And there are who are saying, 'Our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, we are pledging, and we receive corn for the famine.'

And there are who are saying, 'We have borrowed money for the tribute of the king, on our fields, and our vineyards;

and now, as the flesh of our brethren is our flesh, as their sons are our sons, and lo, we are subduing our sons and our daughters for servants, and there are of our daughters subdued, and our hand hath no might, and our fields and our vineyards are to others.'

and my heart reigneth over me, and I strive with the freemen, and with the prefects, and say to them, 'Usury one upon another ye are exacting;' and I set against them a great assembly,

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.

And I say, 'Not good is the thing that ye are doing; in the fear of our God do ye not walk, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?

And also, I, my brethren, and my servants, are exacting of them silver and corn; let us leave off, I pray you, this usury.

Give back, I pray you, to them, as to-day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and their houses, and the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, of the new wine, and of the oil, that ye are exacting of them.'

Also, from the day that he appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the thirty and second year of Artaxerxes the king -- twelve years -- I, and my brethren, the bread of the governor have not eaten:

the former governors who are before me have made themselves heavy on the people, and take of them in bread and wine, besides in silver forty shekels; also, their servants have ruled over the people -- and I have not done so, because of the fear of God.

And also, in the work of this wall I have done mightily, even a field we have not bought, and all my servants are gathered there for the work;

and of the Jews, and of the prefects, a hundred and fifty men, and those coming in unto us of the nations that are round about us, are at my table;

And it cometh to pass, when it hath been heard by Sanballat, and Tobiah, and by Geshem the Arabian, and by the rest of our enemies, that I have builded the wall, and there hath not been left in it a breach, (also, till that time the doors I had not set up in the gates,)

that Sanballat sendeth, also Geshem, unto me, saying, 'Come and we meet together in the villages, in the valley of Ono;' and they are thinking to do to me evil.

it is written in it, 'Among the nations it hath been heard, and Gashmu is saying: Thou and the Jews are thinking to rebel, therefore thou art building the wall, and thou hast been to them for a king -- according to these words!

for all of them are making us afraid, saying, 'Their hands are too feeble for the work, and it is not done;' and now, strengthen Thou my hands.

And I have entered the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabeel -- and he is restrained -- and he saith, 'Let us meet at the house of God, at the inside of the temple, and we shut the doors of the temple, for they are coming in to slay thee -- yea, by night they are coming in to slay thee.'

and it cometh to pass, when all our enemies have heard, and all the nations who are round about us see, that they fall greatly in their own eyes, and know that by our God hath this work been done.

Also, in those days the freemen of Judah are multiplying their letters going unto Tobiah, and those of Tobiah are coming in unto them;

for many in Judah are sworn to him, for he is son-in-law to Shechaniah son of Arah, and Jehohanan his son hath taken the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah;

And it cometh to pass, when the wall hath been built, that I set up the doors, and the gatekeepers are appointed, and the singers, and the Levites,

and I say to them, 'Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened till the heat of the sun, and while they are standing by let them shut the doors, and fasten, and appoint guards of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each in his guard, and each over-against his house.'

And the city is broad on both sides, and great, and the people are few in its midst, and there are no houses builded;

These are sons of the province, those coming up of the captives of the removal that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed -- and they turn back to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his city --

who are coming in with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. Number of the men of the people of Israel:

Sons of Arah: six hundred fifty and two.

All the Nethinim and the sons of the servants of Solomon are three hundred ninety and two.

And these are those coming up from Tel-Melah, Tel-Harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer -- and they have not been able to declare the house of their fathers, and their seed, whether they are of Israel --

These have sought their register among those reckoning themselves by genealogy, and it hath not been found, and they are redeemed from the priesthood,

apart from their servants and their handmaids -- these are seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven; and of them are singers and songstresses, two hundred forty and five.

Their horses are seven hundred thirty and six; their mules, two hundred and forty and five;

And they dwell -- the priests, and the Levites, and the gatekeepers, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinim, and all Israel -- in their cities, and the seventh month cometh, and the sons of Israel are in their cities.

And all the people are gathered as one man unto the broad place that is before the water-gate, and they say to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, that Jehovah commanded Israel.

and he readeth in it before the broad place that is before the water-gate, from the light till the middle of the day, over-against the men, and the women, and those intelligent, and the ears of all the people are unto the book of the law.

And Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, giving the people understanding in the law, and the people, are on their station,

And Nehemiah -- he is the Tirshatha -- saith (and Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who are instructing the people) to all the people, 'To-day is holy to Jehovah your God, do not mourn, nor weep:' for all the people are weeping at their hearing the words of the law.

And he saith to them, 'Go, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and sent portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for to-day is holy to our Lord, and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.'

And the Levites are keeping all the people silent, saying, 'Be silent, for to-day is holy, and be not grieved.'

and the seed of Israel are separated from all sons of a stranger, and stand and confess concerning their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers,

and rise up on their station, and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their God a fourth of the day, and a fourth they are confessing and bowing themselves to Jehovah their God.

And the Levites say, even Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, Pethahiah, 'Rise, bless Jehovah your God, from the age unto the age, and they bless the name of Thine honour that is exalted above all blessing and praise.

Thou art He, O Jehovah, Thyself -- Thou hast made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that are on it, the seas and all that are in them, and Thou art keeping all of them alive, and the host of the heavens to Thee are bowing themselves.

Thou art He, O Jehovah God, who didst fix on Abraham, and didst bring him out from Ur of the Chaldeans, and didst make his name Abraham,

and dost see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry hast heard by the sea of Suph,

'And they and our fathers have acted proudly, and harden their neck, and have not hearkened unto Thy commands,

And they capture fenced cities, and fat ground, and possess houses full of all good, digged-wells, vineyards, and olive-yards, and fruit-trees in abundance, and they eat, and are satisfied, and become fat, and delight themselves in Thy great goodness.

'And they are disobedient, and rebel against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their back, and Thy prophets they have slain, who testified against them, to bring them back unto Thee, and they do great despisings,

'And Thou drawest over them many years, and testifiest against them by Thy Spirit, by the hand of Thy prophets, and they have not given ear, and Thou dost give them into the hand of peoples of the lands,

And now, O our God -- God, the great, the mighty, and the fearful, keeping the covenant and the kindness -- let not all the travail that hath found us be little before Thee, for our kings, for our heads, and for our priests, and for our prophets, and for our fathers, and for all Thy people, from the days of the kings of Asshur unto this day;

and our kings, our heads, our priests, and our fathers, have not done Thy law, nor attended unto Thy commands, and to Thy testimonies, that Thou hast testified against them;

Lo, we -- to-day -- are servants, and the land that Thou hast given to our fathers, to eat its fruit and its good -- lo, we are servants on it,

and its increase it is multiplying to the kings whom Thou hast set over us in our sins; and over our bodies they are ruling, and over our cattle, according to 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.'

And over those sealed are Nehemiah the Tirshatha, son of Hachaliah, and Zidkijah,

Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests.

are laying hold on their brethren, their honourable ones, and coming in to an execration, and in to an oath, to walk in the law of God, that was given by the hand of Moses, servant of God, and to observe and to do all the commands of Jehovah our Lord, and His judgments, and His statutes;

and that we give not our daughters to the peoples of the land, and their daughters we take not to our sons;

and the peoples of the land who are bringing in the wares and any corn on the sabbath-day to sell, we receive not of them on the sabbath, and on a holy day, and we leave the seventh year, and usury on every hand.

And we have appointed for ourselves commands, to put on ourselves the third of a shekel in a year, for the service of the house of our God,

for bread of the arrangement, and the continual present, and the continual burnt-offering of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for appointed seasons, and for holy things, and for sin-offerings, to make atonement for Israel, even all the work of the house of our God.

And the lots we have caused to fall for the offering of wood, among the priests, the Levites, and the people, to bring in to the house of our God, by the house of our fathers, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is written in the law,

and to bring in the first fruits of our ground, and the first fruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of Jehovah,

and the firstlings of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and our flocks, to bring in to the house of our God, to the priests who are ministering in the house of our God.

And the beginning of our dough, and our heave-offerings, and the fruit of every tree, of new wine, and of oil, we bring in to the priests, unto the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites; and they -- the Levites -- have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage;

and the priest, son of Aaron, hath been with the Levites in the tithing of the Levites, and the Levites bring up the tithe of the tithe to the house of our God unto the chambers, to the treasure-house;

for unto the chambers do they bring in -- the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi -- the heave-offering of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, and there are vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests, those ministering, and the gatekeepers, and the singers, and we do not forsake the house of our God.

and the people give a blessing to all the men who are offering themselves willingly to dwell in Jerusalem.

And these are heads of the province who have dwelt in Jerusalem, and in cities of Judah, they have dwelt each in his possession in their cities; Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinim, and the sons of the servants of Solomon.

all the sons of Perez who are dwelling in Jerusalem are four hundred sixty and eight, men of valour.

And these are sons of Benjamin: Sallu son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jesaiah;

and their brethren doing the work of the house are eight hundred twenty and two; and Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchiah,

and Shabbethai, and Jozabad, are over the outward work of the house of God, of the heads of the Levites,

All the Levites, in the holy city, are two hundred eighty and four.

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

And the rest of Israel, of the priests, of the Levites, are in all cities of Judah, each in his inheritance;

and the Nethinim are dwelling in Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa are over the Nethinim.

And the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem is Uzzi son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micha: of the sons of Asaph, the singers are over-against the work of the house of God,

And sons of Benjamin are at Geba, Michmash, and Aija, and Beth-El, and its small towns,

And of the Levites, the courses of Judah are for Benjamin.

And these are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua; Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah; these are heads of the priests and of their brethren in the days of Jeshua.

And the Levites are Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, Mattaniah, he is over the thanksgiving, and his brethren,

and Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, are over-against them in charges.

The Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, are written, heads of fathers, and of the priests, in the kingdom of Darius the Persian.

Sons of Levi, heads of the fathers, are written on the book of the Chronicles even till the days of Johanan son of Eliashib;

and heads of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their brethren, are over-against them, to give praise, to give thanks, by command of David the man of God, charge over-against charge.

Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, are gatekeepers, keeping charge in the gatherings of the gates.

These are in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe.

and sons of the singers are gathered together even from the circuit round about Jerusalem, and from the villages of Netophathi,

and the priests and the Levites are cleansed, and they cleanse the people, and the gates, and the wall.

And certain are appointed on that day over the chambers for treasures, for heave-offerings, for first-fruits, and for tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for priests, and for Levites, for the joy of Judah is over the priests, and over the Levites, who are standing up.

for in the days of David and Asaph of old were heads of the singers, and a song of praise and thanksgiving to God.

And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, are giving the portions of the singers, and of the gatekeepers, the matter of a day in its day, and are sanctifying to the Levites, and the Levites are sanctifying to the sons of Aaron.

because they have not come before the sons of Israel with bread and with water, and hire against them Balaam to revile them, and our God turneth the reviling into a blessing.

And before this Eliashib the priest, appointed over chambers of the house of our God, is a relation of Tobiah,

and he maketh for him a great chamber, and there they were formerly putting the present, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithe of the corn, the new wine, and the oil -- the commanded thing of the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers -- and the heave-offering of the priests.

And during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty and second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon did I come unto the king, and at the end of days I have asked of the king,

In those days I have seen in Judah those treading wine-vats on sabbath, and bringing in the sheaves, and lading on the asses, and also, wine, grapes, and figs, and every burden, yea, they are bringing in to Jerusalem on the sabbath-day, and I testify in the day of their selling provision.

And the Tyrians have dwelt in it, bringing in fish, and every ware, and selling on sabbath to the sons of Judah and in Jerusalem.

And I strive with the freemen of Judah, and say to them, 'What is this evil thing that ye are doing, and polluting the sabbath-day?