When ye return unto me and keep my commandments and do them, though it should be that ye have been driven out unto the uttermost part of the heavens, from thence, will I gather them, and bring them into the place that I have chosen to make a habitation for my Name there.

They, therefore, are thy servants, and thy people, - whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy firm hand.

And, the fountain-gate, did Shallun son of Col-hozeh ruler of the circuit of Mizpah, repair, he, built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, - also the wall of the pool of Shelah, by the garden of the king, even as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David;

after him, zealously repaired Baruch son of Zabbai, a second length, - from the corner, unto the opening of the house of Eliashib, the high priest;

after him, repaired, Meremoth son of Uriah son of Hakkoz, a second length, - from the opening of the house of Eliashib, even unto the end of the house of Eliashib;

after him, repaired, Binnui son of Henadad, a second length, - from the house of Azariah, unto the corner, even unto the pinnacle:

Palal, son of Uzai, from over against the corner, and the tower that projecteth from the upper house of the king, which belongeth to the court of custody, - after him, Pedaiah son of Parosh.

after him, repaired, the Tekoites, a second length, - from over against the great tower that projecteth, even unto the wall of Ophel:

from beside the horse-gate, repaired the priests, every one over against his own house;

But it came to pass, when the Jews dwelling near them came in, then said they unto us, ten times, From all places whither ye shall turn, they will be upon us!

And it came to pass, from that day, the half of my young men, were working in the work, and, the half of them, were grasping the spears, the bucklers, and the bows, and the coats of mail, - but, the rulers, were behind all the house of Judah.

So I said unto the nobles and unto the deputies, and unto the rest of the people, The work, is great and large, - and, we, are separated upon the wall, far away, each man from his brother:

So, we, were working at the work, - one half of them, grasping the spears, from the uprisings of the dawn, until the coming out of the stars.

And they said, We will restore them, and, from them, will we require nothing, so, will we do, as thou, art saying. Then called I the priests, and put them on oath, to do according to this promise.

Moreover, from the day I was commanded to become their pasha in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year, even unto the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I and my brethren, pasha's bread, have not eaten;

whereas, the former pashas, who were before me, suffered themselves to be a burden upon the people, and took from them in bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver, even, their young men, bare rule over the people, - but, I, did not so, because of the fear of God.

And, Jews and deputies, a hundred and fifty men, and they who were coming in unto us from among the nations which were round about us, depended upon my table.

For, they all, were seeking to put us in fear, saying, Their hands will slacken from the work, and it will not be accomplished. Now, therefore, strengthen thou my hands!

And it came to pass, when all our enemies heard, and all the nations that were round about us saw, that they fell greatly in their own eyes, and took knowledge that, from God, had this work been wrought.

These, are the sons of the province, who came up from among the Captives of the Exile, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did exile, - but they came back to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his own city;

And, these, are they who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, - but they could not tell their ancestral house, nor their seed, whether, of Israel, they were:

and read therein, before the broad place which was before the water-gate, from the time it was light, until the noon of the day, in presence of the men and the women, and such as had understanding, - and, the ears of all the people, were unto the book of the law.

So he read in the book of the law of God, day by day, from the first day unto the last day, and they kept the festival seven days, and, on the eighth day, a closing feast, according to the regulation.

And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all the sons of the foreigner, - and stood and made confession over their own sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

Then said the Levites - Jeshua and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, Pethahiah, Stand up, bless Yahweh your God, from age to age, - Yea let them bless thy glorious Name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

yet, thou, in thine abounding compassions, didst not forsake them in the desert, - the pillar of cloud, departed not from over them by day, to lead them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to light up for them the way wherein they should go.

And, thy Good Spirit, thou gavest, to instruct them, - and, thy manna, thou withheldest not from their mouth, and, water, thou gavest them, for their thirst.

But, as soon as they had rest, they again wrought wickedness before thee, - and thou didst leave them in the hand of their enemies, who bare rule over them, yet, when they again made outcry unto thee, thou, from the heavens, didst hear and didst deliver them according to thy compassions, many times;

Now, therefore, O our God - the GOD great, mighty, and fearful - keeping the covenant and the lovingkindness, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, which hath come upon us - on our kings, on our rulers, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, - from the days of the kings of Assyria, until this day.

But, they, in their kingdom, and in thine abundant goodness which thou gavest them, and in the broad and fat land which thou didst set before them, did not serve thee, neither turned they from their wicked doings.

And, the rest of the people - the priests, the Levites, the doorkeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, - every one having knowledge and understanding,

Zanoah, Adullam and their villages, Lachish, and the fields thereof, Azekah, and the hamlets thereof, - so they encamped from Beer-sheba, unto the valley of Hinnom.

And, the sons of Benjamin, dwelt from Geba, to Michmas and Aija, and Bethel, and the hamlets thereof:

So it came to pass, when they had heard the law, - that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.

and I made treasurers over the treasuries - Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah from among the Levites, and, next unto them, Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, - for faithful were they accounted, and it was laid upon them to distribute unto their brethren.

Therefore I testified against them, and said unto them, Wherefore are ye lodging against the wall? if ye do it again, a hand, will I thrust upon you, - From that time, they came not on the sabbath.

So I contended with them, and laid a curse upon them, and I smote, from among them, certain men, and pulled out their hair, - and I put them on oath by God, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take of their daughters, for your sons nor for yourselves.

And, one of the sons of Joiada, son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite, - therefore I chased him from me.

So I purified them from everything foreign, - and appointed charges unto the priests and unto the Levites, every one in his work;