Chronological
1 The autobiography of Nehemiah, the son of Hecaliah:
In December of the twentieth year of the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia,[a] when I was at the palace at Shushan, 2 one of my fellow Jews named Hanani came to visit me with some men who had arrived from Judah. I took the opportunity to inquire about how things were going in Jerusalem.
“How are they getting along—,” I asked, “the Jews who returned to Jerusalem from their exile here?”
3 “Well,” they replied, “things are not good; the wall of Jerusalem is still torn down, and the gates are burned.”
4 When I heard this, I sat down and cried. In fact, I refused to eat for several days, for I spent the time in prayer to the God of heaven.
5 “O Lord God,” I cried out; “O great and awesome God who keeps his promises and is so loving and kind to those who love and obey him! Hear my prayer! 6-7 Listen carefully to what I say! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you; yes, I and my people have committed the horrible sin of not obeying the commandments you gave us through your servant Moses. 8 Oh, please remember what you told Moses! You said,
“‘If you sin, I will scatter you among the nations; 9 but if you return to me and obey my laws, even though you are exiled to the farthest corners of the universe, I will bring you back to Jerusalem. For Jerusalem is the place in which I have chosen to live.’
10 “We are your servants, the people you rescued by your great power. 11 O Lord, please hear my prayer! Heed the prayers of those of us who delight to honor you. Please help me now as I go in and ask the king for a great favor—put it into his heart to be kind to me.” (I was the king’s cupbearer.)
2 1-2 One day in April, four months later, as I was serving the king his wine he asked me, “Why so sad? You aren’t sick, are you? You look like a man with deep troubles.” (For until then I had always been cheerful when I was with him.) I was badly frightened, 3 but I replied, “Sir,[b] why shouldn’t I be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been burned down.”
4 “Well, what should be done?” the king asked.
With a quick prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, “If it please Your Majesty and if you look upon me with your royal favor, send me to Judah to rebuild the city of my fathers!”
5-6 The king replied, with the queen sitting beside him, “How long will you be gone? When will you return?”
So it was agreed! And I set a time for my departure!
7 Then I added this to my request: “If it please the king, give me letters to the governors west of the Euphrates River instructing them to let me travel through their countries on my way to Judah; 8 also a letter to Asaph, the manager of the king’s forest, instructing him to give me timber for the beams and for the gates of the fortress near the Temple, and for the city walls, and for a house for myself.”
And the king granted these requests, for God was being gracious to me.
9 When I arrived in the provinces west of the Euphrates River, I delivered the king’s letters to the governors there. (The king, I should add, had sent along army officers and troops to protect me!) 10 But when Sanballat (the Horonite) and Tobiah (an Ammonite who was a government official) heard of my arrival, they were very angry that anyone was interested in helping Israel.
11-12 Three days after my arrival at Jerusalem I stole out during the night, taking only a few men with me; for I hadn’t told a soul about the plans for Jerusalem that God had put into my heart. I was mounted on my donkey and the others were on foot, 13 and we went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal’s Well and over to the Dung Gate to see the broken walls and burned gates. 14-15 Then we went to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but my donkey couldn’t get through the rubble. So we circled the city, and I followed the brook, inspecting the wall, and entered again at the Valley Gate.
16 The city officials did not know I had been out there or why, for as yet I had said nothing to anyone about my plans—not to the political or religious leaders, or even to those who would be doing the work.
17 But now I told them, “You know full well the tragedy of our city; it lies in ruins and its gates are burned. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and rid ourselves of this disgrace!”
18 Then I told them about the desire God had put into my heart, and of my conversation with the king, and the plan to which he had agreed.
They replied at once, “Good! Let’s rebuild the wall!” And so the work began.
19 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard of our plan, they scoffed and said, “What are you doing, rebelling against the king like this?”
20 But I replied, “The God of heaven will help us, and we, his servants, will rebuild this wall; but you may have no part in this affair.”
3 Then Eliashib the High Priest and the other priests rebuilt the wall as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel; then they rebuilt the Sheep Gate, hung its doors, and dedicated it. 2 Men from the city of Jericho worked next to them, and beyond them was the work crew led by Zaccur (son of Imri).
3 The Fish Gate was built by the sons of Hassenaah; they did the whole thing—cut the beams, hung the doors, and made the bolts and bars. 4 Meremoth (son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz) repaired the next section of wall, and beyond him were Meshullam (son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel) and Zadok (son of Baana). 5 Next were the men from Tekoa, but their leaders were lazy and didn’t help.
6 The Old Gate was repaired by Joiada (son of Paseah) and Meshullam (son of Besodeiah). They laid the beams, set up the doors, and installed the bolts and bars. 7 Next to them were Melatiah from Gibeon; Jadon from Meronoth; and men from Gibeon and Mizpah, who were citizens of the province. 8 Uzziel (son of Harhaiah) was a goldsmith by trade, but he too worked on the wall. Beyond him was Hananiah, a manufacturer of perfumes. Repairs were not needed from there to the Broad Wall.
9 Rephaiah (son of Hur), the mayor of half of Jerusalem, was next down the wall from them. 10 Jedaiah (son of Harumaph) repaired the wall beside his own house, and next to him was Hattush (son of Hashabneiah). 11 Then came Malchijah (son of Harim) and Hasshub (son of Pahath-moab), who repaired the Furnace Tower in addition to a section of the wall. 12 Shallum (son of Hallohesh) and his daughters repaired the next section. He was the mayor of the other half of Jerusalem.
13 The people from Zanoah, led by Hanun, built the Valley Gate, hung the doors, and installed the bolts and bars; then they repaired the 1,500 feet of wall to the Dung Gate.
14 The Dung Gate was repaired by Malchijah (son of Rechab), the mayor of the Beth-haccherem area; and after building it, he hung the doors and installed the bolts and bars.
15 Shallum (son of Col-hozeh), the mayor of the Mizpah district, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it, roofed it, hung its doors, and installed its locks and bars. Then he repaired the wall from the pool of Siloam to the king’s garden and the stairs that descend from the City of David section of Jerusalem. 16 Next to him was Nehemiah (son of Azbuk), the mayor of half the Beth-zur district; he built as far as the royal cemetery, the water reservoir, and the old Officers’ Club building.[c] 17 Next was a group of Levites working under the supervision of Rehum (son of Bani). Then came Hashabiah, the mayor of half the Keilah district, who supervised the building of the wall in his own district. 18 Next down the line were his clan brothers led by Bavvai (son of Henadad), the mayor of the other half of the Keilah district.
19 Next to them the workers were led by Ezer (son of Jeshua), the mayor of another part of Mizpah; they also worked on the section of wall across from the armory where the wall turns. 20 Next to him was Baruch (son of Zabbai), who built from the turn in the wall to the home of Eliashib the High Priest. 21 Meremoth (son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz) built a section of the wall extending from a point opposite the door of Eliashib’s house to the side of the house.
22 Then came the priests from the plains outside the city.[d] 23 Benjamin, Hasshub, and Azariah (son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah) repaired the sections next to their own houses. 24 Next was Binnui (son of Henadad), who built the portion of the wall from Azariah’s house to the corner. 25 Palal (son of Uzai) carried on the work from the corner to the foundations of the upper tower of the king’s castle beside the prison yard. Next was Pedaiah (son of Parosh).
26 The Temple attendants living in Ophel repaired the wall as far as the East Water Gate and the Projecting Tower. 27 Then came the Tekoites, who repaired the section opposite the Castle Tower and over to the wall of Ophel. 28 The priests repaired the wall beyond the Horse Gate, each one doing the section immediately opposite his own house.
29 Zadok (son of Immer) also rebuilt the wall next to his own house, and beyond him was Shemaiah (son of Shecaniah), the gatekeeper of the East Gate. 30 Next was Hananiah (son of Shelemiah); Hanun (the sixth son of Zalaph); and Meshullam (son of Berechiah), who built next to his own house. 31 Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the Temple attendants’ and merchants’ Guild Hall, opposite the Muster Gate; then to the upper room at the corner. 32 The other goldsmiths and merchants completed the wall from that corner to the Sheep Gate.
4 1-2 Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage, and insulted and mocked us and laughed at us, and so did his friends and the Samaritan army officers. “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they are doing?” he scoffed. “Do they think they can build the wall in a day if they offer enough sacrifices? And look at those charred stones they are pulling out of the rubbish and using again!”
3 Tobiah, who was standing beside him, remarked, “If even a fox walked along the top of their wall, it would collapse!”
4 Then I prayed, “Hear us, O Lord God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back upon their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! 5 Do not ignore their sin. Do not blot it out, for they have despised you in despising us who are building your wall.”
6 At last the wall was completed to half its original height around the entire city—for the workers worked hard.
7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going right ahead and that the breaks in the wall were being repaired, they became furious. 8 They plotted to lead an army against Jerusalem to bring about riots and confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.
10 Then some of the leaders began complaining that the workmen were becoming tired; and there was so much rubble to be removed that we could never get it done by ourselves. 11 Meanwhile, our enemies were planning to swoop down upon us and kill us, thus ending our work. 12 And whenever the workers who lived in the nearby cities went home for a visit, our enemies tried to talk them out of returning to Jerusalem. 13 So I placed armed guards from each family in the cleared spaces behind the walls.
14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the leaders and the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Remember the Lord who is great and glorious; fight for your friends, your families, and your homes!”
15 Our enemies learned that we knew of their plot, and that God had exposed and frustrated their plan. Now we all returned to our work on the wall; 16 but from then on, only half worked while the other half stood guard behind them. 17 And the masons and laborers worked with weapons within easy reach beside them 18 or with swords belted to their sides. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm.
19 “The work is so spread out,” I explained to them, “and we are separated so widely from each other, that when you hear the trumpet blow, you must rush to where I am; and God will fight for us.”
20-21 We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset; and half the men were always on guard. 22 I told everyone living outside the walls to move into Jerusalem so that their servants could go on guard duty as well as work during the day. 23 During this period none of us—I, nor my brothers, nor the servants, nor the guards who were with me—ever took off our clothes except for washing.[e] And we carried our weapons with us at all times.
5 About this time there was a great outcry of protest from parents against some of the rich Jews who were profiteering on them. 2-4 What was happening was that families who ran out of money for food had to sell their children or mortgage their fields, vineyards, and homes to these rich men; and some couldn’t even do that, for they already had borrowed to the limit to pay their taxes.
5 “We are their brothers, and our children are just like theirs,” the people protested. “Yet we must sell our children into slavery to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to redeem them, for our fields, too, are mortgaged to these men.”
6 I was very angry when I heard this; 7 so after thinking about it I spoke out against these rich government officials.
“What is this you are doing?” I demanded. “How dare you demand a mortgage as a condition for helping another Israelite!”
Then I called a public trial to deal with them.
8 At the trial I shouted at them, “The rest of us are doing all we can to help our Jewish brothers who have returned from exile as slaves in distant lands, but you are forcing them right back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?”
And they had nothing to say in their own defense.
9 Then I pressed further. “What you are doing is very evil,” I exclaimed. “Should you not walk in the fear of our God? Don’t we have enough enemies among the nations around us who are trying to destroy us? 10 The rest of us are lending money and grain to our fellow Jews without any interest. I beg you, gentlemen, stop this business of usury. 11 Restore their fields, vineyards, olive yards, and homes to them this very day and drop your claims against them.”
12 So they agreed to do it and said that they would assist their brothers without requiring them to mortgage their lands and sell them their children. Then I summoned the priests and made these men formally vow to carry out their promises. 13 And I invoked the curse of God upon any of them who refused.[f]
“May God destroy your homes and livelihood if you fail to keep this promise,” I declared.
And all the people shouted, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the rich men did as they had promised.
14 I would like to mention that for the entire twelve years that I was governor of Judah—from the twentieth until the thirty-second year of the reign of King Artaxerxes—my aides and I accepted no salaries or other assistance from the people of Israel. 15 This was quite a contrast to the former governors who had demanded food and wine and $100 a day in cash, and had put the population at the mercy of their aides who tyrannized them; but I obeyed God and did not act that way. 16 I stayed at work on the wall and refused to speculate in land; I also required my officials to spend time on the wall. 17 All this despite the fact that I regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at my table, besides visitors from other countries! 18 The provisions required for each day were one ox, six fat sheep, and a large number of domestic fowls; and we needed a huge supply of all kinds of wines every ten days. Yet I refused to make a special levy against the people, for they were already having a difficult time. 19 O my God, please keep in mind all that I’ve done for these people and bless me for it.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.