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1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah.
The Problem
In the month of Kislev of the twentieth year, I was in Susa, the citadel.[a] 2 Hanani, one of my brothers,[b] came to me with men from Judah. I asked them about the remnant of the Jews, who had survived the captivity and had escaped from it, and about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “The survivors from the captivity who are there in the province are in great misery and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned.”
4 When I heard about these things, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of Heaven.[c] 5 I said:
Please, Lord, the God of Heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God, who preserves the covenant and faithfulness for those who love him and keep his commands: 6 Let your ear be attentive and your eyes be open as you hear the prayer of your servant today, which I am now praying before you day and night, concerning the Israelites, who are your servants. I am also confessing the sins of the people of Israel that we committed against you. I and my father’s house have also sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you, and we have not kept the commands, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances that you commanded Moses your servant.
8 Please remember the command you gave to Moses your servant when you said, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. 9 But when you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, even if you have been scattered to the end of heaven, from there I will gather them, and I will bring them to the place where I have chosen to make my name dwell.”[d] 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed with your great power and your mighty hand.
11 Please, my Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayers of your servants who are delighted to revere your name. Make your servant successful today, and give him mercy in this man’s presence.
I was cupbearer[e] to the king.
Nehemiah Receives a Commission From Artaxerxes
2 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,[f] wine was being served to the king, and I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence, 2 so the king said to me, “Why do you look sad, since you are not sick? This must be sadness in your heart.”
Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why shouldn’t I look sad when the city, the place of my ancestors’ tombs, lies in ruins, and its gates have been consumed by fire?”
4 Then the king said to me, “What do you want?”
So I prayed to the God of Heaven, 5 and I said to the king, “If it seems good to the king, and if you look upon your servant with favor, then send me to Judah, to the city where my ancestors’ tombs are, and let me rebuild it.”
6 The king said to me, while the queen was sitting next to him, “How long will your journey be and when will you return?”
The king was pleased to send me, so I gave him a definite time. 7 I also said to the king, “If it seems good to the king, please give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates,[g] so that they will grant me safe passage through that province until I come to Judah, 8 also a letter to Asaph, superintendent of the king’s forest, so that he will give me lumber to lay beams for the gates of the citadel of the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” The king gave them to me, because the good hand of my God was upon me.
9 Then I came to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, and I gave them the king’s letters. The king had sent army officers and cavalry with me.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official[h] heard about this, they were very upset that a man had come to seek the welfare of the Israelites.
Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Wall
11 So I arrived at Jerusalem and was there for three days. 12 At that time I got up in the middle of the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what God had placed into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. 13 At night I went out through the Valley Gate and went toward the vicinity of the Jackal Well[i] and the Dung Gate. I began inspecting the walls of Jerusalem, which had been breached, and its gates, which had been consumed by fire. 14 Then I crossed over to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no place for the animal that I was riding to get through. 15 So I kept going up the valley and inspecting the wall during the night. Then I turned around and went back the same way and came in through the Valley Gate.
16 The officials did not know where I had gone and what I was doing. I had not yet told the Jews—the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest of the people who would be doing the work. 17 So I said to them, “You see the very bad situation we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be disgraced.” 18 Then I told them that the hand of my God had been good to me, and I also told them the words the king had said to me.
They said, “Let’s get up and rebuild!” Then they encouraged each other for this good work.
19 When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they ridiculed us and held us in contempt. They said, “What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
20 I responded to them by saying, “The God of Heaven will make us successful. We, his servants, will rise up and rebuild. But you have no portion or right or heritage in Jerusalem.”
Leaders of the Work Crews Who Rebuilt Jerusalem’s Wall
3 The high priest Eliashib and his fellow priests began to work, and they rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and installed its doors. They rebuilt the wall as far as the Tower of the Hundred. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of Hananel.
2 Next to him the men of Jericho rebuilt the wall.[j]
Next to them Zakkur son of Imri rebuilt the wall.
3 The citizens of Sena’ah[k] rebuilt the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and hung its doors with their bolts and their bars.
4 Next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the wall.
Next to him Meshullam the son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, repaired the wall.
Next to him Zadok son of Ba’ana repaired the wall.
5 Next to him the men of Tekoa repaired the wall. However, their important people would not humble themselves in service to their lord.[l]
6 Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate. They laid its beams and installed its doors with their bolts and their bars.
7 Next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite repaired the wall with the men from Gibeon and Mizpah, who lived under the jurisdiction of the governor of Trans-Euphrates.
8 Next to them Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired the wall.
Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired the wall. (However, they abandoned the part of Jerusalem that had been enclosed by the Broad Wall.[m])
9 Next to him Rephaiah son of Hur, administrator of half of the district of Jerusalem, repaired the wall.
10 Next to him Jedaiah son of Harumaph repaired the wall opposite his house.
Next to him Hattush son of Hashabeneiah repaired the wall.
11 Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath Moab repaired a second section of the wall, including the Tower of the Ovens.
12 Next to them Shallum son of Hallohesh, administrator of half of the district of Jerusalem—he and his daughters—repaired the wall.
13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and installed its doors with their bolts and their bars, and they repaired fifteen hundred feet[n] of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.
14 Also, Malkijah son of Recab, administrator of the district of Beth Hakkerem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and installed its doors with their bolts and their bars.
Celibacy, Self-Control, and Marriage
7 Now concerning the things you wrote: It is good for a man not to touch[a] a woman. 2 But because of sexual sins, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. 3 The husband is to fulfill his obligation to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body—her husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body—his wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another, unless you both agree to do so for a time, in order to devote yourselves to[b] prayer and then come together again, so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 However, I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 For[c] I wish all people were like me, but each person has his own gift from God. One person is blessed in this way, another in a different way.
8 I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain as I am. 9 But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, because it is better to marry than to burn with desire.
10 Next I command the married (it is the Lord’s command not mine): A wife is not to leave her husband 11 (but if she does leave, she is to remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband), and a husband is not to divorce[d] his wife.
12 But I, not the Lord, say to the rest: If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is willing to go on living with him, he is not to divorce her. 13 If any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he is willing to go on living with her, she is not to divorce her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified in connection with his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified in connection with her husband.[e] Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. The brother or the sister is not bound in such cases, and God has called us[f] to live in peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
17 However, each person is to live in the situation the Lord assigned to him—the situation he was in when God called him to faith. I give this same command in all the churches. 18 If a man was circumcised when he was called, he should not become uncircumcised. If a man was uncircumcised when he was called, he should not get circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping God’s commands is important. 20 Let each person stay in that calling in which he was called. 21 Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it bother you. But if you are able to become free, take advantage of it. 22 For the slave who was called to be in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person. Likewise, the free person who was called is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price. Do not become slaves of men. 24 Brothers,[g] let each person remain before God in the situation he was in when he was called.
Closing Praise
19 How great is your goodness,
which you store up for those who fear you,
which you deliver for those who take refuge in you
in the presence of the people.
20 You hide them in your presence from the schemes of man.
You conceal them in your shelter from accusing tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,
because he made his mercy wonderful for me
when I was in a besieged city.
22 In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from before your eyes!”
But you heard the sound of my cry for mercy
when I cried out to you.
23 Love the Lord, all his favored ones!
The Lord preserves the faithful,
but he pays back in full the one who acts proudly.
24 Be strong, and let your heart be firm,
all you who wait confidently for the Lord.
4 Haughty eyes and an arrogant heart,
the unplowed field[a] of the wicked, produce sin.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.