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Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in the month Chislev,inthe twentieth year, while I was in Susa thecapitol,

2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escapedandhad survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.”

4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

5 I said, “I beseech You, O LordGod of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,

6 let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned.

7 We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.

8 Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples;

9 butifyou return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’

10 They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

11 O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.”

Now I was the cupbearer to the king.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/NEH/1-f9527a42d91354b6f7dd0cdeee8be45c.mp3?version_id=100—

Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered

1 And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that winewasbefore him, and 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? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid.

3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?”

4 Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.

5 I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor 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 pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time.

7 And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governorsof the provincesbeyond the 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 forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by thetemple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king grantedthemto me because the good hand of my Godwason me.

9 Then I came to the governorsof the provincesbeyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.

10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heardabout it,it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls

11 So I 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 mind 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 the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Well andonto the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire.

14 Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass.

15 So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned.

16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work.

17 Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.”

18 I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the goodwork.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heardit,they mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

20 So I answered them and said to them, “The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/NEH/2-bcdb64e5f8edacfa9af445c46bf3947b.mp3?version_id=100—

Builders of the Walls

1 Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They consecrated the wall to the Tower of the Hundredandthe Tower of Hananel.

2 Next to him the men of Jericho built, and next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.

3 Now the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.

4 Next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz made repairs. And next to him Meshullam the son of Berechiah the son of Meshezabel made repairs. And next to him Zadok the son of Baanaalsomade repairs.

5 Moreover, next to him the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not support the work of their masters.

6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars.

7 Next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, also made repairs for the official seat of the governorof the provincebeyond the River.

8 Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah of the goldsmiths made repairs. And next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.

9 Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, 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 another section and the Tower of Furnaces.

12 Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.

13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall to the Refuse Gate.

14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, the official of the district of Beth-haccherem repaired the Refuse Gate. He built it and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars.

15 Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, the official of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He built it, covered it and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah at the king’s garden as far as the steps that descend from the city of David.

16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, official of half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs as far asa pointopposite the tombs of David, and as far as the artificial pool and the house of the mighty men.

17 After him the Levites carried out repairsunderRehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, the official of half the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his district.

18 After him their brothers carried out repairsunderBavvai the son of Henadad, official ofthe otherhalf of the district of Keilah.

19 Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, the official of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the ascent of the armory 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 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 his house.

22 After him the priests, the men of thevalley, carried out repairs.

23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub carried out repairs in front of their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, carried out repairs beside his house.

24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah as far as the Angle and as far as the corner.

25 Palal the son of Uzaimade repairsin front of the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Paroshmade repairs.

26 The temple servants living in Ophelmade repairsas far as the front of the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower.

27 After them the Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower and as far as the wall of Ophel.

28 Above the Horse Gate the priests carried out repairs, each in front of his house.

29 After them Zadok the son of Immer carried out repairs in front of his house. And after him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, carried out 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 carried out repairs in front of his own quarters.

31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, carried out repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, in front of the Inspection Gate and as far as the upper room of the corner.

32 Between the upper room of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants carried out repairs.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/NEH/3-ff2e1649aef07a447ed2271c04fbced2.mp3?version_id=100—

Work Is Ridiculed

1 Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews.

2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthymenof Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restoreitfor themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble even the burned ones?”

3 Now Tobiah the Ammonitewasnear him and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox should jump onit,he would break their stone wall down!”

4 Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity.

5 Do not forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have demoralized the builders.

6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half itsheight,for the people had a mind to work.

7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on,andthat the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry.

8 All of them conspired together to comeandfight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.

Discouragement Overcome

9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.

10 Thus in Judah it was said,

“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,

Yet there is much rubbish;

And we ourselves are unable

To rebuild the wall.”

11 Our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.”

12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,”

13 then I stationedmenin the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows.

14 When I sawtheir fear,I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.”

15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.

16 From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captainswerebehind the whole house of Judah.

17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens tooktheirload with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon.

18 As for the builders, eachworehis sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeterstoodnear me.

19 I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another.

20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared.

22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.”

23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, eachtookhis weaponeven tothe water.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/NEH/4-2d2557cfd50436e78e6e4401098406e2.mp3?version_id=100—

Usury Abolished

1 Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.

2 For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.”

3 There were others who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine.”

4 Also there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s taxonour fields and our vineyards.

5 Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondagealready,and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

6 Then I was very angry when I had heard their outcry and these words.

7 I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said to them, “You are exacting usury, each from his brother!” Therefore, I held a great assembly against them.

8 I said to them, “We according to our ability have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations; now would you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us?” Then they were silent and could not find a wordto say.

9 Again I said, “The thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?

10 And likewise I, my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Please, let us leave off this usury.

11 Please, give back to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves and their houses, also the hundredthpartof the money and of the grain, the new wine and the oil that you are exacting from them.”

12 Then they said, “We will giveitback and will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you say.” So I called the priests and took an oath from them that they would do according to this promise.

13 I also shook out the front of my garment and said, “Thus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions who does not fulfill this promise; even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” And they praised the Lord. Then the people did according to this promise.

Nehemiah’s Example

14 Moreover, from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes,fortwelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s foodallowance.

15 But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of the fear of God.

16 I alsoapplied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.

17 Moreover,there wereat my table one hundred and fifty Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us.

18 Now that which was prepared for each day was one oxandsix choice sheep, also birds were prepared for me; and once in ten days all sorts of winewere furnishedin abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the governor’s foodallowance,because the servitude was heavy on this people.

19 Remember me, O my God, for good,according toall that I have done for this people.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/NEH/5-95cd78295e3df69fd328966e37ef8fb5.mp3?version_id=100—

The Enemy’s Plot

1 Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, andthatno breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates,

2 then Sanballat and Geshem senta messageto me, saying, “Come, let us meet together atChephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.

3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”

4 They sentmessagesto me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way.

5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand.

6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports.

7 You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let us take counsel together.”

8 Then I senta messageto him saying, “Such things as you are saying have not been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind.”

9 For all of them weretryingto frighten us, thinking, “They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.” But now,O God,strengthen my hands.

10 When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.”

11 But I said, “Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”

12 Then I perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he utteredhisprophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

13 He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me.

14 Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who weretryingto frighten me.

The Wall Is Finished

15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth ofthe monthElul, in fifty-two days.

16 When all our enemies heardof it,and all the nations surrounding us sawit,they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

17 Also in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah’sletterscame to them.

18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

19 Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/NEH/6-09bec3628004acbb710000b6b51b220c.mp3?version_id=100—

Census of First Returned Exiles

1 Now when the wall was rebuilt and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed,

2 then I put Hanani my brother, and Hananiah the commander of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.

3 Then I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot, and while they are standingguard,let them shut and bolt the doors. Also appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each at his post, and each in front of his own house.”

4 Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few and the houses were not built.

5 Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up first in which I found the following record:

6 These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city,

7 who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.

The number of men of the people of Israel:

8 the sons of Parosh, 2,172;

9 the sons of Shephatiah, 372;

10 the sons of Arah, 652;

11 the sons of Pahath-moab of 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, 2,322;

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 Netophah, 188;

27 the men of Anathoth, 128;

28 the men of Beth-azmaveth, 42;

29 the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah 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 men of Jericho, 345;

37 the sons of Lod, Hadid and Ono, 721;

38 the sons of Senaah, 3,930.

39 The priests: 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, of the sons of Hodevah, 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, the sons of Shobai, 138.

46 The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth,

47 the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon,

48 the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Shalmai,

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 Nephushesim,

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, 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 Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,

59 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Amon.

60 All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servantswere392.

61 Thesewerethey who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon and Immer; but they could not show their fathers’ houses or their descendants, whether they were of Israel:

62 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642.

63 Of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and was named after them.

64 These searchedamongtheir ancestral registration, but it could not be located; therefore they were considered uncleanand excludedfrom the priesthood.

65 The governor said to them that they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest arose with Urim and Thummim.

Total of People and Gifts

66 The whole assembly togetherwas42,360,

67 besides their male and their female servants, of whomthere were7,337; and they had 245 male and female singers.

68 Their horses were 736; their mules, 245;

69 theircamels, 435;theirdonkeys, 6,720.

70 Some from among the heads of fathers’householdsgave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 gold drachmas, 50 basins, 530 priests’ garments.

71 Some of the heads of fathers’householdsgave into the treasury of the work 20,000 gold drachmas and 2,200 silver minas.

72 That which the rest of the people gave was 20,000 gold drachmas and 2,000 silver minas and 67 priests’ garments.

73 Now the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants and all Israel, lived in their cities.

And when the seventh month came, the sons of Israelwerein their cities.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/80/32k/NEH/7-5b58c6f84242fe341bbe1c3ff1c09b85.mp3?version_id=100—