And they said to me, The remnant who are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. Also the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates of it are burned with fire.

but if ye return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the outermost part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen, to cause my name

And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there came a man to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me. I neither told any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem, nor was there any beast with me except the beast that I rode upon.

Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.

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

Therefore I set in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places, I set [there] the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

In whatever place ye hear the sound of the trumpet, gather ye there to us, our God will fight for us.

Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews.

For there were who said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain that we may eat and live.

There were some also who said, We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain because of the dearth.

There were also who said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute [upon] our fields and our vineyards.

Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither did we buy any land. And all my servants were gathered there to the work.

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

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

And thou have also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah. And now it shall be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.

Then I sent to him, saying, There are no such things done as thou say, but thou imagine them out of thine own heart.

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

For there were many in Judah sworn to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah to wife.

And the governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.

besides their men-servants and their maid-servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven. And they had two hundred forty-five singing men and singing women.

And all the assembly of those who came again out of the captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths, for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the sons of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

For there was a commandment from the king concerning them, and a settled provision for the singers, as every day required.

As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, there were recorded the heads of fathers, also the priests, in the reign of Darius the Persian.

For in the days of David and Asaph of old there was a chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers. And there I brought again the vessels of the house of God, with the meal-offerings and the frankincense.

There dwelt men of Tyre also in it who brought in fish, and all manner of wares, and sold on the Sabbath to the sons of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet there was no king like him among many nations, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin.