Chronological
Nehemiah Prays for the Sons of Israel
1 The words of (A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in (B)the month Chislev, (C)in the twentieth year—and I was in (D)Susa the [a]capitol— 2 that (E)Hanani, one of my brothers, and [b]some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and remain from the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the (F)province who remain from the captivity are in great calamity and (G)reproach, and (H)the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and (I)its gates are burned with fire.”
4 Now it happened that when I heard these words, (J)I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before (K)the God of heaven. 5 I said, “I beseech You, O [c]Yahweh, the God of heaven, (L)the great and fearsome God, (M)who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 (N)let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your slave which I am praying before You today, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your slaves, (O)confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; (P)I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 (Q)We have worked in utter destruction against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments (R)which You commanded Your [d]servant Moses. 8 Remember the word which You commanded Your [e]servant Moses, saying, ‘(S)If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 (T)but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been banished were at the ends of the sky, I (U)will gather them from there and will bring them (V)to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ 10 (W)They are Your slaves and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech You, (X)may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your slave and the prayer of Your slaves who delight to fear Your name, and make Your slave successful today and grant him compassion before this man.”
Now I was the (Y)cupbearer to the king.
God’s Hand Was on Nehemiah
2 Now it happened in the month Nisan, (Z)in the twentieth year of King (AA)Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and (AB)I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? (AC)This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “(AD)Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad (AE)when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste and its gates have been consumed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” (AF)So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 I said to the king, “If it is good for the king, and if your servant is good before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” 6 Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it was good to the king to send me, and (AG)I gave him a set time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it is good to the king, let letters be given me (AH)for the governors of the provinces beyond the [f]River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s (AI)forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of (AJ)the fortress which is by the house of God, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because (AK)the good hand of my God was on me.
9 Then I came to (AL)the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now (AM)the king had sent with me commanders of the military force and horsemen. 10 Then (AN)Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite [g]official heard about it, and it was a very great evil to them that someone had come to seek the good of the sons of Israel.
Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls
11 So I (AO)came to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my heart to do for Jerusalem; and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. 13 So I went out at night by (AP)the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Spring and on to the [h]Dung Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem (AQ)which were broken down and its (AR)gates which were consumed by fire. 14 Then I passed on to (AS)the Spring Gate and (AT)the King’s Pool, but there was no place for [i]my animal to pass. 15 So I went up at night by the (AU)ravine and inspected the wall. Then I turned and entered the Valley Gate and turned around. 16 Now the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who were doing the work.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the calamity we are in, that (AV)Jerusalem lies waste and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.” 18 And I told them how the hand of my God had been good to me and also about the king’s words which he had said to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” (AW)So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19 But Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite [j]official and (AX)Geshem the Arab heard it. And (AY)they mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? (AZ)Are you rebelling against the king?” 20 So I responded to them with a word and said to them, “(BA)The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His slaves will arise and build, (BB)but you have no portion, right, or remembrance in Jerusalem.”
Building and Repairing the Wall
3 Then (BC)Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built (BD)the Sheep Gate; they set it apart as holy and (BE)made its doors stand. And they set apart as holy [k]the wall to (BF)the Tower of the Hundred and (BG)the Tower of Hananel. 2 Next to him (BH)the men of Jericho built, and next to [l]them Zaccur the son of Imri built.
3 Now the sons of Hassenaah built (BI)the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and made its doors stand with its bolts and bars. 4 Next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz made repairs. And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah the son of Meshezabel made repairs. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana also made repairs. 5 Moreover, next to them the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not [m]support the service of their masters.
6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired (BJ)the Old Gate; they laid its beams and made its doors stand with its bolts and its bars. 7 Next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, [n]also made repairs for the official seat of the (BK)governor of the province beyond the River. 8 Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah of the (BL)goldsmiths made repairs. And next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they restored Jerusalem as far as (BM)the Broad Wall. 9 Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, (BN)the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. 10 Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs. 11 Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired [o]another section and (BO)the Tower of Furnaces. 12 Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, (BP)the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.
13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired (BQ)the Valley Gate. They built it and made its doors stand with its bolts and its bars, and [p]one thousand cubits of the wall to the [q]Dung Gate.
14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, the official of the district of (BR)Beth-haccherem, repaired the [r](BS)Dung Gate. He built it and made its doors stand with its bolts and its bars.
15 Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, the official of the district of Mizpah, (BT)repaired the Spring Gate. He built it, covered it and made its doors stand with its bolts and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah at (BU)the king’s garden as far as (BV)the steps that descend from the city of David. 16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, (BW)official of half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs as far as a point opposite the tombs of David, and as far as (BX)the artificial pool and the house of the mighty men. 17 After him the Levites made repairs under Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, the official of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. 18 After him their brothers made repairs under Bavvai the son of Henadad, the official of the other half of the district of Keilah. 19 Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, (BY)the official of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the ascent of the armory (BZ)at the Angle. 20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the Angle to the doorway of the house of (CA)Eliashib the high priest. 21 After him Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another section, from the doorway of Eliashib’s house even as far as the end of Eliashib’s house. 22 After him the priests, (CB)the men of the [s]valley, made repairs. 23 After [t]them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house. After [u]them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house. 24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah as far as (CC)the Angle and as far as the corner. 25 Palal the son of Uzai made repairs in front of the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king, which is by (CD)the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs. 26 (CE)The temple servants living in (CF)Ophel made repairs as far as the front of (CG)the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. 27 After [v]them (CH)the Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower and as far as the wall of Ophel.
28 Above (CI)the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each in front of his house. 29 After [w]them Zadok the son of Immer made repairs in front of his house. And after him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs. 30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs in front of his own [x]quarters. 31 After him Malchijah, [y]one of (CJ)the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, in front of the [z]Inspection Gate, and as far as the upper room of the corner. 32 Between the upper room of the corner and (CK)the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.
Sanballat and Tobiah Mock the Jews’ Work
4 [aa]Now it happened that when (CL)Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and very vexed and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and (CM)the [ab]wealthy men of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they complete it in a day? Can they bring the stones to life from the [ac](CN)dusty rubble, though they are burned?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building—(CO)if a fox should [ad]jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!”
4 (CP)Hear, O our God, for we are despised! (CQ)Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not [ae](CR)forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have [af]vexed the builders.
6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, and the people had a heart to work.
7 [ag]Now it happened that when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the [ah]repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the places broken down began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 All of them (CS)joined together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it. 9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we (CT)stood a guard against them day and night.
10 Then Judah said,
“The [ai]strength of the burden bearers is failing,
Yet there is much [aj]rubbish;
And we ourselves are unable
To rebuild the wall.”
11 Our adversaries said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.” 12 Now it happened when the Jews who lived near them came and said to us ten times, “[ak]They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” 13 that I had men stand in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the [al]exposed places, and I (CU)had the people stand by families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 Then I saw their fear. And I arose and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “(CV)Do not fear them; remember the Lord who is great and fearsome, and (CW)fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
Doing the Work and Holding a Weapon
15 Now it happened that when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that (CX)God had thwarted their counsel, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 And it happened that from that day on, half of my young men carried on the work while half of them took hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the breastplates; and the commanders were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while [am]the trumpeter stood near me. 19 I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, there gather together to us. (CY)Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we kept doing the work with half of them holding spears from [an]dawn until the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his young man spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a worker by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my young men, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.
Each Usury Is Forsaken
5 Then (CZ)there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their (DA)Jewish brothers. 2 Now there were those who were saying, “We, with our sons and our daughters, are many; therefore let us (DB)get grain that we may eat and live.” 3 There were others who were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses, that we might get grain because of the famine.” 4 Also there were those who were saying, “We have borrowed money (DC)for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5 But now (DD)our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, (DE)we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into subjugation, and we have no power in our hands to help, and our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
6 Then I was very (DF)angry when I had heard their outcry and these words. 7 I consulted within my own heart and contended with the nobles and the officials and said to them, “(DG)You are exacting usury, each from his brother!” Therefore, I held a great assembly against them. 8 I said to them, “We, according to our ability, (DH)have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations; and now would you also sell your brothers that they may be sold to us?” Then they were silent and could not find a word to say. 9 And I said, “The thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of (DI)the reproach of the nations, our enemies? 10 And likewise I, my brothers, and my young men are lending them money and grain. Please, let us forsake this usury. 11 Please, give back to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money and of the grain, the new wine and the oil that you are exacting from them.” 12 Then they said, “We (DJ)will give it back and (DK)will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you are saying.” So I called the priests and (DL)made them swear that they would do according to this word. 13 I (DM)also shook out the [ao]front of my garment and said, “Thus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions who does not establish this word; even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.” And (DN)all the assembly said, “Amen!” And they praised Yahweh. Then the people did according to this word.
Nehemiah as Governor
14 Moreover, from the day that I was put in command to be their governor in the land of Judah, from (DO)the twentieth year to the (DP)thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my [ap]relatives have eaten the governor’s food allowance. 15 But the former governors who were before me [aq]laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty [ar]shekels of silver; even their young men exerted their power over the people. But I did not do so (DQ)because of the fear of God. 16 I also took hold of the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my young men were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover, (DR)there were at my table 150 Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now (DS)that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six choice sheep, also birds were prepared for me; and once in ten days all sorts of wine were furnished in abundance. Yet for all this (DT)I did not require the governor’s food allowance, because the slavery was heavy on this people. 19 (DU)Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.
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