Chronological
Nehemiah prays
1 These are the words of Nehemiah, Hacaliah's son.
It was the month Kislev. This was when King Artaxerxes had ruled for 20 years. I was in the big city of Susa. 2 Hanani, my brother, and some other men arrived from Judah. I asked them for news of the Jews who had returned there from exile in Babylon. I asked them for news about Jerusalem. 3 They told me, ‘The Jews who returned to Judah are in much trouble. The walls of the city still have lots of holes in them. Fire has burned the city's gates down to the ground. So the people are very ashamed.’
4 After they told me this, I sat down and I wept. I was very sad for many days. I did not eat or drink anything and I prayed to God.
5 I prayed, ‘Lord, God of heaven, you are great and powerful.[a] You always continue to love your people, as you have promised to do. You are kind to those people who love you and obey your commands. 6 Please listen to my prayer. I am your servant. I am praying in the day and in the night on behalf of your servants, the Israelites. I agree that we have all done wrong things. That includes me and my family. We have not obeyed you. 7 We have done wicked things against you. We have not obeyed the commands, the laws and the rules that you gave to your servant Moses.[b]
8 Remember what you told your servant, Moses. You told him, “If the Israelites turn away from me, I will make them live among foreign people in many different places. 9 But if they return to me and they obey my commands, I will be kind to them. I will bring them back together again from all the different places where they are living. Even if they live far away, I will find them. I will bring them to the place that I have chosen to give honour to my name.”
10 Lord, these are your people and your servants. You used your great power and strength to rescue them. 11 Please listen to my prayer, my Lord. Hear the prayers of your people who love to respect your name. Please cause the king to be kind to me. May he give me what I ask for.’
I was the king's cupbearer.[c]
Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem
2 It was the month of Nisan, when King Artaxerxes had ruled Babylon for 20 years. I had the king's wine ready for him to drink. I took it to give to him. He saw that I was sad. I had not been sad in front of the king before. 2 The king asked me, ‘Why are you sad? You are not ill. This must mean that you are very upset.’ I was very frightened.[d]
3 I replied to the king, ‘May the king live for ever! I am sad because enemies have destroyed the city where my ancestors are buried. They burned the city's gates.’
4 The king asked me, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ So I prayed to our God who rules from heaven.[e] 5 Then I said to the king, ‘Please sir, if you think it is a good idea and you are pleased with me, let me go to Judah. If you agree to send me there, I can build again the city where my ancestors are buried.’
6 The king was sitting with the queen next to him. The king asked me, ‘How long will you be away? When will you return?’ I told the king how long I would be away. Because the king was happy to send me, I told him when I would leave. 7 I said to the king, ‘If the king agrees, please give me some letters to say that I have your authority. I will show the letters to your officers who rule the region on the west side of the Euphrates river. Then I will be able to travel safely on the journey to Judah. 8 Also give me a letter for Asaph, who takes care of the king's forest there. Tell him to give me wood from the trees. I need to make beams to mend the gates of the strong place near the temple. I also need to mend the city's wall. And I need to build a house for myself to live in.’
The king agreed to do what I asked him, because my God was with me.
9 The king sent officers of his army to keep me safe on the journey. He also sent soldiers who rode on horses. I went to the king's officers on the west side of the Euphrates river. I gave them the letters which the king had written. 10 But two important men were not happy when they heard that I had come to help the Israelite people. They were Sanballat, who came from Horon, and Tobiah, an Ammonite officer.[f]
Nehemiah looks at Jerusalem's walls
11 I arrived in Jerusalem city. After three days, 12 I went out at night. I took a few of my friends with me. I was riding on a donkey. That was the only animal that we took with us. I did not tell anyone the idea that God had put in my mind about Jerusalem. 13 I went through the Valley Gate to the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate.[g] As I went, I looked carefully at Jerusalem's walls. They were broken. Fire had destroyed the city's gates.
14 I went to the Fountain Gate and then to the King's Pool. The path there was too narrow for my donkey to pass through. 15 So I went along the path in the valley while it was still night. I continued to look at the wall. I reached the Valley Gate again and I went back into the city. 16 The city's officers did not know that I had done this. I had not told anyone what I had decided to do. I had not told any of the other Jews, their priests, their leaders or the city's officers. I had not told any of the people who would help to do the work on the wall.
17 But then I said to them, ‘We have a big problem. Jerusalem has become a heap of stones. Fire has burned the gates. You must help to build the city's walls again. Then we will no longer be ashamed of our city.’
18 I told the people how God had helped me to come to Jerusalem. I told them what the king had said to me. Then the people said, ‘We will start to build now!’
The people prepared to start this good work. 19 But Sanballat, Tobiah and an Arab man called Geshem heard about what we were doing. They laughed at us and they insulted us. They said, ‘What are you trying to do? Have you turned against the king's authority?’[h]
20 I replied to them, ‘Our God who rules from heaven will help us. We are his servants and we will start to build. But you have never been true citizens of Jerusalem.’
The people who built Jerusalem's walls
3 The leader of the priests, Eliashib, and the other priests built the Sheep Gate. They fixed the doors in it again. They built the wall as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel. They dedicated it all to God.[i]
2 The men from Jericho built the next part of the city wall. Imri's son, Zakkur, built the next part of the wall.
3 The clan of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They put up the beams and they fixed its doors in their place. They made wooden bars and iron bars so that they could lock the doors.
4 Meremoth, son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, worked on the next part of the wall. Meshullam, son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, repaired the wall next to Meremoth. Baana's son, Zadok, repaired the next part of the wall. 5 The men from Tekoa repaired the next part. But their town's leaders refused to do the hard work.
6 Paseah's son, Joiada, and Besodeiah's son, Meshullam, worked on the Old Gate. They put up the beams and they fixed its doors in their place. They made wooden bars and iron bars so that they could lock the doors.
7 Men from Gibeon and Mizpah repaired the wall next to the Old Gate. They included Melatiah from Gibeon and Jadon, who came from Meronoth. The officer who ruled the region on the west side of the Euphrates river had authority over those towns.
8 Harhaiah's son, Uzziel, repaired the next part of the wall. Uzziel was a man who made things from gold. Hananiah repaired the wall next to Uzziel. Hananiah knew how to make perfume. Hananiah and Uzziel repaired the wall as far as the Broad Wall. 9 Hur's son, Rephaiah, repaired the next part of the wall. Rephaiah ruled over part of Jerusalem.[j]
10 Harumaph's son, Jedaiah, worked on the next part of the wall that was near to his own house. Hashabneiah's son, Hattush, repaired the wall next to Jedaiah. 11 Harim's son, Malkijah, and Pahath-Moab's son, Hasshub, worked on another part of the wall. They also repaired the Tower of the Ovens. 12 Hallohesh's son, Shallum, repaired the next part of the wall. He ruled over part of Jerusalem. Shallum's daughters helped him with the work.
13 Hanun and the people who lived in Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it and they fixed its doors in their place. They made wooden bars and iron bars so that they could lock the doors. The same people also repaired 450 metres of the city wall, as far as the Dung Gate.
14 Recab's son, Malkijah, repaired the Dung Gate. He put the doors in their place, as well as their wooden bars and iron bars. Malkijah had authority over the region of Beth Hakkerem.
15 Col-Hozeh's son, Shallun, repaired the Fountain Gate. He was the ruler of the region of Mizpah. Shallun built a roof over the Fountain Gate. He fixed its doors in their place, as well as their wooden bars and iron bars. Shallun also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam, near the king's garden. He repaired the wall as far as the steps that come down from the City of David.
16 Azbuk's son, Nehemiah, worked on another part of the wall. He was ruler of part of the region of Beth Zur. He repaired the wall along to the place of the royal graves. He continued to work as far as the pool that people had built and the House of the Brave Soldiers.
17 Levites worked along the next part of the wall. Bani's son, Rehum, worked there. Hashabiah repaired the next part of the wall. He ruled over part of the region of Keilah. He did the work on behalf of that region. 18 More Levites worked on the next part. Henadad's son, Binnui, worked there. He also ruled over part of Keilah. 19 Jeshua's son, Ezer, worked on another part of the wall. It was in front of the building where the soldiers kept their weapons. He repaired the wall as far as the corner. Ezer ruled over Mizpah.
20 Next, Zabbai's son, Baruch, worked hard on another part of the wall. He started from the corner of the wall and went as far as the door of Eliashib's house. Eliashib was the leader of the priests. 21 Meremoth, son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next part, from the door of Eliashib's house to the end of it.
22 Priests from the region near Jerusalem repaired the next part of the wall. 23 Benjamin and Hasshub repaired the wall in front of their house. Next, Azariah, son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, repaired the wall near his house. 24 Henadad's son, Binnui, repaired from Azariah's house to the corner, where it has a strong point. 25 Uzai's son, Palal, worked near the corner and the tower on the top of the king's palace. That was beside the yard for the guards. Parosh's son, Pedaiah, 26 repaired the next part of the wall, towards the east. The temple servants who lived on Ophel Hill worked with them. They repaired the wall as far as the Water Gate and the tower which stands there. 27 The men from Tekoa repaired the wall from the place near the great tower as far as the wall of Ophel.
28 The priests repaired the wall on the north side of the Horse Gate. Each priest repaired the wall in front of his house. 29 Immer's son, Zadok, repaired the wall in front of his house. Next to him, Shecaniah's son, Shemaiah, repaired the wall. He was the guard at the city's East Gate.
30 Next, Shelemiah's son, Hananiah, repaired the wall. Hanun worked with him. He was the sixth son of Zalaph. Berekiah's son, Meshullam, repaired the wall in front of the place where he lived. 31 Malkijah repaired the wall as far as the temple servants' house. He continued to work as far as the traders' houses in front of the Meeting Gate. He repaired the wall as far as the room above the wall's corner. Malkijah made things from gold.
32 Between there and the Sheep Gate the traders and the men who worked with gold repaired the wall.[k]
The Jews' enemies try to stop the work
4 Sanballat heard that we were building the wall. He was very angry and upset. He laughed at the Jews. 2 His officers and Samaria's army were with him. He said to them, ‘Those Jews have great ideas, but they are weak. How will they ever repair the wall? Will they give sacrifices to their God? Will that help them to repair the wall in one day? They will never build anything from this heap of stones that fire has destroyed!’
3 Tobiah the Ammonite was with him. Tobiah said, ‘The wall that the Jews are trying to build is very weak. Even if a little fox climbs up on it, the stones would all fall down again!’
4 So I prayed, ‘Hear us, our God. Our enemies think that we are fools. Make them seem like fools themselves! Let their enemies take them away as slaves. 5 Do not forgive their sins. Do not say that they are not guilty. They have insulted us when we are trying to build.’
6 The people worked hard because they wanted to build the wall. As a result, the wall all round the city soon became half as high as the old wall.
7 Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arab people, the Ammonites and the people who came from Ashdod all heard that the work was continuing. They could see that we were repairing the holes in the wall. So they were very angry. 8 They met together to decide what they should do. They decided to attack Jerusalem so that there would be trouble. 9 So we continued to pray to our God. We also put guards on the walls in the day and the night, to keep the city safe.
10 Then the people in Judah complained, ‘Our workers are becoming weak. There are so many stones and rubbish! We cannot finish the work on the wall!’
11 At the same time, our enemies were boasting, ‘Before the Jews even see us, we will attack them. We will kill them before they know what is happening. That will be the end of their work on the wall!’
12 The Jews who lived near our enemies warned us many times. They told us that our enemies would attack us wherever we went.
13 So I put some men behind the lowest part of the wall where there were holes. Each of the families had guards with swords, spears, bows and arrows. 14 I went round the city and I looked at everything. I said to the leaders, the officers and the people, ‘Do not be afraid of our enemies. Remember that our Lord God is great and powerful. Fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters and your wives. Fight to keep your homes safe.’
15 Our enemies realized that we knew what they had decided to do. God had stopped them from doing what they wanted. So each of us went back to our work on the wall.
16 After that day, half of my men continued to do the work on the wall. The other half carried spears, shields and bows. They also wore armour. The officers stood behind the people while they built the wall. 17 The men who were carrying materials held them with one hand. They held a weapon in their other hand. 18 All of the builders had swords tied on their belts while they were building. There was a man who would make a sound with his trumpet if there was danger. He stayed near me.
19 I said to the leaders, the officers and all the people, ‘It is hard work and the wall is very long. So we are not working near to each other. 20 When you hear the sound of the trumpet, come to join us here. Our God will fight on our behalf.’
21 We continued to work on the wall every day, from dawn until it became dark. Half of the men held spears to be our guards. 22 I said to the people, ‘Everybody must stay in Jerusalem each night, together with those who are helping them. Then they can be our guards to keep us safe at night. During each day they can do the work.’
23 I did not take my clothes off at night time, and neither did any of my friends. The workers and the guards who were with me kept their clothes on all the time. Everyone carried his own weapon whatever he was doing.
Nehemiah helps poor people
5 Some men and their wives were upset, because of the things that some other Jews were doing. 2 Many of them said, ‘We are big families, with many sons and daughters. We need to have food to eat so that we can stay alive.’ 3 Other people said, ‘People have to lend us money to buy food. We have to give them our fields, our vineyards and our homes until we can pay them back.’
4 Other people said, ‘We have to pay taxes to the king for our fields and our vineyards. People had to lend us money to pay the taxes. 5 Now we have to sell our sons and daughters as slaves so that we can pay back the money. But we are from the same human family as those other Jews. Our children are not different from their children. Already some of our daughters have become slaves. Our fields and vineyards now belong to other people, so we are helpless to do anything.’
6 When I heard what they were complaining about, I was very angry. 7 I thought carefully about what they had said. Then I said to the Jewish leaders and officers, ‘You are cheating your own people! You are taking back more money than you have lent to them.’
I told the Jews to come together for a big meeting. 8 I said to them all, ‘When our own Jewish people have become slaves of foreign people, we have tried hard to buy them back. But now you are making your own people sell their children to you. And you want us to pay you to buy them back again!’ The Jewish leaders kept quiet. They had nothing to say.
9 Then I said to them, ‘You are doing something that is completely wrong. Instead, you should obey God and live in a good way. Then the foreign people who are our enemies will not have a chance to insult us. 10 I myself have agreed to lend poor people money and food. My family and my friends have done the same thing. But we must not make those poor people pay back more to us. 11 Now you must give back to them their fields, their vineyards, their gardens of olive trees and their houses. Do not make them pay any extra money for the money, food, wine or olive oil that you lent to them.’
12 The leaders replied, ‘We will give everything back to them. We will not make them pay back their debts to us. We will do everything that you have said.’
I told the priests to come to our meeting. While they were with us, I made the Jewish leaders and officers make a strong promise. They agreed to do what they had promised to do. 13 I shook my coat so that everything fell out of its pockets. I said, ‘You must all do what you have promised to do. If not, I pray that God will shake you out like that! He will take away your homes and all your things. You will be left with nothing!’ Everyone at the meeting said, ‘Amen, we agree!’ They praised the Lord.
All the people did what they had promised to do.
14 All the time that I ruled the land of Judah, I did not eat the government officer's special food. I was the ruler from the 20th year of King Artaxerxes until his 32nd year as king. For all those 12 years, I and my relatives refused to eat the special food. 15 The officers who ruled there before I came made much trouble for the people. They took food and wine from the people, as well as 40 silver coins every day. Their servants also gave the people much trouble. But I did not live like them, because I wanted to please God. 16 I worked hard to help the work on the city's walls. I did not take any land for myself. All my servants also had to join with me in the work.
17 150 Jews and their officers ate meals with me. There were also people who came to visit from countries that were near to us. 18 Every day, my servants cooked one ox, six good sheep and some birds for us to eat. Every ten days they bought for me many different kinds of wine. But I did not ask to receive the extra food that the ruler usually receives. The people were working hard on the wall and I did not want to give them more trouble.
19 My God, please remember the many things that I have done to help my people. Please bless me.
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