The Daily Audio Bible

¹⁵ Shallun, Col Hozeh’s son, the official in charge of the district of Mizpah, repaired Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it, put a roof over it, and set its doors, locks, and bars in place. He also made repairs on the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King’s Garden as far as the stairs going down from the City of David. ¹⁶ After him Nehemiah, Azbuk’s son, the official in charge of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs all the way to a point across from the tombs of David as far as the pool and the soldiers’ barracks. ¹⁷ After him the Levites, including Rehum (Bani’s son), made repairs. Next to him Hashabiah, the official in charge of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. ¹⁸ After him their relatives made repairs. This included Binnui, Henadad’s son, the official in charge of half the district of Keilah. ¹⁹ Next to him Ezer, Jeshua’s son, the official in charge of Mizpah, repaired a section across from the ascent to the Armory at the Angle. ²⁰ After him Baruch, Zabbai’s son,^[a] made repairs on a section from the Angle to the door of the house of the chief priest Eliashib. ²¹ After him Meremoth, son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz, made repairs on a section from the door of Eliashib’s house to the end of Eliashib’s house. ²² After him the priests who lived in that area made repairs. ²³ After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their own homes. After them Azariah, son of Maaseiah and grandson of Ananiah, made repairs next to his home. ²⁴ After him Binnui, Henadad’s son, made repairs on a section from Azariah’s home to the Angle and to the corner of the wall. ²⁵ Palal, Uzai’s son, made repairs across from the Angle and the upper tower that projects from the king’s palace to the guards’ courtyard. After him Pedaiah, Parosh’s son, ²⁶ and the temple servants who were living on the Ophel made repairs on the wall as far as a point across from Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. ²⁷ After him the men from Tekoa repaired a section across from the large projecting tower as far as the Wall of the Ophel.

²⁸ Above Horse Gate the priests made repairs. Each priest made repairs across from his own home. ²⁹ After them Zadok, Immer’s son, made repairs across from his own home. After him Shemaiah, Shecaniah’s son, the guard at East Gate, made repairs. ³⁰ After him Hananiah, Shelemiah’s son, and Hanun, Zalaph’s sixth son, repaired another section. After him Meshullam, Berechiah’s son, made repairs across from his living quarters. ³¹ After him Malchiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the building that housed the temple servants and merchants across from Inspection Gate and as far as the upper room at the corner. ³² The goldsmiths and merchants made repairs between the upper room at the corner and Sheep Gate.

Sanballat Ridicules the Jews

4 ^[b]When Sanballat heard we were rebuilding the wall, he became enraged and made fun of the Jews. ² In front of his allies and the army from Samaria, he said, “What do these miserable Jews think they’re doing? Can they rebuild it by themselves? Are they going to offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Will they get the stones out of the rubbish heaps, burned as these stones are, and give them new strength?”

³ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside Sanballat, said, “Even a fox would make their stone wall collapse if it walked on top of what they’re building!”

Nehemiah Overcomes Opposition from Sanballat

⁴ ⌞Nehemiah prayed,⌟ “Our God, hear us. We are despised. Turn their insults back on them, and let them be robbed in the land where they are prisoners. ⁵ Don’t ignore their guilt, and don’t let their sins disappear from your records. They have insulted you in front of these builders.”

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall, which was rebuilt to about half its ⌞original⌟ height. The people worked with determination.

⁷ When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from Ashdod heard that the repair work on the walls of Jerusalem was making progress and that the gaps were being filled in, they became furious. ⁸ All of them plotted to attack Jerusalem to create confusion. ⁹ But we prayed to our God and set guards to protect us day and night.

¹⁰ Then the people of Judah said, “The work crews are worn out, and there is too much rubble. We can’t continue to rebuild the wall.”

¹¹ Our enemies said, “Before they know what is happening or see a thing, we will be right in the middle of them. We’ll kill them and bring the work to an end.”

¹² Jews who were living near our enemies warned us ten times that our enemies would attack us from every direction.

¹³ That is why I positioned people by their families behind the wall where it was lowest and most exposed. The people were armed with swords, spears, and bows. ¹⁴ I looked them over and proceeded to tell the nobles, the leaders, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of our enemies. Remember how great and awe-inspiring the Lord is. Fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

¹⁵ When our enemies heard that we knew about their plots and that God had prevented their plans from being successful, we all went back to the work on the wall. Each person performed his own job. ¹⁶ From that day on, half of my men worked on the wall, and the other half were wearing body armor and holding spears, shields, and bows. The leaders stood behind all the Judeans ¹⁷ who were rebuilding the wall. The workers who were carrying loads did the work with one hand and held their weapons with the other, ¹⁸ and each builder had his sword fastened to his side. The man who was supposed to sound the trumpet alarm was with me. ¹⁹ I told the nobles, the leaders, and the rest of the people, “So much work has to be done in different places that we are widely separated from one another on the wall. ²⁰ When you hear the trumpet, assemble around me. Our God will fight for us!”

²¹ So we continued to work. Half of us held spears from early dawn until the stars came out. ²² At that time I told the people, “Every man and his servant should stay overnight in Jerusalem so that we can set a guard at night and work during the day.” ²³ My brothers, my servants, and the guards assigned to me never changed their clothes. Neither did I. We each kept our weapons at hand.

The Poor Complain about Their Rich Relatives

5 Then some of the people, the men and their wives, complained publicly about their Jewish relatives. ² Some of them said, “We have large families! We need some grain ⌞if we are going⌟ to eat and stay alive.” ³ Others said, “We’ve had to mortgage our fields, our vineyards, and our homes in order to get some grain because of this famine.” ⁴ Others said, “We’ve had to borrow money to pay the king’s taxes on our fields and vineyards. ⁵ We have the same flesh and blood as our relatives. Our children are just like theirs. Yet, we have to force our sons and daughters to become slaves. Some of our daughters have already become slaves. But we can’t do anything else when our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

Nehemiah Stops the Rich from Taking Advantage of the Poor

⁶ I became furious when I heard their complaint and what they had to say. ⁷ After thinking it over, I confronted the nobles and the leaders. I told them, “You are charging interest on loans made to your own relatives.” I arranged for a large meeting to deal with them. ⁸ Then I told them, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish relatives who had been sold to other nations. Now you are selling your Jewish relatives so that we have to buy them back again!” They were unable to say anything. ⁹ I added, “What you’re doing is wrong. Shouldn’t you live in the fear of our God to keep our enemies from ridiculing us? ¹⁰ My brothers, my servants, and I are lending money and grain to the poor. But we must stop charging them interest. ¹¹ You must return their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their homes today. Also, you must return the interest on the money, grain, new wine, and olive oil you’ve been charging them.”

¹² They responded, “We’ll return it and not try to get it from them ⌞again⌟. We’ll do what you say.” Then I called the priests and made them swear to do what they promised. ¹³ I brushed off my clothes and said, “In the same way, may God brush off from home and work everyone who refuses to keep this promise. In the same way, may everyone be brushed off and left with nothing.” Then the whole congregation said amen and praised the Lord. The people did what they had promised.

²⁵ Concerning virgins: Even though I don’t have any command from the Lord, I’ll give you my opinion. I’m a person to whom the Lord has shown mercy, so I can be trusted. ²⁶ Because of the present crisis I believe it is good for people to remain as they are. ²⁷ Do you have a wife? Don’t seek a divorce. Are you divorced from your wife? Don’t look for another one. ²⁸ But if you do get married, you have not sinned. If a virgin gets married, she has not sinned. However, these people will have trouble, and I would like to spare them from that.

²⁹ This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: The time has been shortened. While it lasts, those who are married should live as though they were not. ³⁰ Those who have eyes filled with tears should live as though they have no sorrow. Those who are happy should live as though there was nothing to be happy about. Those who buy something should live as though they didn’t own it. ³¹ Those who use the things in this world should do so but not depend on them. It is clear that this world in its present form is passing away.

³² So I don’t want you to have any concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, ⌞that is,⌟ about how he can please the Lord. ³³ But the married man is concerned about earthly things, ⌞that is,⌟ about how he can please his wife. ³⁴ His attention is divided.

An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the Lord’s things so that she may be holy in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned about earthly things, ⌞that is,⌟ about how she can please her husband. ³⁵ I’m saying this for your benefit, not to restrict you. I’m showing you how to live a noble life of devotion to the Lord without being distracted by other things.

³⁶ No father would want to do the wrong thing when his virgin daughter is old enough to get married. If she wants to get married, he isn’t sinning by letting her get married. ³⁷ However, a father may have come to a decision about his daughter. If his decision is to keep her ⌞at home⌟ because she doesn’t want to get married, that’s fine. ³⁸ So it’s fine for a father to give his daughter in marriage, but the father who doesn’t give his daughter in marriage does even better.

³⁹ A married woman must remain with her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if the man is a Christian.^{[a] 40} However, she will be more blessed if she stays as she is. That is my opinion, and I think that I, too, have God’s Spirit.

A psalm by David; a maskil.^[a]