Old/New Testament
Nehemiah Prays for the Sons of Israel
1 The words of (A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in (B)the month Chislev, (C)in the twentieth year—and I was in (D)Susa the [a]capitol— 2 that (E)Hanani, one of my brothers, and [b]some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and remain from the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the (F)province who remain from the captivity are in great calamity and (G)reproach, and (H)the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and (I)its gates are burned with fire.”
4 Now it happened that when I heard these words, (J)I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before (K)the God of heaven. 5 I said, “I beseech You, O [c]Yahweh, the God of heaven, (L)the great and fearsome God, (M)who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 (N)let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your slave which I am praying before You today, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your slaves, (O)confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; (P)I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 (Q)We have worked in utter destruction against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments (R)which You commanded Your [d]servant Moses. 8 Remember the word which You commanded Your [e]servant Moses, saying, ‘(S)If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 (T)but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been banished were at the ends of the sky, I (U)will gather them from there and will bring them (V)to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ 10 (W)They are Your slaves and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech You, (X)may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your slave and the prayer of Your slaves who delight to fear Your name, and make Your slave successful today and grant him compassion before this man.”
Now I was the (Y)cupbearer to the king.
God’s Hand Was on Nehemiah
2 Now it happened in the month Nisan, (Z)in the twentieth year of King (AA)Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and (AB)I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? (AC)This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “(AD)Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad (AE)when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste and its gates have been consumed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” (AF)So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 I said to the king, “If it is good for the king, and if your servant is good before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” 6 Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it was good to the king to send me, and (AG)I gave him a set time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it is good to the king, let letters be given me (AH)for the governors of the provinces beyond the [f]River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s (AI)forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of (AJ)the fortress which is by the house of God, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because (AK)the good hand of my God was on me.
9 Then I came to (AL)the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now (AM)the king had sent with me commanders of the military force and horsemen. 10 Then (AN)Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite [g]official heard about it, and it was a very great evil to them that someone had come to seek the good of the sons of Israel.
Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls
11 So I (AO)came to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my heart to do for Jerusalem; and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. 13 So I went out at night by (AP)the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Spring and on to the [h]Dung Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem (AQ)which were broken down and its (AR)gates which were consumed by fire. 14 Then I passed on to (AS)the Spring Gate and (AT)the King’s Pool, but there was no place for [i]my animal to pass. 15 So I went up at night by the (AU)ravine and inspected the wall. Then I turned and entered the Valley Gate and turned around. 16 Now the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who were doing the work.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the calamity we are in, that (AV)Jerusalem lies waste and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.” 18 And I told them how the hand of my God had been good to me and also about the king’s words which he had said to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” (AW)So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19 But Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite [j]official and (AX)Geshem the Arab heard it. And (AY)they mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? (AZ)Are you rebelling against the king?” 20 So I responded to them with a word and said to them, “(BA)The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His slaves will arise and build, (BB)but you have no portion, right, or remembrance in Jerusalem.”
Building and Repairing the Wall
3 Then (BC)Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built (BD)the Sheep Gate; they set it apart as holy and (BE)made its doors stand. And they set apart as holy [k]the wall to (BF)the Tower of the Hundred and (BG)the Tower of Hananel. 2 Next to him (BH)the men of Jericho built, and next to [l]them Zaccur the son of Imri built.
3 Now the sons of Hassenaah built (BI)the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and made its doors stand with its bolts and bars. 4 Next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz made repairs. And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah the son of Meshezabel made repairs. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana also made repairs. 5 Moreover, next to them the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not [m]support the service of their masters.
6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired (BJ)the Old Gate; they laid its beams and made its doors stand with its bolts and its bars. 7 Next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, [n]also made repairs for the official seat of the (BK)governor of the province beyond the River. 8 Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah of the (BL)goldsmiths made repairs. And next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they restored Jerusalem as far as (BM)the Broad Wall. 9 Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, (BN)the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. 10 Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs. 11 Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired [o]another section and (BO)the Tower of Furnaces. 12 Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, (BP)the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.
13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired (BQ)the Valley Gate. They built it and made its doors stand with its bolts and its bars, and [p]one thousand cubits of the wall to the [q]Dung Gate.
14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, the official of the district of (BR)Beth-haccherem, repaired the [r](BS)Dung Gate. He built it and made its doors stand with its bolts and its bars.
15 Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, the official of the district of Mizpah, (BT)repaired the Spring Gate. He built it, covered it and made its doors stand with its bolts and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah at (BU)the king’s garden as far as (BV)the steps that descend from the city of David. 16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, (BW)official of half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs as far as a point opposite the tombs of David, and as far as (BX)the artificial pool and the house of the mighty men. 17 After him the Levites made repairs under Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, the official of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. 18 After him their brothers made repairs under Bavvai the son of Henadad, the official of the other half of the district of Keilah. 19 Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, (BY)the official of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the ascent of the armory (BZ)at the Angle. 20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the Angle to the doorway of the house of (CA)Eliashib the high priest. 21 After him Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another section, from the doorway of Eliashib’s house even as far as the end of Eliashib’s house. 22 After him the priests, (CB)the men of the [s]valley, made repairs. 23 After [t]them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house. After [u]them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house. 24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah as far as (CC)the Angle and as far as the corner. 25 Palal the son of Uzai made repairs in front of the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king, which is by (CD)the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs. 26 (CE)The temple servants living in (CF)Ophel made repairs as far as the front of (CG)the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. 27 After [v]them (CH)the Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower and as far as the wall of Ophel.
28 Above (CI)the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each in front of his house. 29 After [w]them Zadok the son of Immer made repairs in front of his house. And after him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs. 30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs in front of his own [x]quarters. 31 After him Malchijah, [y]one of (CJ)the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, in front of the [z]Inspection Gate, and as far as the upper room of the corner. 32 Between the upper room of the corner and (CK)the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.
The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
2 And when (A)the day of Pentecost [a]had fully come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing (B)wind, and it filled (C)the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues like fire [b](D)distributing themselves, and [c]they [d]rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all (E)filled with the Holy Spirit and began to (F)speak with other [e]tongues, as the Spirit was giving them [f]utterance.
5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, (G)devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when (H)this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own [g]language. 7 (I)So they were astounded and marveling, saying, “Behold, are not all these who are speaking (J)Galileans? 8 And how is it that we each hear them in our own [h]language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and (K)Cappadocia, (L)Pontus and [i](M)Asia, 10 (N)Phrygia and (O)Pamphylia, Egypt and the district of Libya around (P)Cyrene, and [j](Q)visitors from Rome, both Jews and [k](R)proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” 12 And (S)they all continued in astonishment and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others, mocking, were saying, “(T)They are full of new wine.”
Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost
14 But Peter, [l]taking his stand with (U)the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. 15 For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, (V)for it is the [m]third hour of the day; 16 but this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘(W)And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all [n]mankind;
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams;
18 Even on My male slaves and female slaves,
I will in those days pour out My Spirit
And they shall prophesy.
19 And I will put wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and awesome day of the [o]Lord comes.
21 And it will be that (X)everyone who calls on the name of the [p]Lord will be saved.’
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.