That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

And a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's park, so that he may give me wood to make boards for the doors of the tower of the house, and for the wall of the town, and for the house which is to be mine. And the king gave me this, for the hand of my God was on me.

When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.

And the rulers did not know where I went, or what I did, neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the ranking men, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work.

And next unto him builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zaccur the son of Imri.

The men of Tekoa worked on the section adjacent to them, but their town leaders would not assist with the work of their master.

And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, unto the throne of the governor on this side the river.

Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it and set up its doors with its bolts and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits (1,500 ft.) of the wall as far as the Refuse Gate.

After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, and unto the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty men.

And after him repaired the priests, the men of the plain.

After them the men of Tekoa worked on another section, from opposite the great protruding tower to the wall of Ophel.

From above the gate of horses held fast the priests, a man to the front of his house.

before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria, and said, “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”

But we made our prayer to God, and had men on watch against them day and night because of them.

So I stationed armed men behind the wall in the lowest places, at the open positions [where it was least protected]; and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows.

and looked, and gat me up, and said unto the chief men and rulers, and to the other people, "Be not ye afraid of them, but think rather upon the great LORD, which ought to be feared; and fight for your brethren, sons, daughters, wives, and houses."

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

From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah,

They who were building at the wall and they who were carrying burdens, they who were lifting, each man , with his one hand, was working at the work, and, with the other, was grasping the weapon.

Each of the builders had his sword tied to his side while building. And the man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

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 continued the work, while half of the men were holding spears from daybreak until the stars came out.

At the time I also said to the people, "Let each man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they will be a guard for us in the night and work in the day."

So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.

There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.

Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.

So my heart took counsel unto me and I contended with the nobles and with the deputies, and said to them, A loan on interest - every man to his brother, are ye making, - So I appointed over them a great assembly;

I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury.

Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.

Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.

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.

Moreover also, in this work of the wall, I repaired, and, no field, did we buy, - though, all my young men, were gathered thither unto the work.

Moreover there were at my table, of the Jews and the rulers, a hundred and fifty men, besides those that came unto us from among the nations that were round about us.

And I sent men to them saying, I am doing a great work, so that it is not possible for me to come down: is the work to be stopped while I go away from it and come down to you?

Then Sanballat sent unto me, according to this message, a fifth time, by his young man, - with an open letter, in his hand:

And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.

Then it became clear to me that God had not sent him: he had given this word of a prophet against me himself: and Tobiah and Sanballat had given him money to do so.

For this reason they had given him money, in order that I might be overcome by fear and do what he said and do wrong, and so they would have reason to say evil about me and put shame on me.

Moreover in those days the ranking men of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and [the letters] of Tobiah came to them.

That 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 it will be said to them, The gates of Jerusalem shall not be opened till the sun being hot; and till they standing by shall shut the doors and fasten: and setting up watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a man in his watch, and a man before his house.

And my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first, and found written therein,

These the sons of the province coming up from the captivity of the: exile which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel carried into exile; and they will turn back to Jerusalem and to Judah, a man to his city;

Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number, I say, of the men of the people of Israel was this;

The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, an hundred fourscore and eight.

The men of Anathoth, an hundred twenty and eight.

The men of Bethazmaveth, forty and two.

The men of Kirjathjearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred forty and three.

The men of Ramah and Geba, six hundred twenty and one.

The men of Michmas, an hundred and twenty and two.

The men of Bethel and Ai, an hundred twenty and three.

The men of the other Nebo, fifty and two.

the men of Jericho, 345;

The whole congregation as one man, was two and forty thousand, three hundred and threescore;

Beside their manservants and their maidservants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and they had two hundred forty and five singing men and singing women.

And some of the heads of families gave money for the work. The Tirshatha gave into the store a thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, five hundred and thirty priests' robes.

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

And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

And they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and plainly, so that men understood the thing that was read.

And the seed of Israel made themselves separate from all the men of other nations, publicly requesting forgiveness for their sins and the wrongdoing of their fathers.

And the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, Pethahiah, said, Stand up, bless Jehovah your God from eternity to eternity. And let men bless the name of thy glory, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

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

for the rows of bread, the offering of the daily sacrifice, the continual [burnt] sacrifice, the Sabbaths, the new moon festivals, the appointed [festival] times, the holy objects, the sin offerings that make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

And the people blessed all the men, that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.

Now, these, are the chiefs of the province, who dwelt in Jerusalem, but, in the cities of Judah, dwelt every man in his possession throughout their cities, Israel, the priests, and the Levites and the Nethinim, and the Sons of the Servants of Solomon.

All the sons of Perez that dwelt at Jerusalem were four hundred threescore and eight valiant men.

And their brethren, mighty men of valour, an hundred twenty and eight: and their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of one of the great men.

And for the daughter-towns with their fields, some of the men of Judah were living in Kiriath-arba and its daughter-towns, and in Dibon and its daughter-towns, and in Jekabzeel and its daughter-towns,

And the chief of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over against ward.

And his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azarael, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethaneel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God, and Ezra the scribe before them.

And on that day were men appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the heave-offerings, for the first-fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them, according to the fields of the cities, the portions appointed by the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited.

And I shall know that the portions of the Levites were not given: and they will flee a man to his field, the Levites and those singing, doing the work

And I made controllers over the store-houses, Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and with them was Hanan, the son of Zaccur the son of Mattaniah: they were taken to be true men and their business was the distribution of these things to their brothers.

In those days saw I in Judah some men treading wine-presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses therewith ; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals.

There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

Then I contended with the ranking men of Judah, and said to them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath day?

So when it became dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors be shut and said that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I appointed some of my young men over the gates [to prevent] any {goods} being brought in on the day of the Sabbath.

Also in those days I saw the men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

So I quarreled with them and cursed them and beat some of their men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath by God: "Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

And I cleansed them from every stranger, and I shall set up watches to the priests and to the Levites, a man in his work.