The Daily Audio Bible

1 The words of Nechemyah the son of Hakhalyah:

It was in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the capital, ² that Hanani, one of my kinsmen, came out of Y’hudah with some men; and I asked them about the remnant of Judeans who had escaped the exile, and about Yerushalayim. ³ They answered me, “The remnant of the exile left there in the province are in great distress and are held in contempt, the wall of Yerushalayim is in ruins, and its gates have been completely burned up.”

⁴ On hearing this answer, I sat down and wept; I mourned for several days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. ⁵ I said, “Please, Adonai! God of heaven! You great and fearsome God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot! ⁶ Let your ear now be attentive and your eyes be open, so that you will listen to the prayer of your servant, which I am praying before you these days, day and night, for the people of Isra’el your servants — even as I confess the sins of the people of Isra’el that we have committed against you. Yes, I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷ We have deeply offended you. We haven’t observed the mitzvot, laws or rulings you ordered your servant Moshe. ⁸ Remember, please, the word you gave through your servant Moshe, ‘If you break faith, I will scatter you among the peoples; ⁹ but if you return to me, observe my mitzvot and obey them, then, even if your scattered ones are in the most distant part of heaven, nevertheless, I will collect them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for bearing my name.’ ¹⁰ Now these are your servants, your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and strong hand. ¹¹ Adonai, please, let your ear now be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take joy in fearing your name: please let your servant succeed today and win this man’s compassion” — for I was the king’s personal attendant.

2 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of Artach’shashta the king, it happened that I took the wine and brought it to the king. Prior to then I had never appeared sad in his presence. ² The king asked, “Why do you look so sad? You’re not sick, so this must be some deep inner grief.” At this, I became very fearful, ³ as I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why shouldn’t I look sad, when the city, the place where my ancestors’ tombs are, lies in ruins; and its gates are completely burned up?” ⁴ The king asked me, “What is it that you want?” I prayed to the God of heaven, ⁵ then said to the king, “If it pleases the king, if your servant has won your favor, send me to Y’hudah, to the city of my ancestors’ tombs, so that I can rebuild it.” ⁶ With the queen sitting next to him, the king asked me, “How long is your trip going to take? When will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a time.

⁷ I then said to the king, “If it pleases the king, have letters given to me for the governors of the territory beyond the [Euphrates] River, so that they will let me pass through until I reach Y’hudah; ⁸ and also a letter for Asaf the supervisor of the royal forests, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress belonging to the house, for the city wall and for the house I will be occupying.” The king gave me these, according to the good hand of my God on me.

⁹ I went to the governors of the territory beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. The king had sent with me an escort of army captains and cavalry. ¹⁰ When Sanvalat the Horoni and Toviyah the servant, the ‘Amoni, heard about this, they were very displeased that someone had come to promote the welfare of the people of Isra’el.

¹¹ So I reached Yerushalayim. After I had been there for three days, ¹² I got up during the night, I and a few men with me. I hadn’t told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Yerushalayim; and I didn’t take any animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. ¹³ I went out by night through the Valley Gate, to the Dragon’s Well and the Dung Gate, and inspected the places where the walls of Yerushalayim were broken down and where its gates had been burned down. ¹⁴ Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. ¹⁵ So I went up the valley in the dark and went on inspecting the wall; then I turned back, entered through the Valley Gate and returned, ¹⁶ without the officials’ knowing where I had gone or what I had done. Till then, I hadn’t said anything about this to the Judeans, cohanim, nobles, officials or anyone who would be responsible for the work.

¹⁷ Afterwards, I said to them, “You see what a sad state we are in, how Yerushalayim lies in ruins, with it gates burned up. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Yerushalayim, so that we won’t continue in disgrace.” ¹⁸ I also told them of the gracious hand of my God that had been on me, also what the king had said to me. They said, “Let’s start building at once,” and energetically set out to do this good work.

¹⁹ When Sanvalat the Horoni, Toviyah the servant, the ‘Amoni, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they began mocking us and jeering, “What is this you are doing? Are you going to rebel against the king?” ²⁰ But I answered them: “The God of heaven will enable us to succeed. Therefore we his servants will set about rebuilding. But you have no share, right or history to commemorate in Yerushalayim.”

3 Then Elyashiv the cohen hagadol set out with his fellow cohanim, and they rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set up its doors; they consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred and on to the Tower of Hanan’el. ² Next to him the men from Yericho built. Next to him Zakur the son of Imri built.

³ The sons of Hasna’ah rebuilt the Fish Gate; they installed its timber framework and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars. ⁴ Next to them M’remot the son of Uriyah, the son of Hakotz, made repairs. Next to them Meshulam the son of Berekhyah, the son of Mesheizav’el, made repairs. Next to them Tzadok the son of Ba‘ana made repairs. ⁵ Next to them the men from T’koa made repairs; but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.

⁶ Yoyada the son of Paseach and Meshulam the son of B’sodyah made repairs to the Old City Gate; they installed its timber framework and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars. ⁷ Next to them M’latyah the Giv‘oni, Yadon the Meronoti and the men from Giv‘on and Mitzpah made repairs; they worked for the people associated with the governor of the territory beyond the [Euphrates] River. ⁸ Next to them ‘Uzi’el the son of Harhayah, goldsmiths, made repairs.

Next to him Hananyah, one of the perfume-makers, made repairs; they renovated Yerushalayim as far as the Broad Wall. ⁹ Next to them Refayah the son of Hur, leader of half the district of Yerushalayim, made repairs. ¹⁰ Next to him Y’dayah the son of Harumaf made repairs opposite his own house. Next to him Hatush the son of Hashavn’yah made repairs. ¹¹ Malkiyah the son of Harim and Hashuv the son of Pachat-Mo’av made repairs on another section and on the Tower of the Ovens. ¹² Next to him Shalum the son of HaLochesh, leader of half the district of Yerushalayim, he and his daughters, made repairs.

¹³ Hanun and the people living in Zanoach repaired the Valley Gate; they rebuilt it and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars; and they rebuilt 1,500 feet of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.

¹⁴ Malkiyah the son of Rechav, leader of the district of Beit-Hakerem, repaired the Dung Gate; he rebuilt it and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars.

7 Now to deal with the questions you wrote about: “Is it good for a man to keep away from women?” ² Well, because of the danger of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ³ The husband should give his wife what she is entitled to in the marriage relationship, and the wife should do the same for her husband. ⁴ The wife is not in charge of her own body, but her husband is; likewise, the husband is not in charge of his own body, but his wife is. ⁵ Do not deprive each other, except for a limited time, by mutual agreement, and then only so as to have extra time for prayer; but afterwards, come together again. Otherwise, because of your lack of self-control, you may succumb to the Adversary’s temptation. ⁶ I am giving you this as a suggestion, not as a command. ⁷ Actually, I wish everyone were like me; but each has his own gift from God, one this, another that.

⁸ Now to the single people and the widows I say that it is fine if they remain unmarried like me; ⁹ but if they can’t exercise self-control, they should get married; because it is better to get married than to keep burning with sexual desire.

¹⁰ To those who are married I have a command, and it is not from me but from the Lord: a woman is not to separate herself from her husband ¹¹ But if she does separate herself, she is to remain single or be reconciled with her husband. Also, a husband is not to leave his wife.

¹² To the rest I say — I, not the Lord: if any brother has a wife who is not a believer, and she is satisfied to go on living with him, he should not leave her. ¹³ Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband who is satisfied to go on living with her, she is not to leave him. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband has been set aside for God by the wife, and the unbelieving wife has been set aside for God by the brother — otherwise your children would be “unclean,” but as it is, they are set aside for God. ¹⁵ But if the unbelieving spouse separates himself, let him be separated. In circumstances like these, the brother or sister is not enslaved — God has called you to a life of 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 Only let each person live the life the Lord has assigned him and live it in the condition he was in when God called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the congregations. ¹⁸ Was someone already circumcised when he was called? Then he should not try to remove the marks of his circumcision. Was someone uncircumcised when he was called? He shouldn’t undergo b’rit-milah. ¹⁹ Being circumcised means nothing, and being uncircumcised means nothing; what does mean something is keeping God’s commandments. ²⁰ Each person should remain in the condition he was in when he was called.

²¹ Were you a slave when you were called? Well, don’t let it bother you; although if you can gain your freedom, take advantage of the opportunity. ²² For a person who was a slave when he was called is the Lord’s freedman; likewise, someone who was a free man when he was called is a slave of the Messiah. ²³ You were bought at a price, so do not become slaves of other human beings. ²⁴ Brothers, let each one remain with God in the condition in which he was called.