And I went over unto the well port, and to the king's conduit; and there was no room for my beast, that it could go under me.

Now there was a great outcry of the [poorer] people and their wives against their Jewish brothers [to whom they were deeply in debt].

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 word to say.

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.”

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.

My God placed it on my heart to gather the leaders, the officials, and the ordinary people so they could be enrolled on the basis of genealogy. I found the genealogical records of those who had formerly returned. Here is what I found written in that record:

And these were they which went up also from Telmelah, Telharesha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer: but they could not shew their father's house, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel.

These searched among their ancestral registration, but it could not be located; therefore they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood.

The governor instructed them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.

And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

They read out of the book of the law of God, translating and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read.

So their descendants entered and took possession of the land. Before their eyes you subdued those living in the land the Canaanites putting them under their control, along with their kings and the nations of the land, so they could do with them as they pleased.

Here we are today,
slaves in the land You gave our ancestors
so that they could enjoy its fruit and its goodness.
Here we are—slaves in it!

And the other people, the priests, Levites, Porters, singers, Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people in the lands unto the law of God, with their wives, sons and daughters, as many as could understand it,

We also determined to present the first fruits of our ground grain, our offerings, the fruit of all kinds of trees, wines, and oil to the priests, to the chambers of the Temple of our God, and the tithes of our land to the descendants of Levi, so those descendants of Levi could collect the tithes in all the towns where we worked:

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they invited the descendants of Levi to come from wherever they lived to Jerusalem so they could celebrate the dedication with joy, thanksgiving, and songs, accompanied by cymbals, lyres, and harps.

And on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard from far away.

Also at that time men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, for the first fruits, and for the tithes, so those portions required by the Law could be gathered from the fields adjacent to the towns to benefit the priests and descendants of Levi, for the people of Judah rejoiced over the priests and the descendants of Levi who were serving.

Later that day the book of Moses was read aloud so the people could hear it, and a written command was discovered therein permanently prohibiting the Ammonites and Moabites from coming into the congregation of God

so I could return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of God’s house.

When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be closed. I further directed that they were not to be opened until after the Sabbath. I positioned some of my young men at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.

And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.