Nehemiah 3-8

Common English Bible

Rebuilding the gates and walls

3 Then Eliashib the high priest set to work with his fellow priests and built^[a] the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set up its doors, then dedicated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred and as far as the Tower of Hananel.

² The people of Jericho built next to them, and Zaccur, Imri’s son, built next to them. ³ The children of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and set up its doors, bolts, and bars. ⁴ Next to them Meremoth, Uriah’s son and Hakkoz’s grandson, made repairs. Meshullam, Berechiah’s son and Meshezabel’s grandson, made repairs next to them, and Zadok, Baana’s son, made repairs next to them. ⁵ Next to them the people from Tekoa made repairs, but their officials wouldn’t help with the work^[b] of their supervisors.^[c]

⁶ Joiada, Paseah’s son, and Meshullam, Besodeiah’s son, repaired the Mishneh Gate;^[d] they laid its beams and set up its doors, bolts, and bars. ⁷ Next to them repairs were made by Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, and^[e] the people of Gibeon and of Mizpah, who were ruled by the governor of the province Beyond the River.

⁸ Uzziel, Harhaiah’s son, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs next to them; and Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs next to him. They restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. ⁹ Next to them Rephaiah, Hur’s son, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. ¹⁰ Next to them Jedaiah, Harumaph’s son, made repairs opposite his house, and Hattush, Hashabneiah’s son, made repairs next to him.

¹¹ Malchijah, Harim’s son, and Hasshub, Pahath-moab’s son, repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. ¹² Next to them Shallum, Hallohesh’s son, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, along with his daughters.

¹³ Hanun and the people of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate; they built it and set up its doors, bolts, and bars. They also repaired fifteen hundred feet of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.

¹⁴ Malchiah, Rechab’s son, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set up its doors, bolts, and bars.

¹⁵ And Shallum, Col-hozeh’s son, ruler of the Mizpah district, repaired the Spring Gate. He rebuilt and covered it, and set up its doors, bolts, and bars. He also built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the King’s Garden, as far as the stairs that go down from David’s City.

¹⁶ After him, Nehemiah, Azbuk’s son, ruler of half the Beth-zur district, repaired from the point opposite David’s tombs as far as the artificial pool and the Warriors’ House. ¹⁷ After him, the Levites made repairs: Rehum, Bani’s son, and next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. ¹⁸ After him, their relatives made repairs: Binnui,^[f] Henadad’s son, ruler of half the district of Keilah.

¹⁹ Next to him, Ezer, Jeshua’s son, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the Angle. ²⁰ After him, Baruch, Zabbai’s son, thoroughly repaired another section from the Angle to the door of the house of the high priest Eliashib. ²¹ After him, Meremoth, Uriah’s son and Hakkoz’s grandson, repaired another section from the door to the back of Eliashib’s house.

²² After him, the priests from the surrounding area made repairs. ²³ After them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them, Azariah, Maaseiah’s son and Ananiah’s grandson, repaired beside his house. ²⁴ After him, Binnui, Henadad’s son, repaired another section from the house of Azariah to the Angle and to the corner. ²⁵ Palal, Uzai’s son, repaired^[g] from the point opposite the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him, Pedaiah, Parosh’s son, ²⁶ and the temple servants living on Ophel made repairs^[h] up to the point opposite the Water Gate to the east and the projecting tower. ²⁷ After them, the people of Tekoa repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel. ²⁸ From the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each one opposite his own house.

²⁹ After them, Zadok, Immer’s son, made repairs opposite his own house. After him, Shemaiah, Shecaniah’s son, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs. ³⁰ After him, Hananiah, Shelemiah’s son, and Hanun, Zalaph’s sixth son, repaired another section. After them, Meshullam, Berechiah’s son, made repairs opposite his own room.

³¹ After him, Malchiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Parade Gate,^[i] and as far as the upper room at the corner. ³² And between the upper room of the corner and the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.

Opposition mounts

4 ^[j] When Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he became angry and raged. He mocked the Jews, ² saying in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria: “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the piles of rubble, even though they are burned?”

³ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, added: “If even a fox climbs on whatever they build, their wall of stones will crumble.”

⁶ We continued to build the wall. All of it was joined together, and it reached half of its intended height because the people were eager to work. ^7 [l] But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that the work on the walls was progressing and the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. ⁸ They plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to create a disturbance in it.

⁹ So we prayed to our God and set a guard as protection against them day and night.

¹¹ Meanwhile, our enemies were saying: “Before they know or see anything, we can be in their midst and start to kill them. We’ll stop the work!”

¹² Now the Jews who were living near them came and said to us again and again,^[m] “You must return to us!”^[n]

Armed guards protect the builders

¹³ So I took up a position in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall in an open area.^[o] Then I stationed the people by families, and they had their swords, spears, and bows. ¹⁴ After reviewing this, I stood up and said to the officials, the officers, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember that the Lord is great and awesome! Fight for your families, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses!”

¹⁵ Then our enemies heard that we had found out and that God had spoiled their plans. So we all returned to doing our own work on the wall. ¹⁶ But from that day on, only half of my workers continued in the construction, while the other half held the spears, shields, bows, and body armor. Meanwhile, the leaders positioned themselves^[p] behind the whole house of Judah, ¹⁷ who were building the wall. The carriers did their work with a load in one hand and a weapon in the other. ¹⁸ The builders built with swords fastened in their belts, and the trumpeter stayed by my side.

¹⁹ Then I said to the officials, the officers, and the rest of the people, “The work is very spread out, and we are far apart from each other along the wall. ²⁰ When you hear the trumpet sound, come and gather where we are. Our God will fight for us!” ²¹ So we continued the work, with half of them holding spears from dawn until dusk.

²² I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant spend the night in Jerusalem so that we can guard during the night and work during the day.” ²³ Neither I nor my relatives, nor my servants, nor my bodyguards took off our clothes, even when they sent for water.^[q]

Internal unrest

5 Then there was a great protest of the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. ² Some said, “With our sons and daughters we are many, and we all need grain to eat and stay alive.”

³ Others said, “We have to mortgage our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine.”

⁴ Still others said, “We have had to borrow money against our fields and vineyards in order to pay the king’s tax.”

⁵ “We are of the same flesh and blood as our kin, and our children are the same as theirs. Yet we are just about to force our sons and daughters into slavery, and some of our daughters are already slaves! There is nothing we can do since our fields and vineyards now belong to others.”

⁶ I was very angry when I heard their protest and these complaints. ⁷ After thinking it over, I brought charges against the officials and the officers. I told them, “You are all taking interest from your own people!” I also called for a large assembly in order to deal with them. ⁸ “To the best of our ability,” I said to them, “we have bought back our Jewish kin who had been sold to other nations. But now you are selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us!” At this they were silent, unable to offer a response.

⁹ So I continued, “What you are doing isn’t good! Why don’t you walk in the fear of our God? This will prevent the taunts of the nations that are our enemies! ¹⁰ I myself, along with my family and my servants, am lending them money and grain. But let’s stop charging this interest! ¹¹ Give it back to them, right now. Return their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses. And give back the interest on money, grain, wine, and oil that you are charging them.”

¹² They replied, “We’ll return everything, and we won’t charge anything else.^[r] We’ll do what you’ve asked.”

So I called the priests and made them swear to do what they had promised. ¹³ I also shook out the fold of my robe, saying, “So may God shake out everyone from their house and property if they don’t keep this promise. So may they be shaken out and emptied!”

The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

Generous Governor Nehemiah

¹⁴ In addition, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah (that is, from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes for a total of twelve years), neither I nor my family ate from the governor’s food allowance. ¹⁵ The earlier governors who had come before me laid heavy burdens on the people. They took food and wine from them as well as^[s] forty shekels of silver. Even their servants oppressed the people. But because I was God-fearing, I didn’t behave in this way.

¹⁶ Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. We acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. ¹⁷ One hundred fifty Jews and officials, along with those who came to us from the surrounding nations, gathered around my table. ¹⁸ One ox, six choice sheep, and birds were prepared each day. Every ten days there was a large amount of wine. Yet even with this I didn’t ask for the governor’s food allowance because of the heavy burden the people had to carry.

¹⁹ Remember in my favor, my God, all that I’ve done for this people!

Nehemiah avoids his enemies

6 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there were no gaps left in it (although I hadn’t yet hung the doors in the gates), ² Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let’s meet together in one of the villages^[t] in the plain of Ono.”

But they wanted to harm me, ³ so I sent messengers to tell them, “I’m doing important work, so I can’t come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you?”

⁴ They sent me a message like this four times, and every time I gave them a similar reply. ⁵ But the fifth time, Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way, except that now he carried an open letter. ⁶ It stated:

⁸ So I sent him this reply: “Nothing that you say has happened. You are simply inventing this.”

⁹ All of them were trying to make us afraid, saying, “They will be discouraged, and the work won’t get finished.” But now, God, strengthen me!

¹⁰ Later I went to see Shemaiah, Delaiah’s son and Mehetabel’s grandson, who was confined to his house, and he said:

¹¹ But I replied, “Should someone like me run away? Who like me would go into the temple to save his life? I won’t go in!” ¹² Then I realized that God hadn’t sent him at all but that he spoke this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. ¹³ He was hired to frighten me and to make me sin by acting in this way. Then they could give me a bad name and discredit me. ¹⁴ My God, remember these deeds of Tobiah and Sanballat! Also remember Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who have been trying to frighten me.

¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul.^[v] It took fifty-two days. ¹⁶ When our enemies heard about this, all of the nations around us were afraid and their confidence was greatly shaken. They knew that this work was completed with the help of our God.

¹⁷ In addition, in those days the officials of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters were coming to them. ¹⁸ Many in Judah were bound to him by solemn pledge because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah, Arah’s son, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam, Berechiah’s son. ¹⁹ They also kept talking about his good deeds in my presence and then reported back to him what I said. In addition, Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

The wall is complete

7 When the wall had been built and I had hung the doors, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed. ² Then I put my brother Hanani and Hananiah the commander of the fortress in charge of Jerusalem. Hananiah was a faithful man who revered God more than many.

³ I^[w] said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem aren’t to be opened during the hottest time of the day. While the gatekeepers^[x] are still on duty, have them shut and bar the doors. Also, appoint guards from among those who live in Jerusalem. Station some at their watch posts and some in front of their own houses.”

Nehemiah registers the families

⁴ Now although the city was wide and large, only a few people were living within it, and no^[y] houses had been rebuilt. ⁵ My God then prompted me to assemble the officials, the officers, and the people so that they could be registered by families. I found the record of the families who were the first to return, and I found the following written in it:

8 The family of Parosh	2,172
9 of Shephatiah	372
10 of Arah	652
11 of Pahath-moab, that is, of the descendants of Jeshua and Joab	2,818
12 of Elam	1,254
13 of Zattu	845
14 of Zaccai	760
15 of Binnui	648
16 of Bebai	628
17 of Azgad	2,322
18 of Adonikam	667
19 of Bigvai	2,067
20 of Adin	655
21 of Ater, that is, of the descendants of Hezekiah	98
22 of Hashum	328
23 of Bezai	324
24 of Hariph	112
25 of Gibeon	95
26 The people of Bethlehem and Netophah	188
27 of Anathoth	128
28 of Beth-azmaveth	42
29 of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth	743
30 of Ramah and Geba	621
31 of Michmas	122
32 of Bethel and Ai	123
33 of the other Nebo	52
34 the inhabitants of the other Elam	1,254
35 of Harim	320
36 of Jericho	345
37 of Lod, Hadid, and Ono	721
38 of Senaah	3,930
39 The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah, that is, of the house of Jeshua	973
40 of Immer	1,052
41 of Pashhur	1,247
42 of Harim	1,017
43 The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua, that is, of Kadmiel, of the descendants of Hodaviah	74
44 The singers: the descendants of Asaph	148
45 The descendants of gatekeepers: of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai	138

47 Keros, Sia, Padon,

48 Lebanah, Hagabah, Shalmai,

49 Hanan, Giddel, Gahar,

50 Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda,

51 Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah,

52 Besai, Meunim, Nephushesim,

53 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,

54 Bazlith, Mehida, Harsha,

55 Barkos, Sisera, Temah,

56 Neziah, and Hatipha.

⁷³ So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel settled in their towns.

Ezra reads the Instruction aloud

8 When the seventh month^[ad] came and the people of Israel were settled in their towns, all the people gathered together in the area in front of the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Instruction^[ae] scroll from Moses, according to which the Lord had instructed Israel.

² So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Instruction before the assembly. This assembly was made up of both men and women and anyone who could understand what they heard. ³ Facing the area in front of the Water Gate, he read it aloud, from early morning until the middle of the day. He read it in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand, and everyone listened attentively to the Instruction scroll.

⁴ Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for this purpose. And standing beside him were Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his righthand side; while Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam stood on his lefthand side.

⁵ Standing above all of the people, Ezra the scribe opened the scroll in the sight of all of the people. And as he opened it, all of the people stood up. ⁶ Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all of the people answered, “Amen! Amen!” while raising their hands. Then they bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

⁷ The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah^[af]—helped the people to understand the Instruction while the people remained in their places. ⁸ They read aloud from the scroll, the Instruction from God, explaining and interpreting it so the people could understand what they heard.

⁹ Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all of the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Don’t mourn or weep.” They said this^[ag] because all the people wept when they heard the words of the Instruction.

¹⁰ “Go, eat rich food, and drink something sweet,” he said to them, “and send portions of this to any who have nothing ready! This day is holy to our Lord. Don’t be sad, because the joy from the Lord is your strength!”

¹¹ The Levites also calmed all of the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy. Don’t be sad!” ¹² Then all of the people went to eat and to drink, to send portions, and to have a great celebration, because they understood what had been said to them.

The people celebrate the Festival of Booths

¹³ On the second day, the heads of the families of all the people, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered together around Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Instruction. ¹⁴ And they found written in the Instruction that the Lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should live in booths during the festival of the seventh month.^[ah]

¹⁵ They also found that they should make the following proclamation and announce it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.”

¹⁶ So the people went out and brought them, and made booths for themselves, each on the roofs of their houses or^[ai] their courtyards, in the courtyards of God’s house, in the area by the Water Gate, or in the area by the Gate of Ephraim.

¹⁷ The whole assembly of those who had returned from captivity made booths and lived in them. This was something that the people of Israel hadn’t done since the days of Joshua,^[aj] Nun’s son, and there was very great rejoicing.

¹⁸ He read from God’s Instruction scroll every day, from the first until the last day of the festival.^[ak] They kept the festival for seven days and held a solemn assembly on the eighth day, just as the Instruction required.