The Generosity of Nehemiah

¹⁴ Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year ^(A)until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ^(B)ate the governor’s provisions. ¹⁵ But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but ^(C)I did not do so, because of the ^(D)fear of God. ¹⁶ Indeed, I also continued the ^(E)work on this wall, and ^[a]we did not buy any land. All my servants were gathered there for the work.

¹⁷ And ^(F)at my table were one hundred and fifty Jews and rulers, besides those who came to us from the nations around us. ¹⁸ Now that ^(G)which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep. Also fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine. Yet in spite of this ^(H)I did not demand the governor’s provisions, because the bondage was heavy on this people.

^19 (I)Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.

Conspiracy Against Nehemiah

6 Now it happened ^(J)when Sanballat, Tobiah, ^[b]Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it ^(K)(though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), ² that Sanballat and ^[c]Geshem ^(L)sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together ^[d]among the villages in the plain of ^(M)Ono.” But they ^(N)thought to do me harm.

³ So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

⁴ But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.

⁵ Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. ⁶ In it was written:

⁸ Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.”

⁹ For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.”

Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

¹⁰ Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the ^[f]temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.”

¹¹ And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” ¹² Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that ^(P)he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. ¹³ For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

^14 (Q)My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the ^(R)prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

The Wall Completed

¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶ And it happened, ^(S)when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for ^(T)they perceived that this work was done by our God.

¹⁷ Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. ¹⁸ For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the ^(U)son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of ^(V)Meshullam the son of Berechiah. ¹⁹ Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my ^[g]words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.

List of Returning Exiles

7 Then it was, when the wall was built and I had ^(W)hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, ² that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother ^(X)Hanani, and Hananiah the leader ^(Y)of the ^[h]citadel, for he was a faithful man and ^(Z)feared God more than many.

³ And I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house.”

The Captives Who Returned to Jerusalem^(AA)

⁴ Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were ^(AB)few, and the houses were not rebuilt. ⁵ Then my God put it into my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people, that they might be registered by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of those who had come up in the first return, and found written in it:

⁷³ So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the Nethinim, and all Israel dwelt in their cities.

Ezra Reads the Law

^(AL)When the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities.

Be Sensitive to Conscience

8 Now ^(A)concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have ^(B)knowledge. ^(C)Knowledge ^[a]puffs up, but love ^[b]edifies. ² And ^(D)if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. ³ But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

⁴ Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that ^(E)an idol is nothing in the world, ^(F)and that there is no other God but one. ⁵ For even if there are ^(G)so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), ⁶ yet ^(H)for us there is one God, the Father, ^(I)of whom are all things, and we for Him; and ^(J)one Lord Jesus Christ, ^(K)through whom are all things, and ^(L)through whom we live.

⁷ However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, ^(M)with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is ^(N)defiled. ⁸ But ^(O)food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

⁹ But ^(P)beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become ^(Q)a ^[c]stumbling block to those who are weak. ¹⁰ For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not ^(R)the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? ¹¹ And ^(S)because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? ¹² But ^(T)when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, ^(U)if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

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The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History

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