Nehemiah’s Prayer

1 These are the ·words [memoirs] of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.

In the month of Kislev [^Clate autumn] in the twentieth year [^Cof the reign of King Artaxerxes I; 445 bc], I, Nehemiah, was in the ·capital city [or fortress; ^Cthe winter residence of Persian kings, separate from the city] of Susa. ² One of my ·brothers [relatives] named Hanani came with some other men from Judah. I asked them about Jerusalem and the Jewish people who ·lived through [had escaped and survived] the ·captivity [exile].

³ They answered me, “·Those who are left [The survivors/remnant there in the province; ^Cof Judah] from the ·captivity [exile] are in much ·trouble [distress; misery] and ·are full of shame [disgrace; humiliation]. The wall around Jerusalem is ·broken down [ruined; breached], and its gates have been burned [^Ceither at the time of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (2 Kin. 25:10) or later].”

⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and ·cried [wept] for several days. I ·was sad [mourned] and fasted. I prayed to the God of heaven, ⁵ “Lord, God of heaven, you are the great ·God who is to be respected [and awesome God]. You ·are loyal, and you keep your agreement [keep your loving covenant/treaty; keep your covenant/treaty of unfailing love] with those who love you and ·obey [keep] your commands. ⁶ ·Look and listen carefully [Let your ears be attentive and eyes open]. Hear the prayer that I, your servant, am praying to you day and night ·for [on behalf of] your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins ·we Israelites [the people/sons of Israel] have ·done [^Lsinned] against you. My father’s ·family [^Lhouse] and I have sinned against you. ⁷ We have ·been wicked toward [acted corruptly against] you and have not obeyed the commands, ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements], and ·laws [judgments] you ·gave [commanded] your servant Moses [Ex. 19—24].

⁸ “Remember ·what you taught [the word you commanded] your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the ·nations [^Lpeoples]. ⁹ But if you return to me and obey my commands [^Land do/live by them], I will gather your people from the far ends of the ·earth [^Lheavens; sky; ^Ca reference to the Babylonian exile]. And I will bring them from there to ·where [the place] I have chosen ·to be worshiped [^Lfor my name to dwell; Deut. 4:25–31; 30:1–10].’

¹⁰ “They are your servants and your people, whom you have ·saved [redeemed; rescued] with your great strength and ·power [^Lstrong hand]. ¹¹ Lord, ·listen carefully [^Lmay your ear be attentive] to the prayer of your servant and the prayers of your servants who ·love to honor you [take pleasure in revering/^Lfearing your name]. ·Give [Grant] me, your servant, success today; allow this king to show ·kindness [compassion] to me.”

I was the ·one who served wine to the king [king’s cupbearer].

Nehemiah Is Sent to Jerusalem

2 It was the month of Nisan [^Cearly spring] in the twentieth year Artaxerxes was king [^C445 bc]. Wine was brought ·for him [or to me]. I took some and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before. ² So the king said, “Why does your face look sad even though you are not sick? ·Your heart must be sad [You must be very troubled].”

Then I was very afraid. ³ I said to the king, “May the king live forever! ·My face is sad because [^LWhy should my face not look sad/dejected when…?] the city ·where my ancestors are buried [of my fathers’ tombs] lies in ruins, and its gates have been ·destroyed [^Ldevoured] by fire.”

⁴ Then the king said to me, “What do you ·want [seek; request]?”

·First [Then; So] I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I answered the king, “If ·you are willing [it pleases/is good to you] and if I have ·pleased you [found favor in your sight], send me to Judah, to the city ·where my ancestors are buried [of my fathers’ tombs; ^CJerusalem] so I can rebuild it.”

⁶ The queen was sitting next to the king. He asked me, “How long will your ·trip [journey] take, and when will you get back?” It ·pleased [^Lwas good to] the king to send me, so I set a time.

⁷ I also said to him, “If ·you are willing [it pleases/is good to you], give me letters for the governors of ·Trans-Euphrates [^Cprovinces west of the Euphrates River]. Tell them to let me pass safely through their lands ·on my way to [until I reach] Judah. ⁸ And may I have a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, telling him to give me timber? I will need it to make ·boards [beams] for the gates of the ·palace [or fortress], which is by the ·Temple [^Lhouse], and for the city wall, and for the house in which I will live.” So the king ·gave [granted] me the letters, because ·God was showing kindness to me [^Lthe gracious/good hand of God was on me]. ⁹ Then I went to the governors of ·Trans-Euphrates [^Cprovinces west of the Euphrates River] and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and ·horsemen [cavalry] with me.

¹⁰ When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ·officer [official] heard about this, they were ·upset [very displeased] that someone had come to ·help [promote/seek the welfare of] the Israelites.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem

¹¹ I went to Jerusalem and ·stayed there three days [or after three days…]. ¹² Then at night I started out with a few men. I had not told anyone what God had ·caused me [put in my mind/heart] to do for Jerusalem. There were no animals with me except the one I was riding.

¹³ I went out at night through the Valley Gate. I rode toward the Dragon Well and the ·Trash [Garbage; Refuse; ^TDung] Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and the gates that had been ·destroyed [devoured] by fire. ¹⁴ Then I rode on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for the animal I was riding to pass through. ¹⁵ So I went up the ·valley [ravine; ^Clikely the Kidron Valley; many of these walls no longer exist] at night, inspecting the wall. Finally, I turned and went back in through the Valley Gate. ¹⁶ The ·guards [officials] did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. I had not yet said anything to the Jewish people, the priests, the ·important men [nobles], the ·officers [officials], or any of the others who would do the work.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You can see the trouble we ·have here [are in]. Jerusalem is ·a pile of ruins [desolate], and its gates have been burned. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so we won’t be ·full of shame [disgraced; humiliated] any longer.” ¹⁸ I also told them how ·God had been kind to [the gracious hand of God had been on] me and what the king had said to me.

Then they answered, “Let’s start rebuilding.” So they ·began to work hard [^Lstrengthened their hands for this good work].

¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite officer, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they ·made fun of us and laughed at [mocked and ridiculed/jeered at] us. They said, “What are you doing? Are you ·turning [rebelling] against the king?”

²⁰ But I answered them, “The God of heaven will ·give us success [prosper us]. We, his servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no share, claim, or ·memorial [historic/ancient right] in Jerusalem.”

Nicodemus Comes to Jesus

3 There was a man named Nicodemus who was one of the Pharisees [^Ca religious party which strictly observed OT laws and later customs] and ·an important Jewish leader [^La ruler of the Jews; ^Cprobably a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish court of the time]. ² ·One night [or By night; ^Cperhaps with connotations that he could not “see” spiritually] Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, “·Teacher [^LRabbi], we know you are a teacher sent from God, because no one can do the ·miracles [^Lsigns; 2:11] you do unless God is with him.”

³ Jesus answered, “·I tell you the truth [^LTruly, truly I say to you], unless you are born ·again [or from above; ^Cthis may be a play on words, meaning both “again” and “from above”], you cannot ·be in [experience; ^Lsee] God’s kingdom.”

⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “But if a person is already old, how can he be born ·again [or from above; 3:3]? ·He cannot enter his mother’s womb again. So how can a person be born a second time [^LCan he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born]?”

⁵ But Jesus answered, “·I tell you the truth [^LTruly, truly I say to you], unless you are born from water and the Spirit [^Cequivalent to being born again (3:3); water could symbolize physical birth, but more likely symbolizes spiritual cleansing which brings renewal; Ezek. 36:25–27], you cannot enter God’s kingdom. ⁶ ·Human life comes from human parents [^LThat which is born of the flesh is flesh; ^Cflesh here means human nature], but ·spiritual life comes from the Spirit [^Lthat which is born of the Spirit is spirit]. ⁷ Don’t be ·surprised [amazed; astonished] when I tell you, ‘You [^Cplural, referring to the Jews or the Jewish leaders] must be born ·again [or from above; 3:3].’ ⁸ The wind [^Cone word means both “wind” and “spirit” in Greek] blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit.” [^CWe cannot comprehend or control the Spirit, but we experience his effect.]

⁹ Nicodemus ·asked [replied], “How can this ·happen [be]?”

¹⁰ Jesus ·said [replied; answered], “You are ·an important teacher in Israel [^Lthe teacher of Israel], and you don’t ·understand [know] these things? ¹¹ ·I tell you the truth [^LTruly, truly I say to you], we talk about what we know, and we ·tell [testify; bear witness] about what we have seen, but you don’t ·accept what we tell you [^Lreceive our testimony/witness]. ¹² I have told you about things here on earth [^Cthe teaching about being born again], and you do not believe me. ·So you will not [^LSo how will you…?] believe me if I tell you about things of heaven. ¹³ ·The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is [^LNo one has gone up into heaven except] the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man^[a] [^Ca title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14].

¹⁴ “Just as Moses lifted up the ·snake [^Tserpent] in the ·desert [wilderness; ^CMoses put a bronze snake statue on a pole, and those who looked at it were healed of snake bites; Num. 21:4–9], the Son of Man must also be lifted up [^Can allusion to the cross and resurrection]. ¹⁵ So that everyone who ·believes can have eternal life in him [or believes in him can have eternal life].

¹⁶ “[^LFor] God loved the world so much that he gave his ·one and only [only; unique; ^Tonly begotten; 1:14, 18] Son so that whoever believes in him may not ·be lost [^Tperish], but have eternal life. ¹⁷ [^LFor; Indeed] God did not send his Son into the world to ·judge the world guilty [condemn the world], but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ People who believe in God’s Son are not ·judged guilty [condemned]. Those who do not believe have already been ·judged guilty [condemned], because they have not believed in [^Lthe name of] God’s ·one and only [only; unique; ^Tonly begotten; 3:16] Son. ¹⁹ ·They are judged by this fact [^LAnd this is the judgment/condemnation/verdict]: The Light [^CJesus, God’s Son] has come into the world, ·but they did not want light. They wanted darkness [^Lbut people loved the darkness more than the light], because they were doing evil things. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the light and will not come to the light, because it will show ·all the evil things they do [^Ltheir deeds/actions]. ²¹ But those who ·follow the true way [do what is true; live by the truth] come to the light, and it ·shows [may be seen] that the things they do were done ·through [or in the sight of; or in obedience to; ^Lin] God.”

Jesus and John the Baptist

²² After this, Jesus and his ·followers [disciples] went into the ·area [countryside] of Judea, where he ·stayed [spent time] with his ·followers [disciples] and baptized people. ²³ John was also baptizing in Aenon [^Ca town (meaning “springs”) of uncertain location on the Jordan River (but see note on Salim)], near Salim [^Ca town (meaning “peace”) probably located either near Shechem or just south of Bethshan, both of which are in a Samaritan area], because there was plenty of water there. People were going there to be baptized. ²⁴ (This was before John was put into prison [Matt. 4:12].)

²⁵ Some of John’s ·followers [disciples] had an ·argument [discussion; debate] with a Jew about ·religious washing [ceremonial cleansing; ^Lpurification; ^Cthe Jewish people washed themselves for ritual purposes before eating, before worshiping in the Temple, and at other special times]. ²⁶ So they came to John and said, “Teacher [^LRabbi], remember the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, the one ·you spoke about so much [^Labout whom you have testified/witnessed]? He is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

²⁷ John answered, “A ·man [person] can get only what ·God gives him [^Lis given to him from heaven]. ²⁸ You yourselves heard me ·say [testify], ‘I am not the ·Christ [Messiah], but I am the one sent ·to prepare the way for him [^Lbefore him; 1:20–28; compare Is. 40:3].’ ²⁹ The bride belongs only to the bridegroom. But the ·friend who helps the bridegroom [or the best man] stands by and listens to him. He ·is thrilled [rejoices greatly] that he gets to hear the bridegroom’s voice. In the same way, ·I am really happy [^Lmy joy is fulfilled; ^Cin this analogy, John is the best man and Jesus is the bridegroom]. ³⁰ He must ·become greater [increase], and I must ·become less important [decrease].

The One Who Comes from Heaven

³¹ “The One [^CJesus] who comes from above is ·greater than [^Labove] all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and talks about ·things on the earth [earthly matters]. But the One who comes from heaven is ·greater than [^Labove] all. ³² He ·tells [testifies to; bears witness to] what he has seen and heard, but no one ·accepts [receives] ·what he says [his testimony; 3:11]. ³³ Whoever ·accepts what he says [receives his testimony] has ·proven [certified; affirmed; ^Lset his seal] that God is true. ³⁴ [^LFor] The One whom God sent speaks the words of God, because God gives him the Spirit ·fully [^Lwithout measure/limit]. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has given ·him power over everything [him authority over all; ^Lall things into his hand]. ³⁶ Those who believe in the Son have eternal life, but those who ·do not obey [reject] the Son will ·never have [^Lnot see] life. God’s ·anger [wrath] ·stays [remains] on them.”