Chronological
Nehemiah
1 4 Nehemiah bewaileth the calamity of Jerusalem. 5 He confesseth the sins of the people, and praiseth God for them.
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. In the month [a]Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in the palace of Shushan,
2 Came Hanani, one of my [b]brethren, he and the men of Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews that were delivered, which were of the residue of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, The residue that are left of the captivity there in the [c]province, are in great affliction and in reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire.
4 And when I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,
5 And said, (A)O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him, and observe his commandments,
6 I pray thee let thine ears be attent, and thine eyes open, to hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee daily, day and night for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee, both I and my father’s house have sinned:
7 We have [d]grievously sinned against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8 I beseech thee, remember the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, Ye will transgress, and (B)I will scatter you abroad among the people.
9 But if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them, (C)though your scattering were to the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather you from thence, and will bring you unto the place that I have chosen to place my Name there.
10 Now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy mighty hand.
11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let thine ear now hearken to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to [e]fear thy Name, and I pray thee, cause thy servant to prosper this day, and give him favor in the presence of [f]this man: for I was the king’s butler.
2 1 After Nehemiah had obtained letters of Artaxerxes, 11 he came to Jerusalem, 17 and built the walls.
1 Now in the month [g]Nisan in the twentieth year of king [h]Artaxerxes, the wine stood before him, and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I was not before time sad in his presence.
2 And the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing, but sorrow of heart. Then was I sore afraid,
3 And I said to the King, God save the king forever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city and house of the sepulchers of my fathers lieth waste, and the gates thereof are devoured with fire?
4 And the king said unto me, For what thing doest thou require? Then I prayed [i]to the God of heaven,
5 And said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, I desire that thou wouldest send me to Judah unto the city of the sepulchers of my fathers, that I may build it.
6 And the King said unto me, (the Queen also sitting by him:) How long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou come again? So it pleased the king, and he sent me, and I set him a time.
7 After I said unto the King, If it please the King, let them give me letters to the captains beyond the [j]River, that they may convey me over, till I come into Judah,
8 And letters unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s [k]park, that he may give me timber to build the gates of the palace (which appertained to the house) and for the walls of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king gave me according to [l]the good hand of my God upon me.
9 ¶ Then came I to the captains beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. And the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
10 But [m]Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah a servant an Ammonite heard it, and it grieved them sore, that there was come a man which sought the wealth of the children of Israel.
11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12 And I rose in the night, I, and a few men with me: for I told no man, what God had put in mine heart to do at Jerusalem, and there was not a beast with me, save the beast whereon I rode.
13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, and came before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, how they were broken down, and the ports thereof devoured with the fire.
14 Then I went forth unto the gate of the [n]fountain, and to the king’s fish pool, and there was no room for the beast that was under me to pass.
15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and coming back, I entered by the gate of the valley, and returned.
16 And the rulers knew not whither I was gone, nor what I did, neither did I as yet tell it unto the Jews, nor to the Priests, nor to the noble men, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that labored in the work.
17 Afterward I said unto them, Ye see the misery that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire: come, and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more [o]a reproach.
18 Then I told them of the hand of my God, (which was good over me) and also of the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise, and build. So they [p]strengthened their hand to good.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant an Ammonite, and [q]Geshem the Arabian heard it, they mocked us, and despised us, and said, What a thing is this that ye do? Will ye [r]rebel against the king?
20 Then answered I them, and said to them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us, and we his servants will rise up and build: but as for you, ye have no portion nor right, nor [s]memorial in Jerusalem.
3 The number of them that built the walls.
1 Then arose Eliashib the high Priest with his brethren the Priests, and they built the sheep gate: they [t]repaired it, and set up the doors thereof: even unto the tower of Meah repaired they it, and unto the tower of Hananel.
2 And next unto him built the men of Jericho, and beside him Zaccur the son of Imri.
3 But the fish port did the sons of Senaah build, which also laid the beams thereof, and set on the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.
4 And next unto them fortified Meremoth, the son of Urijah, the son of Koz: and next unto them fortified Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel: and next unto them fortified Zadok, the son of Baana:
5 And next unto them fortified the Tekoites: but the great men of them [u]put not their necks to the works of their lords.
6 And the gate of the (D)old fish pool fortified Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah: they laid the beams thereof, and set on the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.
7 Next unto them also fortified Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, unto the [v]throne of the Duke, which was beyond the River.
8 Next unto him fortified Uzziel the son of Harhaiah [w]of the goldsmiths: next unto him also fortified Hananiah the son [x]of Harakkahim, and they repaired Jerusalem unto the broad wall.
9 Also next unto them fortified Rephaiah, the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem.
10 And next unto him fortified Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, even over against his house: and next unto him fortified Hattush the son of Hashabniah.
11 Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hashub the son of Pahath-Moab fortified the second [y]portion, and the tower of the furnaces.
12 Next unto him also fortified Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.
13 The valley gate fortified Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah: they built it, and set on the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, even a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung port.
14 But the dung port fortified Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the fourth part of Beth Haccarem: he built it, and set on the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.
15 But the gate of the fountain fortified Shallun the son of Col-Hozeh, the ruler of the fourth part of Mizpah: he built it, and covered it, and set on the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall unto the fish pool of [z]Shelah by the king’s garden, and unto the steps that go down from the city of David.
16 After him fortified Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Beth Zur until the other side over against the sepulchers of David and to the fish pool that was repaired, and unto the house of the mighty.
17 After him fortified the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani, and the next unto him fortified Hashabiah the ruler of the half part of Keilah in his quarter.
18 After him fortified their brethren: Bavai, the son of Henadad the ruler of the half part of Keilah:
19 And next unto him fortified Ezer, the son of Jeshua the ruler of Mizpah, the other portion over against the going up to the [aa]corner of the armor.
20 After him was earnest Baruch the son of Zabbai, and fortified another portion from the corner unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high Priest.
21 After him fortified Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, another portion from the door of the house of Eliashib, even as long as the house of Eliashib extended.
22 After him also fortified the Priests, the men of [ab]the plain.
23 After them fortified Benjamin, and Hasshub over against their house: after him fortified Azariah the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, by his house.
24 After him fortified Binnui, the son of Henadad another portion, from the house of Azariah unto the turning and unto the corner.
25 Palal, the son of Uzai, from over against the corner, and the high tower, that lieth out from the King’s house, which is beside the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh.
26 And the [ac]Nethinim they dwelt in the fortress unto the place over against the water gate Eastward, and to the tower that lieth out.
27 After him fortified the Tekoites another portion over against the great tower that lieth out even unto the wall of the fortress.
28 From above the horse gate forth fortified the Priests, every one over against his house.
29 After them fortified Zadok the son of Immer over against his house: and after him fortified Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah the keeper of the East gate.
30 After him fortified Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the son of Zalaph, the [ad]sixth, another portion: after him fortified Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, over against his chamber.
31 After him fortified Malchijah the goldsmith’s son, until the house of the Nethinim, and of the Merchants over against the gate [ae]Miphkad, and to the chamber in the corner.
32 And between the chamber of the corner unto the sheep gate fortified the goldsmiths and the merchants.
4 7 The building of Jerusalem is hindered, 15 but God breaketh their enterprise. 17 The Jews build with one hand, and hold their weapons in the other.
1 But when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, then was he wroth and sore grieved, and mocked the Jews,
2 And said before his [af]brethren and the army of Samaria, thus he said, What do these [ag]weak Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they finish it in a day? will they make the stones whole again out of the heaps of dust, seeing they are burnt?
3 And Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and said, Although they build, yet if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stony wall.
4 [ah]Hear, O our God (for we are despised) and turn their shame upon their own head, and give them unto a prey [ai]in the land of their captivity,
5 And cover not their [aj]iniquity, neither let their sin be put out in thy presence: for they have provoked us before the builders.
6 So we built the wall, and all the wall was joined unto the [ak]half thereof, and the heart of the people was to work.
7 ¶ But when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodims heard that the walls of Jerusalem were repaired, (for the breaches began to be stopped) then they were very wroth,
8 And conspired all together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to [al]hinder them.
9 Then we prayed unto our God, and set watchmen by them, day and night, because of them.
10 And Judah said, The strength of the bearers is weakened, and there is much earth, so that we are not able to build the wall.
11 Also our adversaries had said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come into the midst of them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
12 But when the Jews (which dwelt beside them) came, they told us [am]ten times, [an]From all places, whence ye shall return, they will be upon us.
13 Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall upon the tops of the stones, and placed the people by their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14 Then I beheld, and rose up, and said unto the princes, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not afraid of them: [ao]remember the great Lord, and fearful, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
15 And when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, then God brought their counsel to nought, and we turned all again to the wall, every one unto his work.
16 And from that day half of the young men did the labor, and the other half part of them held the spears, and shields, and bows, and habergeons: and the Rulers stood [ap]behind all the house of Judah.
17 They that built on the wall, and they that bare burdens, and they that laded, did the work with one hand, and with the other held the sword.
18 For every one of the builders had his sword girded on his loins, and so built: and he that blew the trumpet, was beside me.
19 Then said I unto the Princes, 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 what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, [aq]resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.
21 So we labored in the work, and half of them held the spears, from the appearing of the morning, till the stars came forth.
22 And at the same time said I unto the people, Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that they may be a watch for us in the night, and labor in the day.
23 So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the ward (which followed me) none of us did put off our clothes, save everyone put them off [ar]for washing.
5 1 The people are oppressed and in necessity. 6 Nehemiah remedieth it. 14 He took not the portion of others that had ruled before, lest he should grieve the people.
1 Now there was a great cry of the people, and of their wives [as]against their brethren the Jews.
2 For there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters are many, therefore we take up [at]corn, that we may eat and live.
3 And there were that said, We must gage our lands, and our vineyards, and our houses, and take up corn for the famine.
4 There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s [au]tribute upon our lands and our vineyards.
5 And now our flesh is as [av]the flesh of our brethren, and our sons as their sons: and lo, we bring into subjection our sons and our daughters, as servants, and there be of our daughters now in subjection, and there is no power [aw]in our hands: for other men have our lands and our vineyards.
6 Then was I very angry when I heard their cry and these words.
7 And I thought in my mind, and I rebuked the princes, and the rulers, and said unto them, You lay [ax]burdens every one upon his brethren: and I set a great [ay]assembly against them,
8 And I said unto them, We (according to our ability) have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen: and will you sell your brethren again, or shall they be [az]sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and could not answer.
9 [ba]I said also, That which ye do, is not good. Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, for the [bb]reproach of the heathen our enemies?
10 For even I, my brethren, and my servants do lend them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this [bc]burden.
11 Restore, I pray you, unto them this day their lands, their vineyards, their olives, and their houses, and remit the hundredth part of the silver and of the corn, of the wine, and of the oil [bd]that ye exact of them.
12 Then said they, We will restore it, and will not require it of them: we will do as thou hast said. Then I called the Priests and caused them to swear, that they should do according to this promise.
13 So I shook my lap, and said, So let God shake out every man that will not perform this promise, from his house, and from his labor: even thus let him be shaken out and emptied. And all the Congregation said, Amen, and praised the Lord: and the people did according to this promise.
14 And from the time that the King gave me charge to be governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year, even unto the two and thirtieth year of King Artaxerxes, that is, twelve years, I, and my brethren have not eaten the [be]bread of the governor.
15 For the former governors that were before me, had been chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver: yea, and their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.
16 But rather I fortified a portion in the work of this wall, and we bought no land, and all my servants came thither together unto the work.
17 Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews, and rulers, which came unto us from among the heathen that are about us.
18 And there was prepared daily an ox, and six chosen sheep, and birds were prepared for me, and [bf]within ten days wine for all [bg]in abundance. Yet for all this I required not the bread of the governor: for the bondage was grievous unto this people.
19 Remember me, O my God, in goodness, according to all that I have done for this people.
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