In the month of Chislev, while I was in Shushan at the palace, Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped, about those who had survived the Babylonian captivity, and about Jerusalem.

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.

I said, “I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,

but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’

'I beseech Thee, O Lord, let, I pray Thee, Thine ear be attentive unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto the prayer of Thy servants, those delighting to fear Thy Name; and give prosperity, I pray Thee, to Thy servant to-day, and give him for mercies before this man;' and I have been butler to the king.

And the chiefs had no knowledge of where I had been or what I was doing; and I had not then said anything to the Jews or to the priests or the great ones or the chiefs or the rest of those who were doing the work.

Then he said before his brothers and the army of Samaria, "What are the feeble Jews doing? Will they restore [these things] for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the piles of rubble--even those burned up?"

and do not cover over their iniquity, and their sin from before Thee let not be blotted out, for they have provoked to anger -- over-against those building.

Then those in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers has failed! The debris is so great that we are unable to rebuild the wall."

And those who were against us said, Without their knowledge and without their seeing us, we will come among them and put them to death, causing the work to come to a stop.

And when it came to the ears of those who were against us, that we had knowledge of their designs and that God had made their purpose come to nothing, we all went back to the wall, everyone to his work

Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon.

For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.”

There were also those saying, "We have pledged our fields and our vineyards and our houses so that we can get grain in the famine."

Also there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards.

and say to them, 'We have acquired our brethren the Jews, those sold to the nations, according to the ability that is in us, and ye also sell your brethren, and they have been sold to us!' and they are silent, and have not found a word.

Moreover, there were at my table one hundred and fifty Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us.

Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them.

And it will be as the wall was built, and I shall set up the doors, and the gate-keepers, and those singing, and the Levites will be appointed.

I said to them, "The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened in the early morning, until those who are standing guard close the doors and lock them. Position residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their guard stations and some near their homes."

Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up first in which I found the following record:

These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city;

those who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

Those singing: the sons of Asaph, a hundred forty and eight

The following are those who came from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but were unable to prove that their families and ancestors were Israelite:

These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.

And there dwelt the priests and the Levites and the gatekeepers, and those singing, and from the people and the Nethinims, and all Israel in their cities; and the seventh month will draw near, and the sons of Israel in their cities.

So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.)

And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

He said to them, "Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

So all the people went to eat, to drink, to send something to those who had nothing, and to celebrate with great joy, because they understood the words that were being declared to them.

The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was great rejoicing.

Those truly of Israelite descent separated from all the foreigners, standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.

By you the sea was parted before them, so that they went through the sea on dry land; and those who went after them went down into the deep, like a stone into great waters.

So their descendants entered and took possession of the land. Before their eyes you subdued those living in the land the Canaanites putting them under their control, along with their kings and the nations of the land, so they could do with them as they pleased.

And you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and did not obey your commandments. They sinned against your ordinances -- those by which an individual, if he obeys them, will live. They boldly turned from you; they rebelled and did not obey.

Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah, the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah, and Zidkijah,

Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding,

And we, the priests and the Levites and the people, made selection, by the decision of the Lord, of those who were to take the wood offering into the house of God, by families at the regular times, year by year, to be burned on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is recorded in the law;

We also determined to present the first fruits of our ground grain, our offerings, the fruit of all kinds of trees, wines, and oil to the priests, to the chambers of the Temple of our God, and the tithes of our land to the descendants of Levi, so those descendants of Levi could collect the tithes in all the towns where we worked:

For to the cells shall the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi bring the oblations of the grain, of the new wine and the new oil, and there the vessels of the holy place, and the priests serving, and the gate-keepers and those singing: and we will not forsake the house of our God.

And the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brethren, those watching at the gates, are a hundred seventy and two.

And he reviewing the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micha. From the sons of Asaph, those singing before the work of the house of God

For the king's command concerning them a surety for those singing the word of a day in its day.

And the sons of those singing will gather together, and from the circuit round about Jerusalem, and from the villages of Netophathi;

And from the house of Gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for those singing built for themselves villages round about Jerusalem.

And the other band of those who gave praise went to the left, and I went after them with half the people, on the wall, over the tower of the ovens, as far as the wide wall;

So the two bands of those who gave praise took up their positions in the house of God, and I and half of the chiefs with me:

And Maaseiah and Eleazar and Uzzi and Jehonathan and Malchijah and Elam and Ezer and those singing will cause to hear, and Jezrahiah, reviewing.

And on that day they made great offerings and were glad; for God had made them glad with great joy; and the women and the children were glad with them: so that the joy of Jerusalem came to the ears of those who were far off.

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.

And they will watch the watches of their God, and the watches of the purification, and those singing, and the gate-keepers, according to the command of David, and of Solomon his son.

For in the days of, David and Asaph from of old the head of those singing, and the song of praise and confessions to God.

When they heard the law, they separated all those of mixed descent from Israel.

And he will make for him a great cell, and there before them were given the gifts, the frankincense and the vessels, and the tenth of the grain of the new wine and the new oil, (the command of the Levites, and those singing, and the gate-keepers,) and the oblations of the priests.

And I shall know that the portions of the Levites were not given: and they will flee a man to his field, the Levites and those singing, doing the work

Remember me, O my God, concerning this, - and do not wipe out my lovingkindnesses, which I have done for the house of my God, and for those keeping charge thereof.

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

Once or twice the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem,

In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab: