That Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

They said to me, “The remnant in the province, who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned down.”

I said,

Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him and keep His commands,

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.’

Now these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power, and by your strong hand.

O Lord, I beseech you, let now your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants, who desire to fear your name: and prosper, I pray you, your servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

The king, beside whom the queen was sitting, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time [for my return].

And a letter to Asaph watching the pleasure-grounds to the king, who shall give to me woods to frame the gates of the fortress that is to the house, and for the walls of the city, and for the house which I shall come into it And the king will give to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.

I got up during the night, along with a few men who were with me. But I did not tell anyone what my God was putting on my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no animals with me, except for the one I was riding.

The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work.

And I shall announce to them the hand of my God that it was good upon me; and also the king's words who said to me. And they will say, We will rise up and build. And they will strengthen their hands for good.

I gave them this reply, “The God of heaven is the One who will grant us success. We, His servants, will start building, but you have no share, right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”

But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

with Uriah's son Meremoth (who was also a grandson of Hakkoz) next to them, Berechiah's son Meshullam (who was also a grandson of Meshezabel) next to them, and next to him Baana's son Zadok.

And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, who were under the authority of the governor on this side of the river.

Next to them Benjamin and Hasshub carried on repairs near their house, followed by Maaseiah's son Azariah, grandson of Ananiah, who worked beside his own house.

and the temple servants who were living on Ophel [repaired] up to opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower.

Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall!”

and do not cover their iniquity, and, their sin before thee, let it not be blotted out, - for they have caused vexation before them who are building.

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 it came to pass, that when the Jews who dwelt near them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places where you shall return unto us they will be upon you.

And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

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

They who built on the wall, and they that bore burdens, so burdened themselves, everyone with one of his hands worked in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.

Each of the builders had his sword tied to his side while building. And the man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.

Now there was a great outcry of the [poorer] people and their wives against their Jewish brothers [to whom they were deeply in debt].

There were those who were saying, "Our sons and daughters, we are many. We must get grain so that we may eat and live."

There were others who said, "We are putting up our fields, our vineyards, and our houses as collateral in order to obtain grain during the famine."

And there were those who were saying, "We have borrowed money on our fields and our vineyards for the tax of the king.

And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold unto the nations; and will you even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.

Then I said, "The thing that you are doing is wrong! Should you not conduct yourselves in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?

I also shook the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake from his house and property everyone who doesn’t keep this promise. May he be shaken out and have nothing!”

The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the Lord. Then the people did as they had promised.

The governors who preceded me had heavily burdened the people, taking food and wine from them, as well as a pound of silver. Their subordinates also oppressed the people, but I didn’t do this, because of the fear of God.

One hundred and fifty men, prefects and Jews, and those who came to us from the nations around us, [were] at my table.

Sanballat sent me this same message a fifth time by his aide, who had an open letter in his hand.

Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.

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

Then perceived I, that lo! it was, not God, who had sent him, - though, a prophecy, he had spoken concerning me, but, Tobiah and Sanballat, had hired him:

My God, remember Tobijah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets who would have put me in fear.

When all our enemies heard and all the nations who were around us saw this, they were greatly disheartened. They knew that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

For in Judah there were a number of people who had made an agreement by oath with him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah, the son of Arah; and his son Jehohanan had taken as his wife the daughter of Meshullam, the son of Berechiah.

Then I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah, commander of the fortress, because he was a faithful man who feared God more than most.

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."

And my God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be registered by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of them who came up at the first, and found written in it,

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;

Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number, I say, of the men of the people of Israel was this;

And these were they who went up also from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer: but they could not prove their father's house, nor their descendants, whether they were of Israel.

And of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai, who took one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite as his wife, and was called after their name.

These sought their register [among] those who were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found: therefore were they deemed polluted and put from the priesthood.

The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.

Beside their manservants and their maidservants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and they had two hundred forty and five singing men and singing women.

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

He read therein before the broad place that was before the water gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women, and of those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were [attentive] to the book of the law.

Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah, who were Levites, explained the law to the people as they stood in their places.

And Nehemiah, who is the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; 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.

And all of the assembly of those who returned from captivity made booths and lived in the booths because the {Israelites} had not done it from the days of Jeshua son of Nun until that day. And there was very great joy.

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.

Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;

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.

Even when they made for themselves a molten idol of a calf and said, 'This is your God who brought you out from Egypt,' and committed great blasphemies.

So their descendants went in and possessed the land:
You subdued the Canaanites who inhabited the land before them
and handed their kings and the surrounding peoples over to them,
to do as they pleased with them.

Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against you, and cast your law behind their backs, and slew your prophets who testified against them to turn them to you, and they worked great provocations.

Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

But as soon as they had relief,
they again did what was evil in Your sight.
So You abandoned them to the power of their enemies,
who dominated them.
When they cried out to You again,
You heard from heaven and rescued them
many times in Your compassion.

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, 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 time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.

You are righteous with regard to all that has happened to us, for you have acted faithfully. It is we who have been in the wrong!

And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

And for all this we are making a stedfast covenant, and are writing, and over him who is sealed are our heads, our Levites, our priests.'

Now those who sealed were: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah,

"The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to [observe] the law of God--their wives, their sons, their daughters, and all who know and understand--

And the peoples of the land who bring merchandise and any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not accept it from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. We will forego [the crops of] the seventh year and [cancel] every debt.

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 will also bring the firstborn of our sons and our livestock, as prescribed by the law, and will bring the firstborn of our herds and flocks to the house of our God, to the priests who serve in our God’s house.

We will also bring the first of our coarse meal, of our contributions, of the fruit of every tree, of new wine, and of olive oil to the priests at the storerooms of the temple of our God, along with a tenth of the produce of our land to the Levites, for the Levites are the ones who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work.

For the {Israelites} and the {Levites} will bring to the storerooms the offering of grain, new wine, and olive oil. These are the objects of the sanctuary and the priests who minister and the gatekeepers and singers. We will not neglect the house of our God."

The leaders of the people who lived in Jerusalem, along with the rest of the people, decided to choose one out of ten of them by lot to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, leaving the other nine of them in their towns.

And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.

These are the heads of the province who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah each one lived on his property in their cities: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon's servants.

Some of the descendants of Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem. From Judah's Descendants: Uzziah's son Athaiah, who was the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel; From Perez's Descendants

Baruch's son Maaseiah, who was the son of Col-hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite.

All of the descendants of Perez who were living in Jerusalem [were] four hundred and sixty-eight able-bodied men.

Meshullam's son Sallu, who was the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah; and after him Gabbai and Sallai, numbering 928.

and their brothers who did the work of the house, eight hundred and twenty-two. And Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malkijah,

and his colleagues who were heads of families -- 242; and Amashsai son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,

and his colleagues who were exceptional men -- 128. The officer over them was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.

and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the leaders of the Levites, who supervised the work outside the house of God;

Mattaniah son of Micah, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, [who was] the leader to begin the thanksgiving prayer, and Bakbukiah the second of his brothers; Abda son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun.

Moreover the porters, Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were one hundred seventy-two.

The leader of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the descendants of Asaph, who were singers for the service of God’s house.

They were subject to the commands of the king, who provided for the singers daily.

These [are] the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who was over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren.

In the days of Joiakim, these were the priests who were leaders of the families: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

And the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their colleagues, who stood opposite them to offer praise and thanks, one contingent corresponding to the other, as specified by David the man of God.

This included Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, and Obadiah. Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates.

Then I brought up the princes of Judah on the wall, and appointed two great companies who gave thanks and went in procession. [One went] on the right hand on the wall toward the dung gate;

The other company of those who gave thanks went to meet them, and I after them, with the half of the people, on the wall, above the tower of the furnaces, even to the broad wall,