During the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence,

The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So I gave him a definite time, and it pleased the king to send me.

I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took was the one I was riding.

And I, my brothers, my men, and the guards with me never took off our clothes. Each carried his weapon, even when washing.

They responded: “We will return these things and require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.”

So I summoned the priests and made everyone take an oath to do this.

You gave them kingdoms and peoples
and assigned them to be a boundary.
They took possession
of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon
and of the land of Og king of Bashan.

You multiplied their descendants
like the stars of heaven
and brought them to the land
You told their ancestors to go in and take possession of it.

They captured fortified cities and fertile land
and took possession of well-supplied houses,
cisterns cut out of rock, vineyards,
olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance.
They ate, were filled,
became prosperous, and delighted in Your great goodness.

We will not give our daughters in marriage to the surrounding peoples and will not take their daughters as wives for our sons.

A priest of Aaronic descent must accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth, and the Levites must take a tenth of this offering to the storerooms of the treasury in the house of our God.

I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of their men, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to take an oath before God and said: “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or yourselves!