And they said unto me, The remnant who are left of the captivity, there in the province, are in great misfortune and reproach, the wall of Jerusalem, is broken down, and, the gates thereof, are burned with fire.

Remember, I pray thee, the word, which thou didst command Moses thy servant, saying, - If, ye, are unfaithful, I, will scatter you among the peoples:

They, therefore, are thy servants, and thy people, - whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy firm hand.

and said unto the king - Let the, king, unto times age-abiding, live! Wherefore should my countenance, not be sad, when, the city - the place of the sepulchres of my fathers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

So I said unto them, Ye, can see the misfortune that, we, are in, how that, Jerusalem, lieth waste, and, the gates thereof, are burned with fire: Come, and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may remain, no longer, a reproach.

and spake before his brethren, and the army of Samaria, and said, What are, these feeble Jews, doing? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they bring to life the stones out of the heaps of dust, when, they, have been burned up?

Now, Tobiah the Ammonite, was beside him, - so he said, Even that which they are building, if a fox should go up, he would break down their stone wall!

and do not cover their iniquity, and, their sin before thee, let it not be blotted out, - for they have caused vexation before them who are building.

Then said Judah, The strength of the burden-bearer faileth, and, the rubbish, aboundeth, - and, we, are not able to build at the wall;

So I said unto the nobles and unto the deputies, and unto the rest of the people, The work, is great and large, - and, we, are separated upon the wall, far away, each man from his brother:

And there were some who were saying, Our sons and our daughters, are we pledging, - that we may obtain corn, and eat, and keep ourselves alive.

And there were some who were saying, Our fields and our vineyards and our houses, are we pledging, - -that we may obtain corn in the dearth.

Now, therefore, as is the flesh of our brethren, so is our flesh, as are their children, so are our children. Yet lo! we are putting in subjection our sons and our daughters, for bondservants, yea there are some of our daughters already trodden down, and we are powerless, and, our fields and our vineyards, belong to others.

So my heart took counsel unto me and I contended with the nobles and with the deputies, and said to them, A loan on interest - every man to his brother, are ye making, - So I appointed over them a great assembly;

Then said I, Not good, is the thing which ye are doing, - ought ye not, in the fear of God, to walk, because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?

wherein was written - Among the nations, it is reported, and, Gashmu, saith it, that, thou and the Jews, are plotting to rebel, for which cause, thou art building the wall, - and, thou, art to become their king, according to these words.

When, I, came into the house of Shemaiah, son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, he, being shut in, he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, in the midst of the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to slay thee, yea, by night, are they coming to slay thee.

And I said unto them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until, hot, be the sun, and, while they are standing by, let them close the doors, and make them fast, - setting watches, of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one over against his own house.

These, are the sons of the province, who came up from among the Captives of the Exile, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did exile, - but they came back to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his own city;

And, these, are they who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, - but they could not tell their ancestral house, nor their seed, whether, of Israel, they were:

Thou, art Yahweh, thou alone, Thou, didst make the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that is thereon, the seas and all that is therein, and, thou, holdest them all in life, - and, the host of the heavens, unto thee, are bowing down.

Lo! we, to-day, are bondmen - even upon the land which thou gavest our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, lo! we, are bondmen;

and, the increase thereof, aboundeth unto the kings whom thou hast set over us, for our sins, - and, over our bodies, are they bearing rule, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and, in great distress, we are.

Seeing, therefore, all this, we, are plighting our faith, and putting it in writing, - and, upon the sealed scroll, are our rulers, our Levites, our priests.

For, into the chambers, should the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi bring in the heave-offering of the corn, the new wine and the oil, since, there, are the utensils of the sanctuary, and the priests who are in attendance, and the doorkeepers, and the singers, - so would we not neglect the house of our God.

Now, these, are the chiefs of the province, who dwelt in Jerusalem, but, in the cities of Judah, dwelt every man in his possession throughout their cities, Israel, the priests, and the Levites and the Nethinim, and the Sons of the Servants of Solomon.

And, these, are the sons of Benjamin, - Sallu son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah;

Now, these, are the priests and the Levites, who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, - Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra;

so I contended with the nobles of Judah, - and said unto them, What is this wicked thing which, ye, are doing, and profaning the sabbath day?

Therefore I testified against them, and said unto them, Wherefore are ye lodging against the wall? if ye do it again, a hand, will I thrust upon you, - From that time, they came not on the sabbath.