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 they said to me, The remnant left of the captivity there in the province is in great affliction and shame. And the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.

And I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.

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 I went out by night by the Valley Gate, even before the Jackal Fountain, and to the Dung Gate, and looked at the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, and its gates which were burned with fire.

And I said to them, You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem is wasted, and the gates of it are burned with fire. Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no more be a reproach.

And I answered them and said to them, The God of Heaven, He will bless us, and we, His servants, will arise and build. But you have no portion or right or memorial in Jerusalem.

Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths, repaired. And next to him Hananiah, the son of one of the perfumers, repaired. And they fortified Jerusalem to the Broad Wall.

And next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem repaired.

And next to him Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters repaired.

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 all of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and do harm to it.

Also at the same time I said to the people, Let everyone with his servant stay inside Jerusalem, so that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor in the day.

And you have also set up prophets to preach about you at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah. And now it shall be reported to the king according to these words. And now come and let us talk it over together.

I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem. For he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.

And I said to them, Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they stand by, let them shut and bar the doors. And set guards from the people of Jerusalem, each one in his watch, and each one to be across from his house.

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,

and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth to the mountain and bring olive branches and pine branches and myrtle branches and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.

And the rulers of the people lived at Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots, to bring one of every ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine parts in other cities.

And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered themselves to live at Jerusalem.

And these are the rulers of the province who lived in Jerusalem. But in the cities of Judah everyone lived in his possession in their cities: Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the temple-slaves, and the sons of Solomon's servants.

And at Jerusalem lived certain of the sons of Judah, and of the sons of Benjamin. From the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalaleel, of the sons of Perez,

All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were four hundred and sixty-eight mighty men.

And the overseer of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the business of the house of God.

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites out of all their places to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, and with thanksgiving, and with singing, with cymbals, harps and with lyres.

And the sons of the singers gathered themselves, both out of the plain country around Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Netophathi;

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.

But in all this time I was not at Jerusalem. For in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon, I came to the king. And after some days I was given permission to leave the king.

And I came to Jerusalem, and understood the evil which Eliashib did for Tobiah in preparing him a room in the courts of the house of God.

In those days I saw in Judah some treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading asses and also wine, grapes, and figs, and all kinds of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I testified against them in the day in which they sold food.

And men of Tyre lived in it, who brought fish and all kinds of goods, and sold on the Sabbath to the sons of Judah and in Jerusalem.

And it happened when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I set some of my servants at the gates, so that there should be no burden brought in on the Sabbath day.

And the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods stayed the night outside Jerusalem once or twice.