Beginning

Nehemiah’s Prayer

1 These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.

I, Nehemiah, was in the capital city of Susa. It was in the month of Kislev. This was in the twentieth year.^{[a] 2} One of my brothers named Hanani came from Judah. Some other men were with him. I asked them about the Jews who lived through the captivity. And I also asked about Jerusalem.

³ They answered, “Nehemiah, those who are left from the captivity are back in the area of Judah. But they are in much trouble and are full of shame. The wall around Jerusalem is broken down. And its gates have been burned.”

⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and cried for several days. I was sad and did not eat food. I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ I said, “Lord, God of heaven, you are the great God who is to be respected. You keep your agreement of love with those who love you and obey your commands. ⁶ Listen carefully. Look at me. Hear the prayer your servant is praying to you day and night. I am praying for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites have done against you. My father’s family and I have sinned against you. ⁷ We have been wicked toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, rules and laws you gave your servant Moses.

⁸ “Remember what you taught your servant Moses. You said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. ⁹ But if you come back to me and obey my commands, I will gather your people. I will gather them from the far ends of the earth. And I will bring them from captivity to where I have chosen to be worshiped.’

¹⁰ “They are your servants and your people. You have saved them with your great strength and power. ¹¹ Lord, listen carefully to my prayer. I am your servant. And listen to the prayers of your servants who love to honor you. Give me, your servant, success today. Allow this king to show kindness to me.”

I was the one who served wine to the king.

Nehemiah Is Sent to Jerusalem

2 It was the month of Nisan. It was in the twentieth year King Artaxerxes was king. He wanted some wine. So 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? You are not sick. Your heart must be sad.”

Then I was very afraid. ³ I said to the king, “May the king live forever! My face is sad because the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins. And its gates have been destroyed by fire.”

⁴ Then the king said to me, “What do you want?”

First I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I answered the king, “Send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried. I will rebuild it. Do this if you are willing and if I have pleased you.”

⁶ The queen was sitting next to the king. He asked me, “How long will your trip take? When will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me. So I set a time.

⁷ I also said to him, “If you are willing, give me letters for the governors west of the Euphrates River. Tell them to let me pass safely through their lands on my way to Judah. ⁸ And may I have a letter for Asaph? He is the keeper of the king’s forest. Tell him to give me timber. I will need it to make boards for the gates of the palace. It is by the Temple. The wood is also for the city wall and the house I will live in.” So the king gave me the letters. This was because God was showing kindness to me. ⁹ So I went to the governors west of the Euphrates River. I gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and soldiers on horses with me.

¹⁰ Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite leader heard about this. They were upset that someone had come to help the Israelites.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem

¹¹ I went to Jerusalem and stayed there three days. ¹² Then at night I started out with a few men. I had not told anyone what God had caused me to do for Jerusalem. There were no animals with me except the one I was riding.

¹³ It was night. I went out through the Valley Gate. I rode toward the Dragon Well and the Trash Gate. I was inspecting the walls of Jerusalem. They had been broken down. And the gates had been destroyed 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 get through. ¹⁵ So I went up the valley at night. I was inspecting the wall. Finally, I turned and went back in through the Valley Gate. ¹⁶ The officers did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. I had not yet said anything to the Jews, the priests, the important men or the officers. I had not said anything to any of the others who would do the work.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You can see the trouble we have here. Jerusalem is a pile of ruins. And its gates have been burned. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Then we won’t be full of shame any longer.” ¹⁸ I also told them how God had been kind to me. And I told them what the king had said to me.

Then they answered, “Let’s start rebuilding.” So they began to work hard.

¹⁹ But Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite leader and Geshem the Arab heard about it. They made fun of us and laughed at us. They said, “What are you doing? Are you turning against the king?”

²⁰ But I answered them, “The God of heaven will give us success. We are God’s servants. We will start rebuilding. But you have no share in Jerusalem. You have no claim or past right to it.”

Builders of the Wall

3 Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work. They rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They gave it to the Lord’s service and set its doors in place. They worked as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and they gave it to the Lord’s service. Then they went on to the Tower of Hananel. ² The men of Jericho built the part of the wall next to the priests. And Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.

³ The sons of Hassenaah rebuilt the Fish Gate. They set the boards in place. And they put its doors, bolts and bars in place. ⁴ Meremoth son of Uriah made repairs next to them. (Uriah was the son of Hakkoz.) Meshullam son of Berekiah worked next to Meremoth. (Berekiah was the son of Meshezabel.) And Zadok son of Baana worked next to Meshullam. ⁵ The men from Tekoa made repairs next to them. But the leading men of Tekoa would not work under their supervisors.

⁶ Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate. They set its boards in place. And they put its doors, bolts and bars in place. ⁷ Next to them, men from Gibeon and Mizpah made repairs. Melatiah was from Gibeon, and Jadon was from Meronoth. These places were ruled by the governor west of the Euphrates River. ⁸ Next to them, Uzziel son of Harhaiah made repairs. He was a goldsmith. And next to him, Hananiah made repairs. He was one of the people who made perfume. These men rebuilt Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. ⁹ The next part of the wall was repaired by Rephaiah son of Hur. He was ruler of half of the district of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Next to him, Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs. He worked opposite his own house. And next to him, Hattush son of Hashabneiah made repairs. ¹¹ Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab repaired another part of the wall. And they repaired the Tower of the Ovens. ¹² Next to them, Shallum son of Hallohesh made repairs. He was ruler of half of the district of Jerusalem. His daughters helped him.

¹³ Hanun and the people of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and put its doors, bolts and bars in place. They also repaired the 500 yards of the wall to the Trash Gate.

¹⁴ Malkijah son of Recab repaired the Trash Gate. He was ruler of the district of Beth Hakkerem. He rebuilt that gate and put its doors, bolts and bars in place.

¹⁵ Shallun son of Col-Hozeh repaired the Fountain Gate. He was ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it and put a roof over it. And he put its doors, bolts and bars in place. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam. It is next to the King’s Garden. He repaired the wall all the way to the steps. They went down from the older part of the city. ¹⁶ Next to Shallun, Nehemiah^[b] son of Azbuk made repairs. He was ruler of half of the district of Beth Zur. He made repairs up to a place opposite the tombs of David. He made repairs as far as the man-made pool and the House of the Heroes.

¹⁷ Next to him, the Levites made repairs. Some worked under Rehum son of Bani. Next to him, Hashabiah made repairs for his district. He was ruler of half of the district of Keilah. ¹⁸ Next to him, Binnui son of Henadad and his relatives made repairs. Binnui was the ruler of the other half of the district of Keilah. ¹⁹ Next to them, Ezer son of Jeshua worked. He was ruler of Mizpah. He repaired another part of the wall. He worked across from the way up to the storehouse for weapons. And he worked to the place where the wall turns. ²⁰ Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai worked very hard to repair another part of the wall. It went from the place where the wall turns to the entrance of the house of Eliashib. He was the high priest. ²¹ Next to him, Meremoth son of Uriah worked. (Uriah was the son of Hakkoz.) He repaired another part of the wall. It went from the entrance to Eliashib’s house to the far end of it.

²² Next to him worked the priests from the surrounding area. ²³ Next to them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their own house. Next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah made repairs beside his own house. (Maaseiah was the son of Ananiah.) ²⁴ Next to him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired another part of the wall. It went from Azariah’s house to the place where the wall turned. And it went to the corner. ²⁵ Palal son of Uzai worked across from the place where the wall turned. And he worked by the tower on the upper palace. That is near the courtyard of the king’s guard. Next to Palal, Pedaiah son of Parosh made repairs. ²⁶ The Temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel. They made repairs as far as a point opposite the Water Gate. They worked toward the east and the tower that extends from the palace. ²⁷ Next to them, the men of Tekoa made repairs. They worked on the wall from the great tower that extends from the palace to the wall of Ophel.

²⁸ The priests made repairs above the Horse Gate. Each worked in front of his own house. ²⁹ Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs across from his own house. Next to him, Shemaiah son of Shecaniah made repairs. He was the guard of the East Gate. ³⁰ Next to him, Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, made repairs. They worked on another part of the wall. Next to them, Meshullam son of Berekiah made repairs. It was across from where he lived. ³¹ Next to him, Malkijah made repairs. He was one of the goldsmiths. He worked as far as the house of the Temple servants and the traders. That is across from the Inspection Gate. And he worked as far as the room above the corner of the wall. ³² The goldsmiths and the traders made repairs on another part of the wall. It was between the room above the corner of the wall and the Sheep Gate.