Chronological

1 ¶ The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan, the palace,

² that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

³ And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.

⁴ And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of the heavens

⁵ ¶ and said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of the heavens, strong, great and terrible, who keeps covenant and mercy for those that love thee and observe thy commandments;

⁶ let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open, that thou may hear the prayer of thy slave, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the sons of Israel, thy slaves, and I confess the sins of the sons of Israel, with which we have sinned against thee; both I and my father’s house have sinned.

⁷ We have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the judgments, which thou didst command thy slave Moses.

⁸ Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou didst command thy slave Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples;

⁹ but if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from there and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to cause my name to dwell there.

¹⁰ Now these are thy slaves and thy people, whom thou hast ransomed with thy great power and with thy strong hand.

¹¹ O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy slave and to the prayer of thy slaves who desire to fear thy name; and prosper, I pray thee, thy slave this day, and grant him grace before this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.

2 ¶ And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, the king, that as wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it unto the king. And as I had not been sad before in his presence,

² the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing else but brokenness of heart. Then I was very sore afraid

³ and said unto the king, Let the king live for ever; why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the house of my fathers’ sepulchres, lies waste, and its gates are consumed with fire?

⁴ Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of the heavens.

⁵ And I said unto the king, If it pleases the king, and if thy slave has found favour in thy sight, that thou would send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may rebuild it.

⁶ Then the king said unto me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? So the matter pleased the king, and he sent me; and I set him a time.

⁷ Moreover, I said unto the king, If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the captains on the other side of the river, that they may convey me over until I come into Judah,

⁸ and a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace of the house and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of the LORD upon me.

⁹ ¶ Then I came to the captains of the other side of the river and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent princes of the army and horsemen with me.

¹⁰ When Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the slave, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

¹¹ So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

¹² And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither did I tell any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; neither was there any beast with me, except the beast that I rode upon.

¹³ And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the fountain of the dragon and to the dung port and considered the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates were consumed with fire.

¹⁴ Then I went on to the gate of the fountain and to the king’s pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.

¹⁵ Then went I up in the night by the brook and considered the wall and turned back and entered by the gate of the valley and so returned.

¹⁶ And the rulers did not know where I had gone or what I had done; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews nor to the priests nor to the nobles nor to the rulers nor to the rest that did the work.

¹⁷ Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste and its gates are burned with fire; come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no longer in reproach.

¹⁸ Then I told them how the hand of my God was good upon me and likewise the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they comforted their hands for good.

¹⁹ But when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the slave, the Ammonite, and Geshem, the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn and despised us and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king?

²⁰ Then I gave them a reply and said unto them, The God of the heavens, he will prosper us; therefore, we, his slaves, will arise and build; but ye have no portion nor righteousness, nor memorial in Jerusalem.

3 ¶ Then Eliashib, the high priest, rose up with his brethren, the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.

² And next unto him the men of Jericho built. And next to them built Zaccur, the son of Imri.

³ And the sons of Hassenaah built the fish gate; they laid its beams and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars.

⁴ And next to them Meremoth, the son of Urijah, the son of Koz restored. And next to them Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel restored. And next to them Zadok, the son of Baana, restored.

⁵ And next to them the Tekoites restored; but their nobles did not put their necks to the work of their Lord.

⁶ Moreover, the old gate was restored by Jehoiada, the son of Paseah, and Meshullam, the son of Besodeiah; they laid its beams and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars.

⁷ And next to them restored Melatiah, the Gibeonite, and Jadon, the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, on behalf of the captain of the king over the land on this side the river.

⁸ Next to them Uzziel, the son of Harhaiah, of the refiners restored. Next unto him Hananiah, the son of one of the apothecaries, also restored, and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall.

⁹ And next unto them Rephaiah, the son of Hur, prince of the half part of Jerusalem, restored.

¹⁰ And next unto them, Jedaiah, the son of Harumaph restored, and over against his house. And next unto him Hattush, the son of Hashabniah, restored.

¹¹ Malchijah, the son of Harim, and Hashub, the son of Pahathmoab, restored the other piece and the tower of the furnaces.

¹² And next to them restored Shallum, the son of Halohesh, prince of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.

¹³ The valley gate was restored by Hanun with the inhabitants of Zanoah; they rebuilt it and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and a thousand cubits in the wall unto the dung gate.

¹⁴ And Malchiah, the son of Rechab, prince of the province of Bethhaccerem, restored the dung gate; he built it and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars.

¹⁵ Shallun, the son of Colhozeh, the prince of the region of Mizpah, restored the gate of the fountain; he built it, covered it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Siloah of the king’s garden, unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.

¹⁶ After him restored Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, the prince of half the region of Bethzur, unto the place over against the sepulchres of David and to the pool that was made and unto the house of the mighty.

¹⁷ After him restored the Levites, Rehum, the son of Bani. Next unto him Hashabiah, prince of half the region of Keilah, restored in his part.

¹⁸ After him their brethren, Bavai, the son of Henadad, prince of the half the region of Keilah restored.

¹⁹ And next to him Ezer, the son of Jeshua, prince of Mizpah, restored another piece over against the going up to the armoury at the turning of the wall.

²⁰ After him Baruch, the son of Zabbai, earnestly restored the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib, the high priest.

²¹ After him, Meremoth, the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, restored another piece, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.

²² And after him the priests, the men of the plain, restored.

²³ After them Benjamin and Hashub restored over against their house. After them Azariah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, restored by his house.

²⁴ After him, Binnui, the son of Henadad, restored another piece, from the house of Azariah unto the turning of the wall, even unto the corner.

²⁵ Palal, the son of Uzai, over against the turning of the wall, and the tower which lies out from the king’s high house, that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah, the son of Parosh.

²⁶ And the Nethinims were in Ophel, {Heb. the fortress} unto the place over against the water gate toward the east and the tower that lies out.

²⁷ After them the Tekoites restored another piece, over against the great tower that lies out, unto the wall of Ophel.

²⁸ From the horse gate the priests restored, each one over against his house.

²⁹ After them Zadok, the son of Immer, restored over against his house. After him, Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate restored.

³⁰ After him, Hananiah, the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, restored another piece. After him Meshullam, the son of Berechiah restored over against his chamber.

³¹ After him, Malchiah, the son of the refiner, restored unto the place of the Nethinims and of the merchants, over against the gate of judgment {Heb. Miphkad} and to the going up of the corner.

³² And between the going up of the corner unto the sheep gate, the refiners and the merchants restored.

4 ¶ But it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was wroth and took great indignation and mocked the Jews.

² And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? Is this to be permitted them? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish on time? Will they resurrect the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which were burned?

³ Now Tobiah, the Ammonite, was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox were to go up it, he would break down their stone wall.

⁴ Hear, O our God; for we are despised; and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of their captivity.

⁵ And do not cover their iniquity, nor let their sin be blotted out from before thee, for they have become angry against the builders.

⁶ But we built the wall, and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof, for the people were motivated to work.

⁷ ¶ And it came to pass when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were sound and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth

⁸ and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder it.

⁹ Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God and set a watch over the builders day and night because of them.

¹⁰ And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish so that we are not able to build the wall.

¹¹ And our adversaries said, They shall not know or see until we come in the midst among them and slay them and cause the work to cease.

¹² But it came to pass, that when the Jews who dwelt among them came, they advised us ten times of all the places from which they would come upon us.

¹³ Therefore, I set in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I set the people by families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

¹⁴ Then I looked and rose up and said unto the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

¹⁵ And it came to pass when our enemies heard that we had understood it, God brought their counsel to nought, and we returned all of us to the wall, each one unto his work.

¹⁶ ¶ And it came to pass from that time forth that half of the young men wrought in the work, and the other half of them held spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail; and the princes were behind all the house of Judah.

¹⁷ Those that built on the wall and those that bore burdens and those that laded wrought with one hand in the work and with the other held a weapon.

¹⁸ For the builders, each one had his sword girded by his side, and so they built. And he that sounded the shofar was by me.

¹⁹ And I said unto the principals and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.

²⁰ In whatever place that you hear the voice of the shofar, join us there; our God shall fight for us.

²¹ So we laboured in the work, and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared.

²² Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let each one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that by night they may be a guard to us, and labour by day.

²³ So neither I nor my brethren nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us put off our clothes, each one put them off only for washing.

5 ¶ Then there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren, the Jews.

² For there were some that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many; therefore we have bought grain that we may eat and live.

³ There were also some that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy grain because of the famine.

⁴ And there were some that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.

⁵ Yet now, given that the flesh of our brethren is as our flesh and their sons as our sons, behold, we subject our sons and our daughters to slavery, and there are some of our daughters in bondage already; neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.

⁶ ¶ And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.

⁷ Then I meditated unto myself, and I rebuked the principals and the rulers and said unto them, Does each one of you exact usury of his brother? And I set a great assembly against them.

⁸ And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren, the Jews who had been sold unto the Gentiles; and will ye even sell your brethren? And shall they be sold unto us? Then they remained silent, for they had nothing to answer.

⁹ Also I said, What you do is not good, do you not walk in the fear of our God, that ye not be the reproach of our enemies the Gentiles?

¹⁰ I, likewise, and my brethren and my servants, have lent them money and grain; let us now release them from this burden.

¹¹ Restore, I pray you, to them, today, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, and even the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.

¹² Then they said, We will return it and will require nothing of them; so we will do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests and caused them to sware that they should do according to this promise.

¹³ Also I shook my lap and said, Thus will God shake out each man from his house and from his labour, that does not perform this promise, even thus shall he be shaken out and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.

¹⁴ ¶ Moreover, from the day that I was appointed by the king to be their captain in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the captain.

¹⁵ But the former captains that had been before me had charged the people and had taken of them for bread and wine, upon forty shekels of silver; and in addition to this their servants bore rule over the people; but I did not do so because of the fear of God.

¹⁶ In addition to this, I restored my part in the work of this wall, neither did we buy any inheritance; and all my servants were gathered together unto the work.

¹⁷ I also had at my table one hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those that came unto us from among the Gentiles that are around us.

¹⁸ Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and every ten days wine in all abundance; yet with all this I did not require the bread of the captain because the bondage was heavy upon this people.

¹⁹ Remember me, my God, for good and all that I have done for this people.