The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the fortress,

that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

And they said to me, Those who remain, that are left of the captivity there in the province, are in great affliction and reproach; and the wall of Jerusalem is in ruins, and its gates are burned with fire.

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat and wept, and mourned for days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of the heavens,

O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants who delight to fear thy name; and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I was the king's cupbearer.

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now, I had never been sad in his presence.

And I said to the king, Let the king live for ever! Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lies waste, and its gates are consumed with fire?

And I said to the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.

And the king said to me the queen also sitting by him, For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobijah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there had come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me but I told no man what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem and there was no beast with me, except the beast that I rode upon.

And I went out by night by the valley-gate, even toward the jackal-fountain, and to the dung-gate; and I viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were in ruins, and its gates were consumed with fire.

And I went on to the fountain-gate, and to the king's pool; and there was no place for the beast under me to pass.

And I went up in the night through the valley, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the valley-gate and returned.

And I said to them, Ye see the distress that we are in, that Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

And I answered them, and said to them, The God of the heavens, he will prosper us, and we his servants will arise and build; but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.

And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, to the seat of the governor on this side the river.

Next to them repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths; and next to him repaired Hananiah of the perfumers, and they left Jerusalem in its state as far as the broad wall.

(Now the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel, even over against the water-gate toward the east, and the tower which lies out.)

From above the horse-gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house.

And it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was angry and very indignant, and mocked the Jews.

And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? shall they be permitted to go on? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, when they are burned?

Hear, our God, for we are despised, and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in a land of captivity!

And it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobijah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being repaired, that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,

And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come into the midst of them and kill them, and put an end to the work.

And it came to pass that when the Jews that dwelt by them came and told us so ten times, from all the places whence they returned to us,

I set in the lower places behind the wall in exposed places, I even set the people, according to their families, with their swords, their spears and their bows.

And it came to pass that when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had defeated their counsel, we returned all of us to the wall, every one to his work.

And from that time forth the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held the spears, and the shields, and the bows, and the corslets; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah.

They that built on the wall, and they that bore burdens, with those that loaded, wrought in the work with one hand, and with the other they held a weapon.

And the builders had every one his sword girded by his side, and built. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.

And I said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and extended, and we are scattered upon the wall, one far from another:

in what place ye hear the sound of the trumpet, thither shall ye assemble to us; our God will fight for us.

And we laboured in the work; and half of them held the spears from the rising of the dawn till the stars appeared.

Likewise at the same time I said to the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and be for labour in the day.

And neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard that followed me, none of us put off our garments: every one had his weapon on his right side.

And there were that said, We have had to pledge our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, that we might procure corn in the dearth.

yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and behold, we must bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already; neither is it in the power of our hand to redeem them, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.

And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.

And I consulted with myself; and I remonstrated with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother! And I set a great assembly against them.

And I said, The thing that ye do is not good. Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, so as not to be the reproach of the nations our enemies?

Restore, I pray you, to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive-gardens, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine and the oil, that ye have exacted of them.

And they said, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, as thou hast said. And I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.

Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.

But the former governors that were before me had been chargeable to the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver: even their servants bore rule over the people. But I did not so, because of the fear of God.

And that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days all sorts of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I demanded not the bread of the governor; for the service was heavy upon this people.

And it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobijah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it (though at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),

that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come, let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.

And they sent to me four times after this sort; and I answered them in the same manner.

Then sent Sanballat his servant to me in this manner the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand,

in which was written: It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel, for which cause thou buildest the wall, and according to these words thou wilt become their king.

And thou hast also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning thee at Jerusalem saying, There is a king in Judah! And now it will be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.

And I sent to him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.

And I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabeel, who had shut himself up. And he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple; for they are coming to kill thee; even in the night are they coming to kill thee.

And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, could go into the temple, and live? I will not go in.

Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have wherewith to spread an evil report, that they might reproach me.

My God, remember Tobijah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets who would have put me in fear.

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.

And it came to pass that when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations that were about us were afraid and were much cast down in their own eyes, and they perceived that this work was wrought by our God.

Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobijah, and those of Tobijah came to them.

For there were many in Judah sworn to him; for he was a son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

Also they spoke of his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. And Tobijah sent letters to put me in fear.

And it came to pass when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, that the doorkeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed.

And I said to them that the gates of Jerusalem should not be opened until the sun was hot, and that they should shut the doors and bar them while they stood by; and that there should be appointed watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one over against his house.

Now the city was large and great; but the people in it were few, and no houses were built.

And my God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, for registration by genealogy. And I found a genealogical register of those that had come up at the first, and I found written in it:

These are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city;

The children of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two.

The men of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one.

The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-one.

And the priests, and the Levites, and the doorkeepers, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinim, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities. And when the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in their cities,

all the people gathered together as one man to the open place that was before the water-gate; and they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded Israel.

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

And he read in it before the open place that was before the water-gate from the morning until midday, in presence of the men and the women, and those that could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.

And Ezra the scribe stood upon a high stage of wood, which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkijah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchijah, and Hashum, and Hashbaddana, Zechariah, Meshullam.

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.

And Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law; and the people stood in their place.

And they read in the law of God distinctly out of the book, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

And Nehemiah, that is, the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that explained to the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah your God: mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.

And on the second day were gathered together the chief fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to Ezra the scribe, even to gain wisdom as to the words of the law.

And they found written in the law which Jehovah had commanded through Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month,

And the people went forth and brought them, and made themselves booths, everyone upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the open space of the water-gate, and in the open space of the gate of Ephraim.

And all the congregation of them that had come back from the captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths. For since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun until that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.

Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they observed the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance.

And on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their God a fourth part of the day; and a fourth part they confessed, and worshipped Jehovah their God.

And thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red Sea;

And thou didst divide the sea before them, and they went through the midst of the sea on dry ground; and their pursuers thou threwest into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters.

And thou leddest them in the day by a pillar of cloud, and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.

And thou camest down on mount Sinai, and didst speak with them from the heavens, and gavest them right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments.

And thou gavest them bread from the heavens for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and didst say to them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

and refused to obey, neither were they mindful of thy wonders which thou hadst done among them; but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion made a captain to return to their bondage. But thou art a +God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great loving-kindness, and thou forsookest them not.

Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy god that brought thee up out of Egypt! and they had wrought great provocation,

yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud departed not from over them by day, to lead them on the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.

Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing; their clothes grew not old, and their feet swelled not.

And their children thou didst multiply as the stars of heaven, and thou broughtest them into the land concerning which thou didst say to their fathers that they should go in to possess it.

And the children went in and possessed the land; and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, both their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all good things, wells digged, vineyards and olive-gardens, and fruit trees in abundance. And they did eat and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

And thou gavest them into the hand of their oppressors, and they oppressed them; and in the time of their distress, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from the heavens, and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their oppressors.

But when they had rest, they did evil again before thee; and thou didst leave them in the hand of their enemies, and they had dominion over them; and again they cried unto thee, and thou heardest them from the heavens, and many times didst thou deliver them, according to thy mercies.