And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.

And gathered are all the men of Judah and Benjamin to Jerusalem by the third day, it is the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sit in the broad place of the house of God, trembling on account of the matter and of the showers.

Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt.

and, now, make confession to Jehovah, God of your fathers, and do His good pleasure, and be separated from the peoples of the land, and from the strange women.'

Then responded all the convocation and said, with a loud voice, - Thus, according to thy word concerning us, must it be done.

But there are many people and it is the season of heavy rain; so we are unable to stand outside. Nor can the task be done in a day or two, for we have transgressed greatly in this matter.

Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us.

Only Asahel's son Jonathan and Tikvah's son Jahzeiah opposed this, and they were supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the descendant of Levi.

And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.

And there will be found from the sons of the priest who dwelt with strange wives: from the sons of Joshua son of Josedek and his brethren: Maaseiah and Eleazar, and Jarib and Gedaliah.

All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

The words of Nehemiah son of Hachaliah. And it will be in the month Chisleu, the twentieth year, and I was in Shushan the fortress;

They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its [fortified] gates have been burned (destroyed) by fire.”

And it will be in my hearing these words, I sat down, and I shall weep and mourn days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of the heavens,

And said, O Lord, the God of heaven, the great God, greatly to be feared, keeping faith and mercy with those who have love for him and are true to his laws:

Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.

"I confess the sins that we Israelis have committed against you. Both I and my father's house have sinned. We have abandoned you by not keeping your commands, your ceremonies, and your judgments that you proscribed to your servant Moses.

But if you come back to me and keep my orders and do them, even if those of you who have been forced out are living in the farthest parts of heaven, I will get them from there, and take them back to the place marked out by me for the resting-place of my name.

Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

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

And it will be in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year to Arthasatha the king, wine before him: and I shall lift up the wine and give to the king. And I was not sad before him.

The king asked me, "Why do you look so troubled, since you're not ill? This cannot be anything else but troubles of the heart."

And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

and say to the king, 'If to the king it be good, and if thy servant be pleasing before thee, that thou send me unto Judah, unto the city of the graves of my fathers, and I built it.'

And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;

And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple’s fortress, the city wall, and the home where I will live.” The king granted my requests, for I was graciously strengthened by my God.

And Sanballat the Horonite will hear, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it will be evil to them a great evil that a man came to seek good for the sons of Israel.

And I shall come to Jerusalem, and I shall be there three days.

and I rise by night, I and a few men with me, and have not declared to a man what my God is giving unto my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding.

And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.

Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.

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.

Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

Then answering them I said, The God of heaven, he will be our help; so we his servants will go on with our building: but you have no part or right or any name in Jerusalem.

and by his hand have men of Jericho built; and by their hand hath Zaccur son of Imri built;

The Fish Gate was repaired by Hassenaah's sons. They built its framework and installed its doors, including locks and security bars,

And by their hand hath Merimoth son of Urijah, son of Koz, strengthened; and by his hand hath Meshullam son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabeel, strengthened; and by his hand hath Zadok son of Baana strengthened;

and by his hand have the Tekoites strengthened, and their honourable ones have not brought in their neck to the service of their Lord.

And the Old Gate was repaired by Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and set up its doors and its locks and its bars.

And by their hand hath Melatiah the Gibeonite strengthened, and Jadon the Meronothite, men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, to the throne of the governor beyond the River.

By his hand hath Uzziel son of Harhaiah of the refiners strengthened; and by his hand hath Hananiah son of one of the compounders strengthened; and they leave Jerusalem unto the broad wall.

And by their hand hath Rephaiah son of Hur, head of the half of the district of Jerusalem, strengthened.

And by their hand hath Jedaiah son of Harumaph strengthened, and over-against his own house; and by his hand hath Hattush son of Hashabniah strengthened.

And by his hand hath Shallum son of Halohesh, head of the half of the district of Jerusalem, strengthened, he and his daughters.

Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it and set up its doors with its bolts and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits (1,500 ft.) of the wall as far as the Refuse Gate.

Malchijah the son of Rechab, the official of the district of Beth-haccherem repaired the Refuse Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors with its bolts and its bars.

But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king's garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.

By his side was working Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the division of Beth-zur, as far as the place opposite the last resting-places of David's family, and the pool which was made and the house of the men of war.

After him have the Levites strengthened, and Rehum son of Bani: by his hand hath Hashabiah, head of the half of the district of Keilah, strengthened, for his district.

Next to him their brothers, led by Henadad's son Bavvai, ruling official for the other half of the Keilah district, carried on repairs.

And Ezer son of Jeshua, head of Mizpah, doth strengthen, by his hand, a second measure, from over-against the ascent of the armoury at the angle.

After him repaired Benjamin and Hashub over against their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house.

Palal the son of Uzai, over against the turning of the wall, and the tower which lieth out from the king's high house, that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh.

And it will be that when Sanballat heard that we are building the wall, and it will kindle to him, and he will be greatly angry, and he will mock against the Jews.

And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? shall they be permitted to go on? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, when they are burned?

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.

Listen, our God, for we are despised. Make their insults return on their own heads and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity.

And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.

And we shall build the wall; and all the wall will be completed even to its half: and a heart will be to the people to work.

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,

And we pray unto our God, and appoint a watch against them, by day and by night, because of them.

In Judah, it was said:

The strength of the laborer fails,
since there is so much rubble.
We will never be able
to rebuild the wall.

And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you.

And I appoint at the lowest of the places, at the back of the wall, in the clear places, yea, I appoint the people, by their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

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

And it will be that when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God will disperse their counsel, and we shall turn back all of us to the wall, each to his work.

And it will be from that day the half of my young men doing in the work, and half of them holding fast and the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the chiefs behind every house of Judah.

who were rebuilding the wall. Those who were carrying loads did so by keeping one hand on the work and the other on their weapon.

For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.

Wherever you may be when the horn is sounded, come here to us; our God will be fighting for us.

and we will be laboring in the work." And the half part of them held the spears from the morning spring, till the stars came forth.

Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour on the day.

Then came there to be a great outcry of the people and their wives, - against their brethren the Jews.

Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.

There were also others who were saying, “We have borrowed money on our fields and vineyards for the [Persian] king’s [heavy] tax.

Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.

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

And I said, The thing that ye do is not good. Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, so as not to be the reproach of the nations our enemies?

I too, then, my brethren and my young men, might be lending unto them on interest silver and corn! I pray you, let us leave off this lending on interest!

Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.

Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.

But the former governors who were before me were supported by the people, and took bread and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver; yes, even their servants ruled over the people: but I didn't do so, because of the fear of God.

I also devoted myself to the work of this wall, and we did not buy land. All of my servants were gathered for the work.

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,)

And I sent men to them saying, I am doing a great work, so that it is not possible for me to come down: is the work to be stopped while I go away from it and come down to you?

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

Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.

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

For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen 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.'

Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

Be mindful, O my God, of Tobiah, and of Sanballat, according to these his works, and also, of Noadiah the prophetess, and of the rest of the prophets who have been making me afraid.

And the wall will be completed in the twenty and fifth to Elul, to fifty and two days.

And it came to pass that when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations that were about us were afraid and were much cast down in their own eyes, and they perceived that this work was wrought by our God.

For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

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 appointed my brother Hanani and fortress commander Hananiah to be over Jerusalem, since he was a faithful person who revered God more than many others did.

And I said unto them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot; and while they stand by, let them shut the doors, and bar them: and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one to be over against his house.