The Wall Is Finished

15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And (A)when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, (B)for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 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 the son of (C)Arah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of (D)Meshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife. 19 Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.

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Now when the wall had been built (A)and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, I gave (B)my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of (C)the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was (D)a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.

Lists of Returned Exiles

Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of (E)those who came up at the first, and I found written in it:

(F)These were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town. They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, (G)Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel:

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Totals of People and Gifts

66 The whole assembly together was 42,360, 67 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female. 68 Their horses were 736, their mules 245,[a] 69 their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720.

70 Now some of the heads of fathers' houses gave to the work. The (A)governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics[b] of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests' garments and 500 minas[c] of silver.[d] 71 And some of the heads of fathers' houses gave into the treasury of the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver. 72 (B)And what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests' garments.

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

(C)And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 7:68 Compare Ezra 2:66 and the margins of some Hebrew manuscripts; Hebrew lacks Their horses… 245
  2. Nehemiah 7:70 A daric was a coin weighing about 1/4 ounce or 8.5 grams
  3. Nehemiah 7:70 A mina was about 1 1/4 pounds or 0.6 kilogram
  4. Nehemiah 7:70 Probable reading; Hebrew lacks minas of silver

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