Report from Jerusalem

1 The words of ^(A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in the month of ^(B)Chislev, ^(C)in the twentieth year, as I was in ^(D)Susa the citadel, ² that ^(E)Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. ³ And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and ^(F)shame. ^(G)The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, ^(H)and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

Nehemiah's Prayer

⁴ As soon as I heard these words I ^(I)sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the ^(J)God of heaven. ⁵ And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, ^(K)the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ^6 (L)let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, ^(M)confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even ^(N)I and my father's house have sinned. ^7 (O)We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules ^(P)that you commanded your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, ^(Q)I will scatter you among the peoples, ^9 (R)but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, ^(S)though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them ^(T)to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ ^10 (U)They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, ^(V)let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Now I was ^(W)cupbearer to the king.

Nehemiah Sent to Judah

2 In the month of Nisan, ^(X)in the twentieth year of King ^(Y)Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, ^(Z)I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. ² And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but ^(AA)sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³ I said to the king, ^(AB)“Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, ^(AC)when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” ⁴ Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed ^(AD)to the God of heaven. ⁵ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ And the king said to me (^(AE)the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me ^(AF)when I had given him a time. ⁷ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me ^(AG)to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, ⁸ and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of ^(AH)the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, ^(AI)for the good hand of my God was upon me.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem's Walls

⁹ Then I came to ^(AJ)the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. ¹⁰ But when ^(AK)Sanballat the Horonite and ^(AL)Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

^11 (AM)So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. ¹² Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. ¹³ I went out by night by ^(AN)the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to ^(AO)the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem ^(AP)that were broken down ^(AQ)and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. ¹⁴ Then I went on to ^(AR)the Fountain Gate and to ^(AS)the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. ¹⁵ Then I went up in the night ^(AT)by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. ¹⁶ And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, ^(AU)how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer ^(AV)suffer derision.” ¹⁸ And I told them ^(AW)of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” ^(AX)So they strengthened their hands for the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and ^(AY)Geshem the Arab heard of it, ^(AZ)they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? ^(BA)Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰ Then I replied to them, ^(BB)“The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim^[a] in Jerusalem.”

Rebuilding the Wall

3 Then ^(BC)Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built ^(BD)the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and ^(BE)set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the ^(BF)Tower of Hananel. ² And next to him ^(BG)the men of Jericho built. And next to them^[b] Zaccur the son of Imri built.

³ The sons of Hassenaah built ^(BH)the Fish Gate. ^(BI)They laid its beams and ^(BJ)set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. ⁴ And next to them ^(BK)Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them ^(BL)Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired. ⁵ And next to them ^(BM)the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.^[c]

⁶ Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah ^(BN)repaired the Gate of Yeshanah.^{[d] (BO)}They laid its beams and ^(BP)set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. ⁷ And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, the seat of ^(BQ)the governor of the province Beyond the River. ⁸ Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as ^(BR)the Broad Wall. ⁹ Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, ^(BS)ruler of half the district of^[e] Jerusalem, repaired. ¹⁰ Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah repaired. ¹¹ Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and ^(BT)the Tower of the Ovens. ¹² Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ^(BU)ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.

¹³ Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired ^(BV)the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and ^(BW)set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits^[f] of the wall, as far as ^(BX)the Dung Gate.

¹⁴ Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of ^(BY)Beth-haccherem, repaired ^(BZ)the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and ^(CA)set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

¹⁵ And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired ^(CB)the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and ^(CC)set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of ^(CD)the Pool of Shelah of ^(CE)the king's garden, as far as ^(CF)the stairs that go down from the city of David. ¹⁶ After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite ^(CG)the tombs of David, as far as ^(CH)the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men. ¹⁷ After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired for his district. ¹⁸ After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah. ¹⁹ Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at ^(CI)the buttress.^{[g] 20} After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired^[h] another section from the buttress to the door of the house of ^(CJ)Eliashib the high priest. ²¹ After him ^(CK)Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. ²² After him the priests, the men of ^(CL)the surrounding area, repaired. ²³ After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah repaired beside his own house. ²⁴ After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress and to ^(CM)the corner. ²⁵ Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the buttress and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at ^(CN)the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh ^26 (CO)and the temple servants living on ^(CP)Ophel repaired to a point opposite ^(CQ)the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower. ²⁷ After him ^(CR)the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.

²⁸ Above ^(CS)the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house. ²⁹ After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired. ³⁰ After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him ^(CT)Meshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite ^(CU)his chamber. ³¹ After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate,^[i] and to the upper chamber of the corner. ³² And between the upper chamber of the corner and ^(CV)the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17 Then ^(A)one of the seven angels who had ^(B)the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of ^(C)the great prostitute ^(D)who is seated on many waters, ^2 (E)with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and ^(F)with the wine of whose sexual immorality ^(G)the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” ³ And ^(H)he carried me away in the Spirit ^(I)into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ^(J)a scarlet beast that was full of ^(K)blasphemous names, and ^(L)it had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(M)was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned ^(N)with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ^(O)a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead was written a name of ^(P)mystery: ^(Q)“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” ⁶ And I saw the woman, drunk ^(R)with the blood of the saints, the blood of ^(S)the martyrs of Jesus.^[a]

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. ⁷ But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you ^(T)the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw ^(U)was, and is not, and ^(V)is about to rise from ^(W)the bottomless pit^[b] and ^(X)go to destruction. And ^(Y)the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in ^(Z)the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because ^(AA)it was and is not and is to come. ^9 (AB)This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; ¹⁰ they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. ¹¹ As for the beast ^(AC)that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. ¹² And ^(AD)the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings ^(AE)for one hour, together with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ They ^(AF)will make war on the Lamb, and ^(AG)the Lamb will conquer them, for he is ^(AH)Lord of lords and ^(AI)King of kings, and those with him are ^(AJ)called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And the angel^[c] said to me, ^(AK)“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And ^(AL)the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast ^(AM)will hate the prostitute. They will make her ^(AN)desolate and ^(AO)naked, and ^(AP)devour her flesh and ^(AQ)burn her up with fire, ¹⁷ for ^(AR)God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and ^(AS)handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is ^(AT)the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”