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

And it happened in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, wine was before him. And I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence before.

And I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. And the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard. And it grieved them very much that there had come a man to seek the good of the sons of Israel.

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me. And I did not tell to a man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem. And there was no animal with me, except the animal that I rode upon.

And the rulers did not know where I had gone, nor what I was doing. Nor had I told the Jews as yet, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, and also the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up to build. So they made their hands strong for good.

So we built the wall, and all the wall was joined together to the half of it. For the people had a mind to work.

And it happened, when Sanballat and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem had gone up, and that the breaks were being filled, they were very angry.

And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their counsel to nothing, all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.

For of the builders, each one had his sword tied by his side, and built. And he who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

And none, I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us put off our clothes except that everyone had his vessel of water.

But the former governors that had been before me were too heavy upon the people, and had taken bread and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people. But I did not do this, because of the fear of God.

And it happened, when Sanballat, and Tobiah and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no break left in it (though at that time I had not set the doors on the gates),

And, behold, I understood that God had not sent him, but that he said this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

For many in Judah were sworn to him because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

And it happened when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were chosen,

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

besides their manservants and their maidservants; these were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. And they had two hundred and forty-five singing men and singing women.

And all the people gathered themselves as one man into the street before the water gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded to Israel.

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

And all the people went to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words which were declared to them.

And they found written in the Law which Jehovah had commanded by Moses, that the sons of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month,

And all the congregation of those who had come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths. For since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day, the sons of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

And You gave them bread from the heavens for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst. And You promised them that they should go in to possess the land which You had sworn to give them.

Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt, and had worked great blasphemies,

And You multiplied their sons like the stars of the heavens, and brought them into the land concerning which You had promised to their fathers that they should go in to possess it.

But after they had rest, they did evil again before You, and You left them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the rule over them. But they returned and cried to You, and You heard from Heaven. And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,

And many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your Spirit, by Your prophets, but they would not give ear. And You gave them into the hand of the people of the lands.

And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple-slaves, and all those who had separated from the people of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters (everyone who had knowledge, and who had understanding),

and from the house of Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth (for the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem.)

And that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced. For God had made them rejoice with great joy. And the wives and the sons rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

And it happened when they had heard the Law, they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.

and he had prepared for himself a large room where they had in days of old laid the food offering, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the offerings of the priests.

And I saw that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them; for the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each one to his field.