Chronological
The Prayer of Nehemiah
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hakaliah.
In the month Kislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the palace, 2 Hanani, one of my relatives, and some men of Judah arrived. So I asked them concerning the returning Jews who had been in captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “The remnant that returned from captivity is there in the province enduring great affliction and reproach. Also, the wall of Jerusalem remains broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days. Then I fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, 5 and said:
“I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and mercy for those who love Him and keep His commandments. 6 Let Your ear now be attentive, and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant, which I now pray before You, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You and have not obeyed the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which You commanded Your servant Moses.
8 “Please remember the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you behave unfaithfully, then I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though your outcasts are under the farthest part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and bring them back to the place where I have chosen to establish My name.’
10 “Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I implore You, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. And let Your servant prosper this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
For I was the king’s cupbearer.
Nehemiah Sent to Jerusalem
2 In the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. Never had I been upset in his presence. 2 So the king said to me, “Why is your face troubled though you do not seem sick? This is nothing but a troubled heart.”
Then I became very much afraid 3 and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should not my face be troubled when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
4 So the king said to me, “What are you requesting about this matter?”
Immediately, I prayed to the God of heaven 5 and then said to the king, “If this pleases the king and if this might be good for your servant who is before you, then would you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs so that I may rebuild it?”
6 The king, with the queen sitting beside him, said to me, “How long would your journey be? And when will you return?” Because it pleased the king to send me, I established a timetable for him.
7 I further said to the king, “If this pleases the king, may letters be given to me for the governors of the province Beyond the River so that they would allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, 8 as well as a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the temple mount, for the city wall, and for the house into which I will enter.” The king granted me these things, because the good hand of my God was upon me. 9 When I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River, I gave them the king’s letters. He also sent with me commanders of foot and horse soldiers.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite subordinate heard this, it deeply grieved them that there was a man coming to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls
11 When I arrived in Jerusalem, I was there three days. 12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men who were with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me, except the one on which I rode.
13 So I went out by night by the Valley Gate toward the Dragon’s Well and then to the Dung Gate, because I was inspecting the broken-down walls of Jerusalem and its burned gates. 14 Next I passed by the Fountain Gate and then to the King’s Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass. 15 By going up along the riverbed at night, I inspected the wall. Then I turned back so that I could enter by the Valley Gate, and then came back again. 16 The officials did not know where I went or what I did, since I had not yet told it to the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or to any of the others who would do the work.
17 Finally, I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem is devastated and its gates are burned with fire. Come, and let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no more be a reproach.” 18 Then I told them that the hand of my God had been good to me and also about the king’s words that he had spoken to me.
And they said, “Let us rise up and build!” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite subordinate, and Geshem the Arabian heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
20 Then answered I them and said to them, “The God of heaven, He will enable us to prosper. Therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you will have no portion, or right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”
Rebuilding the Wall
3 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They sanctified it and erected its doors. From the Tower of the Hundred to the Tower of Hananel, they sanctified the wall. 2 Next to him the men of Jericho built, and next to them Zakkur the son of Imri built.
3 The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate, constructing its beams, erecting its doors, and installing locks and bars for it. 4 Next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz made repairs. Next to him, Meshullam the son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel made repairs. Next to him Zadok the son of Baana made repairs. 5 Next to them the Tekoites made repairs, but their noblemen would not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.
6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate. They constructed its beams, erected its doors, and installed locks and bars for it. 7 Next to them repairs were made by Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, places under the authority of the governor of the province Beyond the River. 8 Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him Hananiah, the son of one of the apothecaries, made repairs, and they repaired Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9 Next to him Rephaiah the son of Hur, commander of half of the Jerusalem district, made repairs. 10 Next to him Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house. Next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs. 11 Malkijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section, as well as the Tower of the Furnaces. 12 Next to them Shallum the son of Hallohesh, commander of the other half of the Jerusalem district, made repairs along with his daughters.
13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it, erected its doors, and installed locks and bars for it, plus repaired one thousand cubits[a] along on the wall to the Dung Gate.
14 But the Dung Gate was repaired by Malkijah the son of Rekab, commander of the Beth Hakkerem district. He rebuilt it, and erected its doors, and installed the locks and bars for it.
15 Moreover, Shallun the son of Kol-Hozeh, commander of the Mizpah district, made repairs to the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it, covered it, erected its doors, and installed the locks and bars for it. He also repaired the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king’s garden as far as the steps going down from the City of David. 16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, commander of half of the Beth Zur district, made repairs as far as the area across from the Tomb of David plus to the constructed pool and to the house of the mighty.
17 After him the Levites, under Rehum the son of Bani, made repairs. Next to them Hashabiah, commander of half of the Keilah district, made repairs in his area. 18 After him their brothers, under Binnui the son of Henadad, commander of the other half of the Keilah district, made repairs. 19 Next to them Ezer the son of Jeshua, commander of Mizpah, made repairs to another section across from the ascent to the armory at the corner. 20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the corner to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21 After him Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of it.
22 After him the priests, the men of the surrounding plain, made repairs. 23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah the 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 the corner plus the corner tower. 25 Palal the son of Uzai made repairs across from the corner and to the tower protruding out of the king’s upper house next to the courtyard of the guards. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs. 26 The temple servants living in Ophel made repairs from opposite the Water Gate eastward to the protruding tower. 27 After them the Tekoites repaired another section across from the great protruding tower as far as the wall of Ophel.
28 Up to the Horse Gate the priests made repairs—each one across from his house. 29 After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired across from his house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shekaniah, who was 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 them Meshullam the son of Berekiah made repairs across from his chamber. 31 After him Malkijah the goldsmith’s son made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants. This was across from the Mustering Gate extending as far as the upper room of the corner tower. 32 Between the upper room of the corner tower and the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.
Opposition to the Rebuilding
4 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly irritated, and he mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke before his relatives and the army of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they fortifying themselves? Will they make sacrifices? Can they complete this in a day? Can they revive the burned-up stones out of the rubbish heaps?”
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Even what they are rebuilding, if even a fox climbed it, that would break down their stone wall.”
4 Hear, O our God, that we are despised. Turn their reproach back upon their own head, and give them as spoil in a land of captivity: 5 No longer cover their iniquity nor blot out their sin, which is before You since they have made insults against the builders.
6 So we rebuilt the wall until all of it was solidified up to half its height. The people had a passion for the work.
7 When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard how the restoration of Jerusalem’s walls was progressing and how the breaches had begun to be sealed, it made them extremely furious. 8 So they all conspired together to fight against Jerusalem in order to cause it chaos. 9 Nevertheless we prayed to our God, and, because of them, we set up a watch for them day and night.
10 Judah had said, “The strength of the burden bearers is failing though there is much rubble. And we ourselves are unable to rebuild the wall.”
11 Our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see until we have entered in among them and slain them. Indeed, we will stop the work!”
12 When the Jews living near them came, they told us ten times, “From every place where you turn, they will be against us.”
13 Therefore I set guards at the lowest positions along the wall and just inside the wall at the unrepaired areas. I also stationed the people by families providing them individually their own swords, spears, and bows. 14 After I looked around, I stood up and said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, “Stop being terrified because of them! Remember instead that the Lord is great and awesome. So fight for each other—and for your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15 Now when our enemies heard that this had become known to us and that God had brought their counsel to nothing, then we all returned to the wall, everyone to his work.
16 After that day, half of my servants did the work while the other half handled the spears, shields, bows, and body armor. Commanders were appointed to support every house of Judah. 17 Those rebuilding the wall and those hauling the loads were working with one hand doing the task, but with the other hand holding the weapon. 18 For the builders, everyone had his sword bound to his side, even while rebuilding. The trumpet blower worked beside me.
19 I said to the nobles, the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “The work is vast and over a large area. Since we are spread along the wall far from each other, 20 assemble to us there at the place where you hear the trumpet sounded. Our God shall fight for us.”
21 So we labored in the work with half of them holding spears from sunrise to the rising of the stars. 22 Likewise at the same time I said to the people, “Every man and his servant must lodge within Jerusalem. By night, they may be a guard to us; by day, a laborer for the work.” 23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes. Each carried his weapon, even when washing.
Nehemiah Stops Oppression
5 Now there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. 2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and our daughters are many. Therefore, let us acquire grain so that we may eat and live.”
3 Others were saying, “We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and houses so that we might acquire grain because of hunger.”
4 Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute against the value of our fields and vineyards. 5 Now our flesh is the same as the flesh of our countrymen. Our children are like their children, but we are subjugating our sons and our daughters as servants. Indeed, some of our daughters are in bondage already, and we are powerless to do anything because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7 So I contemplated about this for myself and, as a result, I rebuked the nobles and officials and said to them, “Based on the claim of each against his brother, you are exacting usury.” Then I convened a great assembly against them, 8 and I said to them, “By whatever means we had, we purchased our Jewish countrymen who were being sold to the nations. So, will you once more sell your countrymen so that they might again be sold to us?” Then they kept silent, because they found nothing to answer.
9 Also I said, “What you are doing is not good! Should not you walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? 10 Moreover, I, my relatives, and my servants are loaning them money and grain. So, I urge you, cease from this practice of usury. 11 Please restore to them, even this day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, along with a hundredth part of the money, the grain, the wine, and the oil that you had exacted from them.”
12 Then they said, “We will restore it and will require nothing of them. We will do what you have said.”
Then I called the priests and made them swear an oath to keep this promise. 13 Also I shook out the front of my garment and said, “Like this, may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not carry out this promise. Exactly like this, may he be shaken out and emptied.”
And all the congregation said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise.
Nehemiah’s Generosity
14 Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah (from the twentieth year even until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes) twelve years had passed. And my companions and I had not eaten the governor’s food allotment. 15 The former governors preceding me had extracted a heavy burden on the people, because they took from them food and wine, besides forty shekels[b] of silver. Moreover, even their servants domineered over the people. But I myself never did so, because of the fear of God. 16 Furthermore, I stayed determined in the work on this wall. We bought no field, and all my servants were gathered there for the sake of the work.
17 Moreover there were regularly at my table one hundred and fifty Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations around us. 18 Daily there were one ox and six choice sheep prepared for me. Fowls were also prepared for me. Once in ten days all sorts of wine were supplied in abundance. Yet for all this, I never required the governor’s food allotment because it was a heavy burden on this people.
19 Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.