Old/New Testament
4 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard that restoration of the walls of Jerusalem was proceeding and that the breaches had begun to be closed, they became extremely angry. 2 They all conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to stir up trouble against it. 3 But we prayed to our God and stationed a guard against them day and night.
4 Meanwhile the people of Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing. There is so much rubble that we are unable to rebuild the wall.”
5 Our adversaries also said, “They will not know or perceive anything, until we come among them and kill them, and put an end to the work!”
6 So it happened that the Jews living near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us!”
Working and Watching
7 So I stationed people in the lower places behind the wall in the exposed places. I stationed the people by families with their swords, spears and bows. 8 When I looked things over, I rose up and said to the nobles, the rulers and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
9 Now when our enemies heard that their plan was known to us, and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. 10 From that day on, half of my men were doing the work, while half of them took hold of the spears, shields, bows and breastplates, and the leaders were behind the entire house of Judah. 11 Those building the wall and those bearing heavy burdens kept one hand on the work and the other holding a weapon. 12 So each of the builders had his sword strapped to his side while they were building, and the shofar blower was beside me.
13 Then I said to the nobles, the rulers and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from one another on the wall. 14 Wherever you hear the sound of the shofar, join us there. Our God will fight for us!”
15 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from dawn until the stars came out. 16 Also at that time I said to the people, “Let every man and his helper lodge inside Jerusalem, so they can be guards for us by night and workers by day.” 17 So neither I, nor my brothers, nor my workers, nor the guards who were with me took off our clothes; each man even had his weapon at the water.
Considering the Poor
5 Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives to their fellow Jews. 2 There were those who said, “We and our sons and our daughters are numerous. We must take grain, so we may eat and live.”
3 There were others who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses in order to obtain grain during the famine.”
4 Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. 5 And now, though we share the same flesh as our brothers, and our children are just like their children, still we subject our sons and our daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved but our hands are tied since our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7 I pondered them in my heart and then I opposed the nobles and the officials, saying to them, “Usury! Each of you is putting his brother in debt!”
So I convened a great assembly to deal with them. 8 I said to them, “As much as possible, we have bought back our fellow Jews who had been sold to the nations. Now you also are selling your brothers so that they will be sold back to us?” Then they became silent and could not find anything to say.
9 Then I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good! Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God, in order to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? 10 Even I, my brothers, and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let this usury stop, now! 11 Now, return to them this very day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves and their houses, as well as the hundredth that you have extracted from them on the money, the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil.”
12 Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do just as you say.”
Then I summoned the kohanim and I made them swear to do according to this promise. 13 Also I shook out my garment, and said, “In this way may God shake out from His house and from His property every one that does not keep this promise. In this way may he be shaken out and emptied!”
And all the assembly replied, “Amen!” and they praised Adonai. So the people did according to this promise.
Nehemiah’s Unselfishness
14 Moreover, from the day when I was appointed to be the governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes—twelve years—neither I, nor my relatives have eaten the bread allocated to the governor. 15 The earlier governors, those preceding me, placed heavy burdens on the people, and took bread and wine from them, in addition to forty shekels of silver. Their attendants also lorded over the people. But I did not do so, out of fear of God. 16 Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall, without even buying a field. All my attendants were gathered there for the work.
17 Furthermore, 150 Judeans and officials, as well as those that came to us from the nations around us, were at my table. 18 Now, each day one ox and six choice sheep, as well as some fowl, were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundance of every kind of wine was prepared. Despite all this, I did not require the governor’s food allowance, because the work was already heavy on this people.
19 Remember me for good, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.
Attempts to Intimidate Nehemiah
6 Now it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and no breach remained in it—even though at that time I had not positioned the doors in the gates. 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent word to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.”
But they were scheming to do me harm.
3 So I sent messengers to them saying, “I am doing an important work, so I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”
4 They sent me the same message four times, and each time I returned a similar response to them. 5 But the fifth time Sanballat sent his young aide to me in this way, he had an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written:
“It has been heard among the nations—and Geshem substantiates it—that you and the Jews are planning to revolt. That is why you are rebuilding the wall. Furthermore, according to these reports, you are to become their king 7 and have even appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem saying, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ Now, the king is going to hear about these reports. So come now! Let us confer together.”
8 Then I sent a message to him, saying, “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are devising them from your own heart.”
9 For they were all trying to intimidate us, thinking, “Their hands will become weak from the work and it will not be done.”
So now, strengthen my hands!
10 Then I went to the house of Shemaiah, son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel. He was confined to his home. He said, “Let us meet in the House of God, within the Temple. Let us shut the doors of the Temple, for they are coming to kill you. Indeed, they will come to kill you at night.”
11 But I said, “Should a man like me flee? Who in my position could go into the Temple and live? I will not go in.”
12 I recognized that God had not really sent him, for he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He had been hired so that I might become so frightened that I would do this and thereby sin. Then they would give me a bad name in order to discredit me.
14 Remember, my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who have been trying to intimidate me.
15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in just 52 days. 16 When all our enemies heard, all the surrounding nations were afraid and fell greatly in their own eyes, because they realized that this work had been accomplished by our God.
17 Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah and replies from Tobiah kept coming to them. 18 For many in Judah were under oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. 19 Moreover, they kept telling me about his good deeds and then reporting my words to him. Also Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
Hanani, Hananiah and the Returning Exiles
7 After the wall had been rebuilt, the doors set up, and the gatekeepers, singers and Levites appointed, 2 I put in charge over Jerusalem, my brother Hanani along with Hananiah the commander of the fortress, for he was a man of integrity and feared God more than many. 3 I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened until the sun is hot. While those are still on duty, have them shut and bar the doors. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their post and some near their homes.”
4 Now the city was spacious and large, but there were few people within it and no houses were being built. 5 So my God put into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be registered by genealogy. I found the scroll of the genealogical record of those who formerly returned. I found the following written there:
6 These are the people of the province who returned from the captivity of the exile, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken away, and who returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each man to his own town. 7 Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of Bnei-Yisrael was:
8 The sons of Parosh—2,172
9 The sons of Shephatiah—372
10 The sons of Arah—652
11 The sons of Pahat-moab, from the sons of Jeshua and Joab—2,818
12 The sons of Elam—1,254
13 The sons of Zattu—845
14 The sons of Zaccai—760
15 The sons of Binnui—648
16 The sons of Bebai—628
17 The sons of Azgad—2,328
18 The sons of Adonikam—667
19 The sons of Bigvai—2,067
20 The sons of Adin—655
21 The sons of Ater of Hezekiah—98
22 The sons of Hashum—328
23 The sons of Bezai—324
24 The sons of Hariph—112
25 The sons of Gibeon—95
26 The men of Bethlehem and Neto-phah—188
27 The men of Anathoth—128
28 The men of Beth-azmaveth—42
29 The men of Kiriath-jearim, Kephirah, and Beeroth—743
30 The men of Ramah and Geba—621
31 The men of Michmas—122
32 The men of Bethel and Ai—123
33 The men of the other Nebo—52
34 The sons of the other Elam—1,254
35 The sons of Harim—320
36 The sons of Jericho—345
37 The sons of Lod, Hadid and Ono—721
38 The sons of Senaah—3,930
39 The kohanim:
The sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua—973
40 The sons of Immer—1,052
41 The sons of Pashhur—1,247
42 The sons of Harim—1,017
43 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua of Kadmiel from the sons of Hodeiah—74
44 The singers: the sons of Asaph—148
45 The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita and the sons of Shobai—138.
46 The sanctuary servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaot, 47 the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon, 48 the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Salmai, 49 the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, 50 the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, 51 the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, 52 the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephishesim, 53 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 54 the sons of Bazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 55 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 56 the sons of Neziah and the sons of Hatipha.
57 The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida, 58 the sons of Jala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 59 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim and the sons of Amon.
60 All the Temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants—392.
61 Now the following were the ones who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon and Immer—but they were not able to identify their ancestral houses or whether their descendants were from Israel: 62 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah and the sons of Nekoda—642.
63 Also of the kohanim: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai. (Their ancestor took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and subsequently was called by their name.) 64 These sought their names in the genealogies, but were not found; so they were disqualified from the priesthood. 65 The governor said to them that they should not eat any of the most holy things until a kohen arose with Urim and Thummim[a].
66 The whole congregation together was 42,360, 67 not including their male and female servants—these were 7,337—as well as 245 male and female singers.
68 There were 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
69 Some from among the family leaders contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury: gold drachmas—1,000; bowls—50; and priestly tunics—500. 70 Those from the heads of ancestral lines gave to the treasury for the work: gold drachmas—20,000; silver minas—2,000. 71 The rest of the people gave: gold drachmas—20,000; silver minas—2,000; and priestly tunics—67.
72 So the kohanim, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, and the Temple servants, even all Israel, dwelt in their towns.
Ezra Reads the Torah
Then the seventh month came and Bnei-Yisrael were in their towns.
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words! Yeshua ha-Natzrati—a Man authenticated to you by God with mighty deeds and wonders and signs God performed through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Yeshua, given over by God’s predetermined plan and foreknowledge, nailed to the cross by the hand of lawless men, you killed. 24 But God raised Him up, releasing Him from the pains of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held by it. 25 For David says about Him,
‘I saw Adonai always before me,
for He is at my right hand so that I might not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced;
moreover, my body also will live in hope,
27 because You will not abandon my soul to Sheol
or let Your Holy One see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’[a]
29 “Brothers, I can confidently tell you that the patriarch David died and was buried—his tomb is with us to this day. 30 So because he was a prophet and knew God had sworn with an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne, [b] 31 David saw beforehand and spoke of Messiah’s resurrection—that He was not abandoned to Sheol, and His body did not see decay.[c]
32 “This Yeshua God raised up—we all are witnesses! 33 Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God and receiving from the Father the promise of the Ruach ha-Kodesh, He poured out this—what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens; yet he himself says,
‘Adonai said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make Your enemies a footstool
for Your feet.”’[d]
36 “Therefore let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him—this Yeshua whom you had crucified—both Lord and Messiah!”
Teshuvah—Thousands Immersed
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the emissaries, “Fellow brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Messiah Yeshua for the removal of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh. 39 For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away—as many as Adonai our God calls to Himself.”
40 With many other words he warned them and kept urging them, saying, “Save yourselves from this twisted generation!” [e] 41 So those who received his message were immersed, and that day about three thousand souls were added.
New Covenant Community Begins
42 They were devoting themselves to the teaching of the emissaries and to fellowship, to breaking bread and to prayers. 43 Fear lay upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were happening through the emissaries. 44 And all who believed were together, having everything in common. 45 They began selling their property and possessions and sharing them with all, as any had need. 46 Day by day they continued with one mind, spending time at the Temple and breaking bread from house to house. They were sharing meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord was adding to their number[f] those being saved.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.