Old/New Testament
The Jews' enemies try to stop the work
4 Sanballat heard that we were building the wall. He was very angry and upset. He laughed at the Jews. 2 His officers and Samaria's army were with him. He said to them, ‘Those Jews have great ideas, but they are weak. How will they ever repair the wall? Will they give sacrifices to their God? Will that help them to repair the wall in one day? They will never build anything from this heap of stones that fire has destroyed!’
3 Tobiah the Ammonite was with him. Tobiah said, ‘The wall that the Jews are trying to build is very weak. Even if a little fox climbs up on it, the stones would all fall down again!’
4 So I prayed, ‘Hear us, our God. Our enemies think that we are fools. Make them seem like fools themselves! Let their enemies take them away as slaves. 5 Do not forgive their sins. Do not say that they are not guilty. They have insulted us when we are trying to build.’
6 The people worked hard because they wanted to build the wall. As a result, the wall all round the city soon became half as high as the old wall.
7 Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arab people, the Ammonites and the people who came from Ashdod all heard that the work was continuing. They could see that we were repairing the holes in the wall. So they were very angry. 8 They met together to decide what they should do. They decided to attack Jerusalem so that there would be trouble. 9 So we continued to pray to our God. We also put guards on the walls in the day and the night, to keep the city safe.
10 Then the people in Judah complained, ‘Our workers are becoming weak. There are so many stones and rubbish! We cannot finish the work on the wall!’
11 At the same time, our enemies were boasting, ‘Before the Jews even see us, we will attack them. We will kill them before they know what is happening. That will be the end of their work on the wall!’
12 The Jews who lived near our enemies warned us many times. They told us that our enemies would attack us wherever we went.
13 So I put some men behind the lowest part of the wall where there were holes. Each of the families had guards with swords, spears, bows and arrows. 14 I went round the city and I looked at everything. I said to the leaders, the officers and the people, ‘Do not be afraid of our enemies. Remember that our Lord God is great and powerful. Fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters and your wives. Fight to keep your homes safe.’
15 Our enemies realized that we knew what they had decided to do. God had stopped them from doing what they wanted. So each of us went back to our work on the wall.
16 After that day, half of my men continued to do the work on the wall. The other half carried spears, shields and bows. They also wore armour. The officers stood behind the people while they built the wall. 17 The men who were carrying materials held them with one hand. They held a weapon in their other hand. 18 All of the builders had swords tied on their belts while they were building. There was a man who would make a sound with his trumpet if there was danger. He stayed near me.
19 I said to the leaders, the officers and all the people, ‘It is hard work and the wall is very long. So we are not working near to each other. 20 When you hear the sound of the trumpet, come to join us here. Our God will fight on our behalf.’
21 We continued to work on the wall every day, from dawn until it became dark. Half of the men held spears to be our guards. 22 I said to the people, ‘Everybody must stay in Jerusalem each night, together with those who are helping them. Then they can be our guards to keep us safe at night. During each day they can do the work.’
23 I did not take my clothes off at night time, and neither did any of my friends. The workers and the guards who were with me kept their clothes on all the time. Everyone carried his own weapon whatever he was doing.
Nehemiah helps poor people
5 Some men and their wives were upset, because of the things that some other Jews were doing. 2 Many of them said, ‘We are big families, with many sons and daughters. We need to have food to eat so that we can stay alive.’ 3 Other people said, ‘People have to lend us money to buy food. We have to give them our fields, our vineyards and our homes until we can pay them back.’
4 Other people said, ‘We have to pay taxes to the king for our fields and our vineyards. People had to lend us money to pay the taxes. 5 Now we have to sell our sons and daughters as slaves so that we can pay back the money. But we are from the same human family as those other Jews. Our children are not different from their children. Already some of our daughters have become slaves. Our fields and vineyards now belong to other people, so we are helpless to do anything.’
6 When I heard what they were complaining about, I was very angry. 7 I thought carefully about what they had said. Then I said to the Jewish leaders and officers, ‘You are cheating your own people! You are taking back more money than you have lent to them.’
I told the Jews to come together for a big meeting. 8 I said to them all, ‘When our own Jewish people have become slaves of foreign people, we have tried hard to buy them back. But now you are making your own people sell their children to you. And you want us to pay you to buy them back again!’ The Jewish leaders kept quiet. They had nothing to say.
9 Then I said to them, ‘You are doing something that is completely wrong. Instead, you should obey God and live in a good way. Then the foreign people who are our enemies will not have a chance to insult us. 10 I myself have agreed to lend poor people money and food. My family and my friends have done the same thing. But we must not make those poor people pay back more to us. 11 Now you must give back to them their fields, their vineyards, their gardens of olive trees and their houses. Do not make them pay any extra money for the money, food, wine or olive oil that you lent to them.’
12 The leaders replied, ‘We will give everything back to them. We will not make them pay back their debts to us. We will do everything that you have said.’
I told the priests to come to our meeting. While they were with us, I made the Jewish leaders and officers make a strong promise. They agreed to do what they had promised to do. 13 I shook my coat so that everything fell out of its pockets. I said, ‘You must all do what you have promised to do. If not, I pray that God will shake you out like that! He will take away your homes and all your things. You will be left with nothing!’ Everyone at the meeting said, ‘Amen, we agree!’ They praised the Lord.
All the people did what they had promised to do.
14 All the time that I ruled the land of Judah, I did not eat the government officer's special food. I was the ruler from the 20th year of King Artaxerxes until his 32nd year as king. For all those 12 years, I and my relatives refused to eat the special food. 15 The officers who ruled there before I came made much trouble for the people. They took food and wine from the people, as well as 40 silver coins every day. Their servants also gave the people much trouble. But I did not live like them, because I wanted to please God. 16 I worked hard to help the work on the city's walls. I did not take any land for myself. All my servants also had to join with me in the work.
17 150 Jews and their officers ate meals with me. There were also people who came to visit from countries that were near to us. 18 Every day, my servants cooked one ox, six good sheep and some birds for us to eat. Every ten days they bought for me many different kinds of wine. But I did not ask to receive the extra food that the ruler usually receives. The people were working hard on the wall and I did not want to give them more trouble.
19 My God, please remember the many things that I have done to help my people. Please bless me.
Enemies try to frighten Nehemiah
6 We had finished building the city's wall. There were no holes in it now, but we had not fixed the doors in the gates. Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem (the Arab) and all our enemies heard that we had finished building the wall. 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent this message to me: ‘Come and meet with us in a village on the low land of Ono.’
I realized that they wanted to cause trouble for me. 3 So I sent this message back to them: ‘I am too busy to come and meet you. The work here is too important. I cannot stop the work here to come and meet you.’
4 They sent me the same message four times. Each time, I refused. 5 Then Sanballat sent his officer to me with a fifth message. He carried a letter that was open for anyone to read. 6 This is what the letter said: ‘To Nehemiah. Other nations have heard the news that you and the other Jews have decided to turn against the king. Geshem also says that this is true. This is why you are building the city's wall. People are saying that you want to rule the Jews as their king. 7 You have chosen some prophets to speak your message in Jerusalem. You have told them to say, “There is now a king in Judah!” The king of Persia will surely hear this news. So we must meet together and talk about it.’
8 I sent this reply: ‘What you say is not true. Nothing like that is happening. You are only speaking your own ideas.’
9 All our enemies wanted to frighten us. They thought, ‘The Jews will be so afraid that they will not be able to work well. They will not finish building the wall.’
So I prayed to God, ‘Give me strength to continue the work.’
10 One day I went to Shemaiah's house.[a] He was the son of Delaiah, Mehetabel's son. He could not go out of his house. He said to me, ‘Meet me inside the temple of God. We will close the temple's doors. Our enemies are coming to kill you. One night soon, they will come to kill you.’
11 But I said, ‘I am not a man who would run away to be safe. I will not go into the temple to save my life.’ 12 Then I realized that Shemaiah was not telling me a message from God. I knew that Tobiah and Sanballat had paid him to say this to me. 13 They wanted to frighten me so that I would hide in the temple. My enemies knew that this would be a sin.[b] If I did that, I would be ashamed. People would no longer respect me.
14 My God, please remember all the bad things that Tobiah and Sanballat have done. Also remember the prophetess, Noadiah, and the other prophets who have tried to frighten me.
The wall is finished
15 We finished the city's wall on the 25th day of the month Elul.[c] It had taken 52 days to build the wall again. 16 When our enemies heard this news, they were afraid. The people of all the nations who lived near Jerusalem were very afraid. They knew that our God had helped us to finish this great work.
17 During this time, the leaders in Judah were sending letters to Tobiah. Tobiah was also sending his replies to them. 18 Many people in Judah had promised to obey Tobiah. That was because his wife was the daughter of Arah's son, Shecaniah. Also, his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Berekiah's son, Meshullam.[d] 19 The leaders would often speak about the good things that Tobiah had done. They would then go and tell Tobiah everything that I had said. So Tobiah continued to send letters to frighten me.
7 When we had built the wall, we fixed the doors in their places. We chose men to be guards for the city's gates. We also chose singers and Levites to serve God. 2 I gave authority over Jerusalem to my brother Hanani and to Hananiah. Hananiah was the leader of the men in Jerusalem's strong building. He was a faithful man who respected God more than many men do. 3 I said to them, ‘Do not open Jerusalem's gates until the sun is high in the sky. Shut the gates and lock them while the guards are still there. Choose people who live in Jerusalem to be guards for the city. Some guards must stand at the city's gates. Other guards must stand near their own houses.’
People who came back from the exile
4 Jerusalem was a large city, but not many people lived in it. We had not yet built many houses. 5 It was not easy to keep the city safe. Then God put an idea in my mind. I called the leaders, the officers and the other people to meet together. I wanted to check the lists of their families. I found the list of those people who had first returned to Jerusalem.[e]
6 This is the list of the Jews who returned to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah. King Nebuchadnezzar had taken them away as prisoners to Babylon. Now each of them had returned to live in his own town. 7 These people came from Babylon with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum and Baanah.
This is a list of the number of men in each Israelite clan who returned:
8 The clan of Parosh: 2,172.
9 The clan of Shephatiah: 372.
10 The clan of Arah: 652.
11 The clan of Pahath-Moab (descendants of Jeshua and Joab): 2,818.
12 The clan of Elam: 1,254.
13 The clan of Zattu: 845.
14 The clan of Zaccai: 760.
15 The clan of Binnui: 648.
16 The clan of Bebai: 628.
17 The clan of Azgad: 2,322.
18 The clan of Adonikam: 667.
19 The clan of Bigvai: 2,067.
20 The clan of Adin: 655.
21 The clan of Ater (descendants of Hezekiah): 98.
22 The clan of Hashum: 328.
23 The clan of Bezai: 324.
24 The clan of Hariph: 112.
25 The clan of Gibeon: 95.
26 The number of men who belonged to these towns:
Bethlehem and Netophah: 188.
27 Anathoth: 128.
28 Beth Azmaveth: 42.
29 Kiriath-Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth: 743.
30 Ramah and Geba: 621.
31 Michmash: 122.
32 Bethel and Ai: 123.
33 The other Nebo: 52.
34 The other Elam: 1,254.
35 Harim: 320.
36 Jericho: 345.
37 Lod, Hadid and Ono: 721.
38 Senaah: 3,930.
39 These priests also returned:
The clan of Jedaiah (descendants of Jeshua): 973.
40 The clan of Immer: 1,052.
41 The clan of Pashhur: 1,247.
42 The clan of Harim: 1,017.
43 These Levites also returned:
The clans of Jeshua and Kadmiel (descendants of Hodaviah): 74.
44 Singers who were descendants of Asaph: 148.
45 Temple guards who were descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita and Shobai: 138.
46 These were the families of the temple servants who returned:
Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
47 Keros, Sia, Padon,
48 Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai,
49 Hanan, Giddel, Gahar,
50 Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda,
51 Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah,
52 Besai, Meunim, Nephussim,
53 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
54 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
55 Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
56 Neziah and Hatipha.
57 These were the servants of King Solomon whose descendants returned:
Sotai, Sophereth, Perida,
58 Jaala, Darkon, Giddel,
59 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Amon.
60 The temple servants and the descendants of Solomon's servants were 392 men.
61 There were some people who came from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer. But they had no lists to show that they belonged to Israelite families.
62 There were from the clans of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda: 642.
63 There were also some priests from the clans of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai. (Barzillai was a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai, who came from Gilead. So he took Barzillai's name for himself.) 64 These people could not find any lists to show who their ancestors were. Because of this, they could not serve God as priests.[f] 65 The officer who ruled in Judah said that they must not eat the priests' special food. They must wait until there was a priest who could use the Urim and Thummim to decide the right thing to do.[g]
66 The number of all the people who returned to Judea was 42,360. 67 There were also 7,337 male and female servants, as well as 245 male and female singers. 68 They had 736 horses and 245 mules, 69 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.[h]
70 Some of the family leaders gave money to help build the wall. The officer who ruled there gave 8.5 kilograms of gold, 50 bowls and 530 sets of special clothes for the priests. 71 Some family leaders gave 170 kilograms of gold and 1,300 kilograms of silver. 72 The rest of the people gave 170 kilograms of gold and 1,300 kilograms of silver. They also gave 67 sets of special clothes for the priests.
73 The priests, the Levites, the temple guards, the singers and the temple servants now lived in towns near Jerusalem. The other people also lived in the towns of Judah. When the seventh month of the year arrived, all the Israelite people were living in their towns and cities.
22 Peter then said, ‘People of Israel, listen to what I am saying! Jesus, the man from Nazareth, came with God's authority to do his work. God did many powerful and special things through him. These miracles showed you clearly that God had sent him. You know about all this. These things happened here, and you saw them. 23 God knew that Jesus' enemies would give him to you. God had decided that this should happen. You let people who do not obey God's Law fix him to the cross. In that way you killed him. 24 But after his death, God caused him to become alive again. God saved Jesus from the power of death. It was impossible for death to keep hold of him. 25 A long time ago, King David spoke about the Messiah in this way:
“I saw the Lord near me all the time.
He is next to me, on my right side,
so nothing will cause me trouble.
26 Because of this, I am very happy,
and I will praise you, God.
I am human and one day I will die,
but I know that you will help me while I live.
27 When I die, you will not leave me in Hades, the place for dead people.
You will not let anything destroy the body of your Holy One.
28 You have shown me the paths that lead to life with you.
I will be completely happy because you will be with me for ever.” ’[a]
29 Peter then said, ‘Friends, people of Israel, I must speak clearly to you about our ancestor, King David. He died and people buried his body in the ground. You can still see the place where people buried him. 30 He was a prophet. He knew what God had promised to do for him. He knew that one of his descendants would be king of God's people one day. 31 David understood what God would do in a future time. He did not speak about himself, but he spoke about the Messiah. He said that God would cause this man to become alive again after his death. God would not let him remain in Hades, the place for dead people. Nothing would destroy his body. 32 This man that David talked about is Jesus. After his death, God caused him to become alive again. We ourselves saw this happen. All of us saw it. 33 God took Jesus back up to heaven. He caused Jesus to sit at his right side, the place of great honour. Jesus received the Holy Spirit from his Father God, so that he could give the Spirit to us. This is what God had promised to do. God has poured his Holy Spirit on us. Now you are seeing and hearing the result of this. 34 King David himself did not go up into heaven like Jesus did. But David said:
“The Lord God said to my Lord:
Sit at my right side until I beat your enemies completely.
35 Then you will be able to put your feet on them.”[b]
36 So all you people of Israel must be sure to know this: It is this same Jesus that God has chosen to be the Messiah. God has made him to be our Lord. But you fixed him to a cross and you killed him.’
37 The people heard what Peter said to them. They were very upset. So they said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Friends, tell us what we should do.’
38 Peter said to them, ‘Each of you must stop doing wrong things. You must change how you live. If you believe in Jesus Christ, then we will baptize you. God will forgive you for the wrong things that you have done. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to you. 39 God has promised to do all this for you and your children. He has also promised this to people who live far away in other places. The Lord our God will do it for all the people that he has called to come to him.’
40 Peter also told them many other things. He continued to speak strongly to them. He told them to be careful and he said, ‘People who are alive today do not do what is right. Save yourselves from the punishment that God will send on them.’
41 Many of the people who listened to Peter believed his message. So the apostles baptized those people. About three thousand people who now believed in Jesus joined the group that same day.
How the believers lived
42 These new believers listened carefully to what the apostles taught them. They joined with everyone else in the group. They prayed together and they ate meals together.[c]
43 The apostles did many miracles which showed that the power of God was with them. As a result, all the people were very surprised and afraid. 44 All the believers continued to meet together often. They shared all their things with each other. 45 They sold some of their own things. Then they gave that money to any believers who needed it. 46 The whole group of believers met together every day in the yard of the temple. They shared their food and they ate meals together in each other's homes. They were very happy and they were honest with each other. 47 All the time, they praised God. All the other people thought that the believers were good people. Every day, the Lord saved more people so that the group of believers grew bigger.
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