Hanani, who was one of my relatives, along with some of the men from Judah, came to me, and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem.

So I came to Jerusalem. When I had been there for three days,

I continued up the valley during the night, inspecting the wall. Then I turned back and came to the Valley Gate, and so returned.

So it happened that the Jews who were living near them came and warned us repeatedly about all the schemes they were plotting against us.

There were 150 Jews and officials who dined with me routinely, in addition to those who came to us from the nations all around us.

They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The number of Israelite men was as follows:

These are the ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer (although they were unable to certify their family connection or their ancestry, as to whether they were really from Israel):

"You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.