Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou may hearken to the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee at this time, day and night, for the sons of Israel thy servants while I confess the sins of the sons

And the king said to me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall thy journey be? And when will thou return? So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time.

And it came to pass from that time forth, that half of my servants labored in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail. And the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.

Likewise at the same time I said to the people, Let each with his servant lodge within Jerusalem that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day.

Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, [that is], twelve years, I and my brothers have not eaten the bre

Now it came to pass, when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah, and to Geshem the Arabian, and to the rest of our enemies, that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it, (though even to that time I had not s

Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand

the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah,

Therefore thou delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who distressed them. And in the time of their trouble, when they cried to thee, thou heard from heaven, and according to thy manifold mercies thou gave them saviors

But in all this [time] I was not at Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after certain days I asked leave of the king,

Then I testified against them, and said to them, Why do ye lodge around the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came no more on the Sabbath.