And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days. And I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,

and said, I beseech thee, O LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments:

Then the king said to me, For what do thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me. I neither told any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem, nor was there any beast with me except the beast that I rode upon.

And I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal's well and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates of it were consumed with fire.

Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.

Then I went up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall. And I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.

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

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

Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate. They sanctified it, and set up the doors of it, even to the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, to the tower of Hananel.

And the sons of Hassenaah built the fish gate. They laid the beams of it, and set up the doors of it, the bolts of it, and the bars of it.

And the old gate Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired. They laid the beams of it, and set up the doors of it, and the bolts of it, and the bars of it.

Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah, repaired the valley gate. They built it, and set up the doors of it, the bolts of it, and the bars of it, and a thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate.

And Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the dung gate. He built it, and set up the doors of it, the bolts of it, and the bars of it.

And Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the fountain gate. He built it, and covered it, and set up the doors of it, the bolts of it, and the bars of it, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by

(Now the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel, to the place opposite the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stands out.)

The priests repaired above the horse gate, every man opposite his own house.

After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. And after him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate, repaired.

After him Malchijah one of the goldsmiths to the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, repaired opposite the gate of Hammiphkad, and to the ascent of the corner.

And between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.

Hear, O our God, for we are despised, and turn back their reproach upon their own head, and give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity,

But we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

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

In whatever place ye hear the sound of the trumpet, gather ye there to us, our God will fight for us.

For there were who said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain that we may eat and live.

There were some also who said, We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain because of the dearth.

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

Also I shook out my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, who does not perform this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the assembly said, Amen, and praised LORD. And th

But the former governors who were before me charged the people, and took bread and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people. But I did not so, because of the fear of God.

Remember to me, O my God, for good, all that I have done for this people.

For they all would have made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work that it not be done. But now, [O God], strengthen thou my hands.

And I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, who was shut 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 will come to

And I discerned, and, lo, God had not sent him, but he pronounced this prophecy against me, and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

Remember, O my God, Tobiah 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.

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

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

that I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the governor of the castle, charge over Jerusalem, for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.

And my God put into my heart to gather together the ranking men, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first. And I found written

And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the broad place that was before the water gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which LORD had commanded to Israel.

And he read in it before the broad place that was before the water gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women, and of those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were [attentive] t

And Ezra blessed LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with the lifting up of their hands. And they bowed their heads, and worshipped LORD with their faces to the ground.

And they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly, and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading.

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep. For all the people wept when they heard th

So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, each one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the broad place of the water gate, and in the broad pla

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

And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of LORD their God a fourth part of the day, and [another] fourth part they confessed, and worshipped LORD their God.

Then Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, [and] Chenani, stood up upon the stairs of the Levites, and cried with a loud voice to LORD their God.

Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. And blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted abo

Thou are LORD, the God who chose Abram, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham,

and showed signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land, for thou knew that they dealt proudly against them, and got thee a name, as it is this day.

Thou also came down upon mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and TRUE laws, good statutes and commandments,

and refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou did among them, but stiffened their neck. And in their rebellion they appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But thou are a God ready to pardon, gracious a

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

Thou also gave thy good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold thy manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.

And they took fortified cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns hewn out, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted t

Nevertheless in thy manifold mercies thou did not make a full end of them, nor forsake them, for thou are a gracious and merciful God.

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness, let not all the travail seem little before thee, that has come upon us, on our kings, on our rulers, and on our priests, an

Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the land that thou gave to our fathers to eat the fruit of it and the good of it, behold, we are servants in it.

And the rest of the people--the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters,

they clung to their brothers, their ranking men, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of LORD our Lord, and his or

Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God,

And we cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn upon the altar of LORD our God, a

also the first-born of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God,

and that we should bring the first-fruits of our dough, and our heave-offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, the new wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithes of our ground

And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites when the Levites take tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure-house.

Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God,

and Shabbethai and Jozabad of the chiefs of the Levites who had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God,

The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the business of the house of God.

And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers opposite them, to praise and give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch next to watch.

Then I brought up the rulers of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies that gave thanks and went in procession, [one went] on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate,

and his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God, and Ezra the scribe was ahead of them.

And by the fountain gate, and straight before them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, even to the water gate eastward.

and above the gate of Ephraim, and by the old gate, and by the fish gate, and the tower of Hananel, and the tower of Hammeah, even to the sheep gate. And they stood still in the gate of the guard.

So stood the two companies of those who gave thanks in the house of God, and I, and the half of the rulers with me,

And they offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy. And the women also and the children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

And they kept the charge of their God, and the charge of the purification, and [also] the singers and the porters, according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son.

For in the days of David and Asaph of old there was a chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people, and in it was found written that an Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the assembly of God forever,

because they did not meet the sons of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them. However our God turned the curse into a blessing.

Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being allied to Tobiah,

and I came to Jerusalem, and understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.

Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers. And there I brought again the vessels of the house of God, with the meal-offerings and the frankincense.

Then I contended with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place.

Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the observances of it.

Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath.

And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember to me, O my God, this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy loving k

And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, [saying], Ye shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet there was no king like him among many nations, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin.

Shall we then hearken to you to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God in marrying foreign women?

Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.

and for the wood-offering, at times appointed, and for the first-fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.