And it came to pass, in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that, wine, was before him, - so I took up the wine, and gave unto the king, and I had never been sad before him.

In Judah, it was said:

The strength of the laborer fails,
since there is so much rubble.
We will never be able
to rebuild the wall.

And I, my brothers, my men, and the guards with me never took off our clothes. Each carried his weapon, even when washing.

I said to them, "We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us?" Then they held their peace, and found never a word.

Now from the time when I was made ruler of the people in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year till the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, for twelve years, I and my servants have never taken the food which was the right of the ruler.

Nevertheless, the former governors before me placed a heavy burden on the people. They received food and wine, plus a tax of 40 shekels of silver. Even their young men took advantage of the people, but I never did so because I feared God.

For they were all trying to intimidate us, saying, “They will become discouraged in the work, and it will never be finished.”

But now, my God, strengthen me.

You did not abandon them in the wilderness
because of Your great compassion.
During the day the pillar of cloud
never turned away from them,
guiding them on their journey.
And during the night the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go.

For forty years you sustained them. Even in the desert they never lacked anything. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

And what time as the book of Moses was read in the ears of the people there was found written therein, that the Ammonites and Moabites should never come into the congregation of God,