along with a letter to Asaph, the royal Commissioner of Forests, so that he will supply me with timber to craft beams for the gatehouses of the Temple, for the city walls, and for the house in which I will be living."

Uzai's son Palal carried on repairs over against the angle of the wall at the tower that stands out from the king's upper palace, which is located by the royal guard's court. Next to him, Parosh's son Pedaiah carried on repairs.

I charged them, "Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until mid-day. Until then, let everyone stand watch, keeping the gates shut and locked. Appoint security watches from those who live in Jerusalem. Everyone should maintain his own watch near his house."

I found a register of the original inhabitants in which there was recorded a list of descendants of the province of Judah who returned from captivity, from those who had been exiled by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They had come back to Jerusalem and to Judah, each one to his town.

All the people gathered as a united body into the plaza in front of the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.

"You multiplied their descendants like the stars in heaven and brought them to the land about which you told their ancestors to enter and possess.

You admonished them to return to your Law, but they acted arrogantly, and would not listen to your commands. They sinned against your regulations, which if anyone obeys, he will live by them. They turned away, being stubborn and stiff-necked, and they did not listen.

Furthermore, neither our kings, nor our leaders, nor our priests nor our ancestors have practiced your Law or paid attention to your commands and warnings by which you admonished them.

The Gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon, and their relatives, who kept watch at the gates, numbered 172.

Then I brought up the leaders of Judah to the crest of the wall, and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs, the first of which proceeded on the wall to the right toward the Dung Gate.

At the Fountain Gate, which stood opposite them, they ascended the stairs of the City of David where the wall rose above the house of David east of the Water Gate.

At that time I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the Sabbath, bringing in sacks of grain, loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads. They brought them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I rebuked them on the day on which they were selling food.