The Daily Audio Bible

Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:

Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the ^[a]twentieth year [of the ^[b]Persian king], as I was in the ^[c]capitol of Susa, ² Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the surviving Jews who had escaped and survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. ³ They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its [fortified] gates have been burned (destroyed) by fire.”

⁴ Now it came about when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying [constantly] before the God of heaven. ⁵ And I said, “Please, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, ⁶ please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You, day and night, on behalf of Your servants, the ^[d]sons (descendants) of Israel (Jacob), confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷ We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.^{(A) 8} Please remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful and violate your obligations to Me I will scatter you [abroad] among the peoples;^{(B) 9} but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered are in the most remote part of the ^[e]heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen for My ^[f]Name to dwell.’^{(C) 10} Now they are Your servants and Your people whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. ¹¹ Please, O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to [reverently] fear Your Name [Your essence, Your nature, Your attributes, with awe]; and make Your servant successful this day and grant him compassion in the sight of this man [the king].”

For I was ^[g]cupbearer to the king [of Persia].

Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered

2 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was placed before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not [previously] been sad in his presence. ² So the king said to me, “Why do you look sad when you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very frightened, ³ and I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” ⁴ The king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your presence, [I ask] that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, so that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ The king, beside whom the queen was sitting, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time [for my return]. ⁷ Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the provinces beyond the [Euphrates] River, so that they will allow me to pass through until I reach Judah, ⁸ and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to construct beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, and for the city wall and for the house which I will occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.

⁹ Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the [Euphrates] River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent officers of the army and horsemen with me. ¹⁰ When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[h]official heard this, it caused them great displeasure that someone had come to see about the welfare and prosperity of the Israelites.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls

¹¹ So I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. ¹² Then I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting in my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there was no animal with me except the one on which I was riding [so as not to attract attention]. ¹³ So I went out at night by the Valley Gate toward the Dragon’s Well and to the Refuse Gate and inspected the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire. ¹⁴ Then I passed over to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no place for the animal that I was riding to pass. ¹⁵ So I went up at night by the ravine [of Kidron] and inspected the wall; then I turned back and entered [the city] by the Valley Gate, and returned. ¹⁶ The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who did the work.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation that we are in—how Jerusalem is desolate and lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, and let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” ¹⁸ Then I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us ^[i]rise up and build.” So they thoroughly supported the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked us and regarded us with contempt and said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰ I answered them, “The God of heaven [has appointed us for His purpose and] will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”

Builders of the Walls

3 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests and built ^[j]the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set up its doors; and they consecrated the wall [westward] to the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel. ^2 [k]Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho built, and next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.

³ Now the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and set up its doors with its bolts and its bars. ⁴ Next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, made repairs. Next to him Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs. And next to him Zadok the son of Baana also made repairs. ⁵ Next to him the men of Tekoa made repairs, but their nobles did not ^[l]support the work of their overseers.

⁶ Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired ^[m]the Old Gate. They laid its beams and set up its doors with its bolts and its bars. ⁷ Next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, made repairs for the official seat (Jerusalem residence) of the governor [of the province] beyond the [Euphrates] River. ⁸ Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they restored Jerusalem as far as ^[n]the Broad Wall. ⁹ Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. ¹⁰ Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his own house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs. ¹¹ Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Furnaces. ¹² Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.

¹³ Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it and set up its doors with its bolts and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits (1,500 ft.) of the wall as far as the Refuse Gate.

¹⁴ Malchijah the son of Rechab, the official of the district of Beth-haccherem repaired the Refuse Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors with its bolts and its bars.

Teaching on Marriage

7 Now as to the matters of which you wrote: It is good (beneficial, advantageous) for a man not to touch a woman [outside marriage]. ² But because of [the temptation to participate in] sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ³ The husband must fulfill his [marital] duty to his wife [with good will and kindness], and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have [exclusive] authority over her own body, but the husband shares with her; and likewise the husband does not have [exclusive] authority over his body, but the wife shares with him. ⁵ Do not deprive each other [of marital rights], except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves [unhindered] to prayer, but come together again so that Satan will not tempt you [to sin] because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ But I am saying this as a concession, not as a command. ⁷ I wish that all the people were as I am; but each person has his own gift from God, one of this kind and one of that.

⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, [that as a practical matter] it is good if they remain [single and entirely devoted to the Lord] ^[a]as I am. ⁹ But if they do not have [sufficient] self-control, they should marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰ But to the ^[b]married [believers] I give instructions—not I, but the Lord—that the wife is not to separate from her husband, ¹¹ (but even if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be ^[c]reconciled to her husband) and that the husband should not leave his wife.

¹² To the ^[d]rest I declare—I, not the Lord [since Jesus did not discuss this]—that if any [believing] brother has a wife who does not believe [in Christ], and she consents to live with him, he must not leave her. ¹³ And if any [believing] woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not leave him. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is ^[e]sanctified [that is, he receives the blessings granted] through his [Christian] wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be [ceremonially] ^[f]unclean, but as it is they are holy. ¹⁵ But if the unbelieving partner leaves, let him leave. In such cases the [remaining] brother or sister is not [spiritually or morally] bound. But God has called us to ^[g]peace. ¹⁶ For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband [by leading him to Christ]? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife [by leading her to Christ]?

¹⁷ Only, let each one live the life which the Lord has assigned him, and to which God has called him [for each person is unique and is accountable for his choices and conduct, let him walk in this way]. This is the rule I make in all the churches. ¹⁸ Was anyone at the time of his calling [from God already] circumcised? He is not to ^[h]become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called while uncircumcised? ^[i]He is not to be circumcised.^{(A) 19} Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping the commandments of God. ²⁰ Each one should remain in the condition in which he was [when he was] called.

²¹ Were you a slave when you were called? Do not worry about that [since your status as a believer is ^[j]equal to that of a freeborn believer]; but if you are able to gain your freedom, ^[k]do that. ²² For he who was a slave when he was called in the Lord is a freedman of the Lord, likewise he who was free when he was called is a slave of Christ. ²³ You were bought with a price [a precious price paid by Christ]; do not become slaves to men [but to Christ]. ²⁴ Brothers, let each one remain with God in that condition in which he was [when he was] called.