Ezra 9 - Nehemiah 3

Young's Literal Translation

9 And at the completion of these things, drawn nigh unto me have the heads, saying, `The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not been separated from the peoples of the lands, as to their abominations, even the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, the Ammonite, the Moabite, the Egyptian, and the Amorite,

² for they have taken of their daughters to them, and to their sons, and the holy seed have mingled themselves among the peoples of the lands, and the hand of the heads and of the seconds have been first in this trespass.'

³ And at my hearing this word, I have rent my garment and my upper robe, and pluck out of the hair of my head, and of my beard, and sit astonished,

⁴ and unto me are gathered every one trembling at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trespass of the removal, and I am sitting astonished till the present of the evening.

⁵ And at the present of the evening I have risen from mine affliction, and at my rending my garment and my upper robe, then I bow down on my knees, and spread out my hands unto Jehovah my God,

⁶ and say, `O my God, I have been ashamed, and have blushed to lift up, O my God, my face unto Thee, for our iniquities have increased over the head, and our guilt hath become great unto the heavens.

⁷ `From the days of our fathers we [are] in great guilt unto this day, and in our iniquities we have been given -- we, our kings, our priests -- into the hand of the kings of the lands, with sword, with captivity, and with spoiling, and with shame of face, as [at] this day.

⁸ `And now, as a small moment hath grace been from Jehovah our God, to leave to us an escape, and to give to us a nail in His holy place, by our God's enlightening our eyes, and by giving us a little quickening in our servitude;

⁹ for servants we [are], and in our servitude our God hath not forsaken us, and stretcheth out unto us kindness before the kings of Persia, to give to us a quickening to lift up the house of our God, and to cause its wastes to cease, and to give to us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

¹⁰ `And now, what do we say, O our God, after this? for we have forsaken Thy commands,

¹¹ that Thou hast commanded by the hands of thy servants the prophets, saying, The land into which ye are going to possess it, [is] a land of impurity, by the impurity of the people of the lands, by their abominations with which they have filled it -- from mouth unto mouth -- by their uncleanness;

¹² and now, your daughters ye do not give to their sons, and their daughters ye do not take to your sons, and ye do not seek their peace, and their good -- unto the age, so that ye are strong, and have eaten the good of the land, and given possession to your sons unto the age.

¹³ `And after all that hath come upon us for our evil works, and for our great guilt (for Thou, O our God, hast kept back of the rod from our iniquities, and hast given to us an escape like this),

¹⁴ do we turn back to break Thy commands, and to join ourselves in marriage with the people of these abominations? art not Thou angry against us -- even to consumption -- till there is no remnant and escaped part?

¹⁵ `O Jehovah, God of Israel, righteous [art] Thou, for we have been left an escape, as [it is] this day; lo, we [are] before Thee in our guilt, for there is none to stand before Thee concerning this.'

10 And at Ezra's praying, and at his making confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there have been gathered unto him out of Israel an assembly very great -- men and women and children -- for the people have wept, multiplying weeping.

² And Shechaniah son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answereth and saith to Ezra, `We -- we have trespassed against our God, and we settle strange women of the peoples of the land; and now there is hope for Israel concerning this,

³ and now, let us make a covenant with our God, to cause all the women to go out, and that which is born of them, by the counsel of the Lord, and of those trembling at the command of our God, and according to law it is done;

⁴ rise, for on thee [is] the matter, and we [are] with thee; be strong, and do.'

⁵ And Ezra riseth, and causeth the heads of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear to do according to this word -- and they swear.

⁶ And Ezra riseth from before the house of God, and goeth unto the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib; yea, he goeth there, bread he hath not eaten, and water he hath not drunk, for he is mourning because of the trespass of the removal.

⁷ And they cause a voice to pass over into Judah and Jerusalem, to all sons of the removal, to be gathered to Jerusalem,

⁸ and every one who cometh not in by the third day, according to the counsel of the heads and of the elders, all his substance is devoted, and himself separated from the assembly of the removal.

⁹ And gathered are all the men of Judah and Benjamin to Jerusalem by the third day, it [is] the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sit in the broad place of the house of God, trembling on account of the matter and of the showers.

¹⁰ And Ezra the priest riseth, and saith unto them, `Ye -- ye have trespassed, and ye settle strange women, to add to the guilt of Israel;

¹¹ and, now, make confession to Jehovah, God of your fathers, and do His good pleasure, and be separated from the peoples of the land, and from the strange women.'

¹² And all the assembly answer and say [with] a great voice, `Right; according to thy word -- on us to do;

¹³ but the people [are] many, and [it is] the time of showers, and there is no power to stand without, and the work [is] not for one day, nor for two, for we have multiplied to transgress in this thing.

¹⁴ `Let, we pray thee, our heads of all the assembly stand, and all who [are] in our cities, who have settled strange wives, do come in at the times appointed, and with them the elders of city and city, and its judges, till the turning back of the fury of the wrath of our God from us, for this thing.'

¹⁵ Only Jonathan son of Asahel, and Jahaziah son of Tikvah, stood against this, and Meshullam, and Shabbethai the Levite, helped them.

¹⁶ And the sons of the removal do so, and Ezra the priest, [and] men, heads of the fathers, for the house of their fathers, are separated, even all of them by name, and they sit on the first day of the tenth month, to examine the matter;

¹⁷ and they finish with all the men who have settled strange women unto the first day of the first month.

¹⁸ And there are found of the sons of the priests that have settled strange women: of the sons of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah;

¹⁹ and they give their hand to send out their wives, and, being guilty, a ram of the flock, for their guilt.

²⁰ And of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah;

²¹ and of the sons of Harim: Masseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah;

²² and of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

²³ And of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah -- he [is] Kelita, -- Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

²⁴ And of the singers: Eliashib. And of the gatekeepers: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.

²⁵ And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Jeziah, and Malchijah, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.

²⁶ And of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah.

²⁷ And of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.

²⁸ And of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.

²⁹ And of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth.

³⁰ And of the sons of Pahath-Moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.

³¹ And of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

³² Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.

³³ Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattathah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei.

³⁴ Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel,

³⁵ Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhu,

³⁶ Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

³⁷ Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasau,

³⁸ and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei,

³⁹ and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,

⁴⁰ Machnadbai, Shashai, Sharai,

⁴¹ Azareel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,

⁴² Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.

⁴³ Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jadau, and Joel, Benaiah;

⁴⁴ all these have taken strange women, and there are of them women -- who adopt sons.

1 Words of Nehemiah son of Hachaliah. And it cometh to pass, in the month of Chisleu, the twentieth year, and I have been in Shushan the palace,

² and come in doth Hanani, one of my brethren, he and men of Judah, and I ask them concerning the Jews, the escaped part that have been left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem;

³ and they say to me, `Those left, who have been left of the captivity there in the province, [are] in great evil, and in reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burnt with fire.'

⁴ And it cometh to pass, at my hearing these words, I have sat down, and I weep and mourn [for] days, and I am fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.

⁵ And I say, `I beseech thee, O Jehovah, God of the heavens, God, the great and the fearful, keeping the covenant and kindness for those loving Him, and for those keeping His commands,

⁶ let Thine ear be, I pray Thee, attentive, and Thine eyes open, to hearken unto the prayer of Thy servant, that I am praying before Thee to-day, by day and by night, concerning the sons of Israel Thy servants, and confessing concerning the sins of the sons of Israel, that we have sinned against Thee; yea, I and the house of my father have sinned;

⁷ we have acted very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept the commands, and the statutes, and the judgments, that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant.

⁸ `Remember, I pray Thee, the word that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant, saying, Ye -- ye trespass -- I scatter you among peoples;

⁹ and ye have turned back unto Me, and kept My commands, and done them -- if your outcast is in the end of the heavens, thence I gather them, and have brought them in unto the place that I have chosen to cause My name to tabernacle there.

¹⁰ And they [are] Thy servants, and Thy people, whom Thou hast ransomed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand.

¹¹ `I beseech Thee, O Lord, let, I pray Thee, Thine ear be attentive unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto the prayer of Thy servants, those delighting to fear Thy Name; and give prosperity, I pray Thee, to Thy servant to-day, and give him for mercies before this man;' and I have been butler to the king.

2 And it cometh to pass, in the month of Nisan, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, wine [is] before him, and I lift up the wine, and give to the king, and I had not been sad before him;

² and the king saith to me, `Wherefore [is] thy face sad, and thou not sick? this is nothing except sadness of heart;' and I fear very much,

³ and say to the king, `Let the king to the age live! wherefore should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of the graves of my fathers, [is] a waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?'

⁴ And the king saith to me, `For what art thou seeking?' and I pray unto the God of the heavens,

⁵ and say to the king, `If to the king [it be] good, and if thy servant be pleasing before thee, that thou send me unto Judah, unto the city of the graves of my fathers, and I built it.'

⁶ And the king saith to me (and the queen is sitting near him), `How long is thy journey? and when dost thou return?' and it is good before the king, and he sendeth me away, and I set to him a time.

⁷ And I say to the king, `If to the king [it be] good, letters let be given to me for the governors beyond the River, that they let me pass over till that I come in unto Judah:

⁸ and a letter unto Asaph, keeper of the paradise that the king hath, that he give to me trees for beams [for] the gates of the palace that the house hath, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I enter;' and the king giveth to me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

⁹ And I come in unto the governors beyond the River, and give to them the letters of the king; and the king sendeth with me heads of a force, and horsemen;

¹⁰ and Sanballat the Horonite heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it is evil to them -- a great evil -- that a man hath come in to seek good for the sons of Israel.

¹¹ And I come in unto Jerusalem, and I am there three days,

¹² and I rise by night, I and a few men with me, and have not declared to a man what my God is giving unto my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding.

¹³ And I go out through the gate of the valley by night, and unto the front of the fountain of the dragon, and unto the gate of the dunghill, and I am measuring about the walls of Jerusalem, that are broken down, and its gates consumed with fire.

¹⁴ And I pass over unto the gate of the fountain, and unto the pool of the king, and there is no place for the beast under me to pass over,

¹⁵ and I am going up through the brook by night, and am measuring about the wall, and turn back, and come in through the gate of the valley, and turn back.

¹⁶ And the prefects have not known whither I have gone, and what I am doing; and to the Jews, and to the priests, and to the freemen, and to the prefects, and to the rest of those doing the work, hitherto I have not declared [it];

¹⁷ and I say unto them, `Ye are seeing the evil that we are in, in that Jerusalem [is] waste, and its gates have been burnt with fire; come and we build the wall of Jerusalem, and we are not any more a reproach.'

¹⁸ And I declare to them the hand of my God that is good upon me, and also the words of the king that he said to me, and they say, `Let us rise, and we have built;' and they strengthen their hands for good.

¹⁹ And Sanballat the Horonite heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, and they mock at us, and despise us, and say, `What [is] this thing that ye are doing? against the king are ye rebelling?'

²⁰ And I return them word, and say to them, `The God of the heavens -- He doth give prosperity to us, and we His servants rise and have built; and to you there is no portion, and right, and memorial in Jerusalem.'

3 And Eliashib the high priest riseth, and his brethren the priests, and they build the sheep-gate; they have sanctified it, and set up its doors, even unto the tower of Meah they have sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel;

² and by his hand have men of Jericho built; and by their hand hath Zaccur son of Imri built;

³ and the fish-gate have sons of Hassenaah built, they have walled it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars.

⁴ And by their hand hath Merimoth son of Urijah, son of Koz, strengthened; and by his hand hath Meshullam son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabeel, strengthened; and by his hand hath Zadok son of Baana strengthened;

⁵ and by his hand have the Tekoites strengthened, and their honourable ones have not brought in their neck to the service of their Lord.

⁶ And the old gate have Jehoiada son of Paseah, and Meshullam son of Besodeiah, strengthened; they have walled it, and set up its doors, and its locks, and its bars.

⁷ And by their hand hath Melatiah the Gibeonite strengthened, and Jadon the Meronothite, men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, to the throne of the governor beyond the River.

⁸ By his hand hath Uzziel son of Harhaiah of the refiners strengthened; and by his hand hath Hananiah son of [one of] the compounders strengthened; and they leave Jerusalem unto the broad wall.

⁹ And by their hand hath Rephaiah son of Hur, head of the half of the district of Jerusalem, strengthened.

¹⁰ And by their hand hath Jedaiah son of Harumaph strengthened, and over-against his own house; and by his hand hath Hattush son of Hashabniah strengthened.

¹¹ A second measure hath Malchijah son of Harim strengthened, and Hashub son of Pahath-Moab, even the tower of the furnaces.

¹² And by his hand hath Shallum son of Halohesh, head of the half of the district of Jerusalem, strengthened, he and his daughters.

¹³ The gate of the valley hath Hanun strengthened, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they have built it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and a thousand cubits in the wall unto the dung-gate.

¹⁴ And the dung-gate hath Malchijah son of Rechab, head of the district of Beth-Haccerem, strengthened; he doth built it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars.

¹⁵ And the gate of the fountain hath Shallum son of Col-Hozeh, head of the district of Mizpah, strengthened: he doth build it, and cover it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Siloah, to the garden of the king, and unto the steps that are going down from the city of David.

¹⁶ After him hath Nehemiah son of Azbuk, head of the half of the district of Beth-Zur, strengthened, unto over-against the graves of David, and unto the pool that is made, and unto the house of the mighty ones.

¹⁷ After him have the Levites strengthened, [and] Rehum son of Bani: by his hand hath Hashabiah, head of the half of the district of Keilah, strengthened, for his district.

¹⁸ After him have their brethren strengthened, [and] Bavvai son of Henadad, head of the half of the district of Keilah.

¹⁹ And Ezer son of Jeshua, head of Mizpah, doth strengthen, by his hand, a second measure, from over-against the ascent of the armoury at the angle.

²⁰ After him hath Baruch son of Zabbai hastened to strengthen a second measure from the angle unto the opening of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

²¹ After him hath Meremoth son of Urijah, son of Koz, strengthened, a second measure, from the opening of the house of Eliashib even unto the completion of the house of Eliashib.

²² And after him have the priests, men of the circuit, strengthened.

²³ After them hath Benjamin strengthened, and Hashub, over-against their house; after him hath Azariah son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, strengthened, near his house.

²⁴ After him hath Binnui son of Henadad strengthened, a second measure, from the house of Azariah unto the angle, and unto the corner.

²⁵ Palal son of Uzai, from over-against the angle, and the tower that is going out from the upper house of the king that [is] at the court of the prison; after him Pedaiah son of Parosh.

²⁶ And the Nethinim have been dwelling in Ophel, unto over-against the water-gate at the east, and the tower that goeth out.

²⁷ After him have the Tekoites strengthened, a second measure, from over-against the great tower that goeth out, and unto the wall of Ophel.

²⁸ From above the horse-gate have the priests strengthened, each over-against his house.

²⁹ After them hath Zadok son of Immer strengthened, over against his house; and after him hath Shemaiah son of Shechaniah, keeper of the east gate, strengthened.

³⁰ After him hath Hananiah son of Shelemiah strengthened, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, a second measure; after him hath Meshullam son of Berechiah strengthened, over-against his chamber.

³¹ After him hath Malchijah son of the refiner strengthened, unto the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, over-against the gate of the Miphkad, and unto the ascent of the corner.

³² And between the ascent of the corner and the sheep-gate, have the refiners and the merchants strengthened.