Nehemiah 6:15-7:3

New King James Version

The Wall Completed

¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶ And it happened, ^(A)when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for ^(B)they perceived that this work was done by our God.

¹⁷ Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. ¹⁸ For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the ^(C)son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of ^(D)Meshullam the son of Berechiah. ¹⁹ Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my ^[a]words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.

List of Returning Exiles

7 Then it was, when the wall was built and I had ^(E)hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, ² that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother ^(F)Hanani, and Hananiah the leader ^(G)of the ^[b]citadel, for he was a faithful man and ^(H)feared God more than many.

³ And I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house.”