And they said to me, Those who remain, that are left of the captivity there in the province, are in great affliction and reproach; and the wall of Jerusalem is in ruins, and its gates are burned with fire.

Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the peoples;

but if ye return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertains to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

And I went up in the night through the valley, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the valley-gate and returned.

And I said to them, Ye see the distress that we are in, that Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobijah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it; and they mocked us and despised us, and said, What is this thing which ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

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

And the gate of the old wall repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodiah; they laid its beams, and set up its doors, and its locks, and its bars.

Next to them repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths; and next to him repaired Hananiah of the perfumers, and they left Jerusalem in its state as far as the broad wall.

The valley-gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up its doors, its locks and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the dung-gate.

And the fountain-gate repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the chief of the district of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its locks and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden, and to the stairs that go down from the city of David.

After him the Tekoites repaired a second piece, over against the great tower which lies out, as far as the wall of Ophel.

And it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was angry and very indignant, and mocked the Jews.

And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? shall they be permitted to go on? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, when they are burned?

And Tobijah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox went up, it would break down their stone wall. --

But we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to the half thereof; for the people had a mind to work.

and conspired all of them together to come to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens faileth, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build at the wall.

And it came to pass that when the Jews that dwelt by them came and told us so ten times, from all the places whence they returned to us,

I set in the lower places behind the wall in exposed places, I even set the people, according to their families, with their swords, their spears and their bows.

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

And from that time forth the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held the spears, and the shields, and the bows, and the corslets; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah.

They that built on the wall, and they that bore burdens, with those that loaded, wrought in the work with one hand, and with the other they held a weapon.

And I said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and extended, and we are scattered upon the wall, one far from another:

in what place ye hear the sound of the trumpet, thither shall ye assemble to us; our God will fight for us.

And I said to them, We, according to our ability, have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold to the nations; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? And they were silent and found no answer.

Restore, I pray you, to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive-gardens, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine and the oil, that ye have exacted of them.

And they said, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, as thou hast said. And I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.

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

Yea, also I applied myself to this work of the wall, and we bought no fields; and all my servants were gathered thither for the work.

And that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days all sorts of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I demanded not the bread of the governor; for the service was heavy upon this people.

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

And it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobijah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it (though at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),

in which was written: It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel, for which cause thou buildest the wall, and according to these words thou wilt become their king.

And thou hast also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning thee at Jerusalem saying, There is a king in Judah! And now it will be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.

For they all would have made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be slackened from the work, that it be not carried out. Now therefore strengthen my hands!

And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, could go into the temple, and live? I will not go in.

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.

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

And it came to pass when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, that the doorkeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed.

And I said to them that the gates of Jerusalem should not be opened until the sun was hot, and that they should shut the doors and bar them while they stood by; and that there should be appointed watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one over against his house.

All the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon's servants, three hundred and ninety-two.

The whole congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty,

And the priests, and the Levites, and the doorkeepers, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinim, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities. And when the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in their cities,

all the people gathered together as one man to the open place that was before the water-gate; and they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded Israel.

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

And he read in it before the open place that was before the water-gate from the morning until midday, in presence of the men and the women, and those that could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.

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

And Nehemiah, that is, the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that explained to the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah your God: mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.

And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be still! for the day is holy; neither be grieved.

And all the people went their way, to eat and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing. For they had understood the words that were declared to them.

And on the second day were gathered together the chief fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to Ezra the scribe, even to gain wisdom as to the words of the law.

and that they should publish and proclaim through all their cities, and at Jerusalem, saying, Go forth to the mount, and fetch olive-branches, and wild olive-branches, and myrtle-branches, and palm-branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.

And all the congregation of them that had come back from the captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths. For since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun until that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.

And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities 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 art the Same, thou alone, Jehovah, who hast made the heaven of heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that is therein, the seas and all that is therein. And thou quickenest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.

and didst shew signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants, and upon all the people of his land; for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them, and thou didst make thee a name, as it is this day.

And thou gavest them kingdoms and peoples, and didst divide them by countries; and they possessed the land of Sihon, as well the land of the king of Heshbon, as the land of Og king of Bashan.

And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all good things, wells digged, vineyards and olive-gardens, and fruit trees in abundance. And they did eat and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

And now, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and loving-kindness, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the days of the kings of Assyria unto this day.

But thou art just in all that is come upon us; for thou hast acted according to truth, and we have done wickedly.

And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests are at the sealing.

And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the doorkeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all they that had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, every one having knowledge and having understanding,

joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and into an oath, to walk in the law of God, which had been given by Moses the servant of God, and to keep and do all the commandments of Jehovah our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes;

for the bread to be set in rows, and for the continual oblation, and for the continual burnt-offering, for that of the sabbaths and of the new moons, for the set feasts and for the holy things, and for the sin-offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

and to bring the first-fruits of our land, and the first-fruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year to the house of Jehovah,

and that we should bring the first-fruits of our coarse meal and our heave-offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, new wine and oil, to the priests, into the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithes of our ground to the Levites, that they, the Levites, should take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.

For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the heave-offering of the corn, of the new wine and the oil, into the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the doorkeepers and the singers. And we will not forsake the house of our God.

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

All the children of Pherez that dwelt in Jerusalem were four hundred and sixty-eight valiant men.

all the Levites in the holy city were two hundred and eighty-four.

And the residue of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, every one in his inheritance.

And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabeel, of the children of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people.

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to hold the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbals, lutes and harps.

And the priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people, and the gates and the wall.

And I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great choirs and processions, on the right hand upon the wall towards the dung-gate.

And at the fountain-gate, and over against 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 the second choir went in the opposite direction upon the wall, and I after them, and the half of the people, from beyond the tower of the furnaces even to the broad wall;

and from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the gate of the old wall, and above the fish-gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even to the sheep-gate; and they stood still in the prison-gate.

And all Israel, in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the doorkeepers, every day what was needed, and they consecrated things for the Levites; and the Levites consecrated for the children of Aaron.

And it came to pass, when they heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.

had prepared for him a great chamber, where formerly they laid the oblations, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine and the oil, which was commanded for the Levites and the singers and the doorkeepers, and the heave-offerings of the priests.

And during all that time I was not at Jerusalem; for in the two-and-thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I came to the king; and after some time I obtained leave of the king.

And it grieved me much, and I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobijah out of the chamber.

And all Judah brought the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil into the storehouses.

In those days I saw in Judah some treading winepresses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading them on asses; as also wine, grapes and figs, and all manner of burdens; and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I protested in the day on which they sold the victuals.

Men of Tyre also dwelt therein, who brought fish and all manner of ware, and sold it on the sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

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

And the dealers and sellers of all kind of ware passed the night without Jerusalem once or twice.

And I testified against them, and said to them, Why do ye pass the night before the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came not on the sabbath.

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among the many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; but even him did foreign wives cause to sin.

And should we hearken to you to do all this great evil, to act unfaithfully to our God by marrying foreign wives?

And I purified them from all foreigners, and appointed the charges of the priests and the Levites, every one in his service;