Nehemiah 3

Tree of Life Version

The Builders of the Wall

3 Then Eliashib the kohen gadol and his brothers, the kohanim, arose and built the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set up its doors, dedicating it as far as the Tower of the Hundred and as far as the Tower of Hananel. ² The men of Jericho built next to it and Zaccur the son of Imri built next to them.

³ The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. ⁴ Next to them Meremoth son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz made repairs. Adjacent to them Meshullam son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel made repairs, and next to them Zadok son of Baana made repairs. ⁵ The men of Tekoa made repairs next to them, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work of their masters.

⁶ Joiada son of Paseah, and Meshullam son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate. They laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts and its bars. ⁷ Adjacent to them worked Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, men from Gibeon and Mizpah who are under the jurisdiction of the governor of Trans-Euphrates. ⁸ Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, worked adjacent to him, and Hananiah, one of the perfumers, worked next to him. They restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. ⁹ Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem made repairs next to them. ¹⁰ Jedaiah son of Harumaph repaired the section adjacent to them opposite his house, and Hattush son of Hashabneiah worked next to them. ¹¹ Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Furnaces. ¹² Shallum son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, and his daughters repaired the next section.

¹³ Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. They also repaired a thousand cubits of wall up to the Dung Gate.

¹⁴ Malchijah son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth-cherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He built it and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

¹⁵ Shallun son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He built it, covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King’s Garden, as far as the stairs going down from the City of David. ¹⁶ Beyond him Nehemiah son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs as far as the tombs of David and the artificial pool and the House of the Warriors.

¹⁷ After him, the Levites made repairs under Rehum son of Bani, and beside him, Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. ¹⁸ After him repairs were made by their brothers under Bavvai son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah. ¹⁹ Adjacent to him Ezer son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the corner buttress. ²⁰ After him Baruch son of Zaccai zealously repaired another section from the corner buttress up to the door of the house of Eliashib, the kohen gadol. ²¹ After him Meremoth 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 And after him the kohanim worked, men from the surrounding district. ²³ After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house. After them Azariah son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, worked beside his house. ²⁴ Beyond him Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section from the house of Azariah up to the inner buttress and the corner. ²⁵ Palal son of Uzai made repairs opposite the inner buttress and the tower coming out from the upper palace, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah son of Parosh ²⁶ and the Temple servants living on the Ophel made repairs up to the area opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. ²⁷ After him the men of Tekoa repaired another section from opposite the great projecting tower to the wall of the Ophel.

²⁸ Above the Horse Gate the kohanim worked, each in front of his own house. ²⁹ After them Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house and after him Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the guard of the East Gate, made repairs. ³⁰ After him Hananiah, son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another portion. After him Meshullam son of Berechiah made repairs in front of his living quarters. ³¹ After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs up to the house of the Temple servants, and the merchants opposite the Inspection Gate and as far as the room above the corner. ³² Between the room above the corner and the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants worked.

Opposition Mocks the Rebuilding

³³ Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he became very angry and was greatly enraged. He mocked the Jews ³⁴ in the presence of his colleagues and the army of Samaria, saying:

“What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of rubble that are burnt?”

³⁵ Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said: “Even if a fox climbed on what they are building, it would break down their stone wall!”

³⁶ Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insult back on their own head! Give them up as plunder in a land of captivity. ³⁷ Do not cover their guilt or blot out their sin from before You, for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.

³⁸ So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a heart to work.