹⁹ Remember to be kind to me, my God, for all the good I have done for these people.