At the same time I told the people, "Let's have everyone sleep at night inside Jerusalem with their servants, so they can guard us at night and work during the day.

In addition, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah (that is, during the twelve years from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes), neither I nor my relatives relied on the provisions allotted to the governor.

When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had completed the wall and that no break remained in it (even though by that time I hadn't yet installed the doors in the gates),

Then Sanballat sent his assistant to me the fifth time. But this time the letter was sent unsealed, and

Meanwhile, at that time the nobles of Judah continued to send many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah kept sending letters to them.

Descendants of Barkos, Sisera, and Temah.

"Now therefore, our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and gracious love, don't let all of the difficulties seem trifling to you, all of hardships that have come upon us, upon our kings, upon our leaders, upon our priests, upon our prophets, upon our ancestors, and upon all of your people from the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.

Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the leaders of the priests and their associates in the time of Jeshua.

These were the priests and heads of their ancestors' houses in the time of Joiakim: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

The leaders of the ancestors of Levi were written in the Book of Annals until the time of Eliashib's son Johanan.

These were at the time of Jeshua's son Joiakim, the grandson of Jozadak, and in the time of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.

Also at that time men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, for the first fruits, and for the tithes, so those portions required by the Law could be gathered from the fields adjacent to the towns to benefit the priests and descendants of Levi, for the people of Judah rejoiced over the priests and the descendants of Levi who were serving.

All Israel in the time of Zerubbabel and in the time of Nehemiah gave allotments to each of the singers and gate keepers on a daily basis, setting them apart to benefit the descendants of Levi. And the descendants of Levi set them apart to benefit the descendants of Aaron.

During all of this time, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to the king in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon. After a while I obtained permission from the king

At that time I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the Sabbath, bringing in sacks of grain, loading them onto donkeys, along with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads. They brought them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I rebuked them on the day on which they were selling food.

I argued with them, "Why are you staying outside the wall? If you do this again, I'll arrest you." From that time on, they didn't come anymore on the Sabbath.

At that time I also noticed that Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

Furthermore, their children spoke half of the time in the language of Ashdod, and could not speak in the language of Judah. Instead, they spoke in the languages of various nations.

and I arranged at the appointed time for the supply of wood, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, with favor.