Hostile Plots Thwarted

4 ^[a]Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews.^{(A) 2} He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it by themselves?^[b] Will they offer sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish—burned ones at that?”^{(B) 3} Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “That stone wall they are building—any fox going up on it would break it down!”^{(C) 4} Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their taunt back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity.^{(D) 5} Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have raged against the builders.^[c](E)

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

^7 [d]But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the gaps were beginning to be closed, they were very angry^{(F) 8} and all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. ⁹ So we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.^(G)

¹⁰ But Judah said, “The strength of the burden bearers is failing, and there is too much rubbish so that we are unable to work on the wall.” ¹¹ And our enemies said, “They will not know or see anything before we come upon them and kill them and stop the work.” ¹² When the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us ten times, “From all the places where they live^[e] they will come up against us.”^{[f] 13} So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people according to their families,^[g] with their swords, their spears, and their bows.^{(H) 14} After I looked these things over, I stood up and said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your kin, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your households.”^(I)

¹⁵ When our enemies heard that their plot was known to us and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.^{(J) 16} From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and body-armor, and the leaders posted themselves behind the whole house of Judah ¹⁷ who were building the wall. The burden bearers carried their loads in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and with the other held a weapon. ¹⁸ And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. ¹⁹ And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread out, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. ²⁰ Rally to us wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet. Our God will fight for us.”^(K)

²¹ So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from break of dawn until the stars came out. ²² I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night inside Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” ²³ So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me ever took off our clothes; each kept his weapon in his right hand.^[h]

Nehemiah Deals with Oppression

5 Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish kin.^{(L) 2} For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many; we must get grain, so that we may eat and stay alive.” ³ There were also those who said, “We are having to pledge our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine.” ⁴ And there were those who said, “We are having to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s tax.^{(M) 5} Now our flesh is the same as that of our kindred; our children are the same as their children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others.”^(N)

⁶ I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. ⁷ After thinking it over, I contended with the nobles and the officials; I said to them, “You are all taking interest from your own people.” And I called a great assembly to deal with them^{(O) 8} and said to them, “As far as we were able, we have bought back our Jewish kindred who had been sold to other nations, but now you are selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say.^{(P) 9} So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God, to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?^{(Q) 10} Moreover I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us stop this taking of interest. ¹¹ Restore to them, this very day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the interest on money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” ¹² Then they said, “We will restore everything and demand nothing more from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and made them take an oath to do as they had promised.^{(R) 13} I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out everyone from house and from property who does not perform this promise. Thus may they be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.^(S)

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 to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor.^{(T) 15} The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took food and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so because of the fear of God.^{(U) 16} Indeed, I devoted myself to the work on this wall and acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. ¹⁷ Moreover, there were at my table one hundred fifty people, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations around us.^{(V) 18} Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and every ten days skins of wine in abundance, yet with all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because of the heavy burden of labor on the people.^{(W) 19} Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.^(X)

Intrigues of Enemies Foiled

6 Now when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had built the wall and that there was no gap left in it (though up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),^{(Y) 2} Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together in one of the villages^[i] in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm.^{(Z) 3} So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you?” ⁴ They sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. ⁵ In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. ⁶ In it was written, “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem^[j] also says it—that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall; and according to this report you wish to become their king.^{(AA) 7} You have also set up prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘There is a king in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these words. So come, therefore, and let us confer together.” ⁸ Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done; you are inventing them out of your own mind,” ⁹ for they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, strengthen my hands.

¹⁰ One day when I went into the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, tonight they are coming to kill you.”^{(AB) 11} But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Would a man like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” ¹² Then I perceived and saw that God had not sent him at all, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.^{(AC) 13} He was hired for this purpose, to intimidate me and make me sin by acting in this way, and so they could give me a bad name, in order to taunt me.^{(AD) 14} Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.^(AE)

The Wall Completed

¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶ And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid^[k] and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.^{(AF) 17} Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. ¹⁸ For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. ¹⁹ Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

²² “Fellow Israelites,^[a] listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth,^[b] a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know^(A)— ²³ this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law.^{(B) 24} But God raised him up, having released him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.^{(C) 25} For David says concerning him,

²⁹ “Fellow Israelites,^[c] I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.^{(F) 30} Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne.^{(G) 31} Foreseeing this, David^[d] spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah,^[e] saying,

³² “This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.^{(I) 33} Being therefore exalted at^[f] the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you see and hear.^{(J) 34} For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

³⁶ “Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah,^[g] this Jesus whom you crucified.”

The First Converts

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers,^[h] what should we do?”^{(L) 38} Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.^{(M) 39} For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”^{(N) 40} And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹ So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. ⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Life among the Believers

⁴³ Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.^{(O) 44} All who believed were together and had all things in common;^{(P) 45} they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds^[i] to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶ Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home^[j] and ate their food with glad and generous^[k] hearts,^{(Q) 47} praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.^(R)