And he spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they bring to life the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?

And do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You. For they have provoked You to anger before the builders.

So we built the wall, and all the wall was joined together to the half of it. For the people had a mind to work.

And all of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and do harm to it.

But we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

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

And our foes have said, They shall not know, or see, until we come in the middle of them, and kill them, and cause the work to cease.

And it happened when the Jews who lived near them came in, they said to us ten times, From all places where you shall turn to us, they will be against us.

And I stationed in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people according to their families with their sword, their spears, and their bows.

And I looked and rose up, and said to the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them. Remember Jehovah, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their counsel to nothing, all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.

And I said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, far from one another.

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

Also at the same time I said to the people, Let everyone with his servant stay inside Jerusalem, so that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor in the day.

Yet now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our sons like their sons. And, lo, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage, to be slaves, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage. And there is no power for our hand, for other men have our lands and vineyards.

And my heart within myself ruled, and I rebuked the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, You exact interest, each one from his brother. And I held a great gathering against them.

And I said to them, According to our ability we have redeemed our brothers, the Jews who were sold to the nations. And will you even sell your brothers? Or shall they be sold to us? And they were silent and did not find an answer.

And I said, What you do is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?

Please even today give back to them their lands, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money and of the grain, the wine, and the oil, that you take from them.

And they said, We will restore, and will ask nothing from them. So we will do as you say. Then I called the priests and took an oath from them that they should do according to this promise.

Also I shook my lap and said, So let God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, who does not keep this promise, even may he be shaken out this way and emptied. And all the congregation said, amen, and praised Jehovah. And the people did according to this promise.

And from the time that I was chosen to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I and my brothers have not eaten the bread of the governor.

But the former governors that had been before me were too heavy upon the people, and had taken bread and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people. But I did not do this, because of the fear of God.

And I also kept on in the work of this wall. Nor did we buy any land. And all my servants gathered there to the work.

And at my table were a hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those who came to us from among the nations around us.

Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.

Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come, let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me harm.

And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, so I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you?

And they sent to me four times in this way. And I answered them in the same way.

Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way the fifth time with an open letter in his hand, in which was written,

It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that you and the Jews are thinking of rebelling, for this reason you build the wall, so that you may be their king, according to these words.

And you have also set up prophets to preach about you at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah. And now it shall be reported to the king according to these words. And now come and let us talk it over together.

And I sent to him saying, These things which you are saying are not happening, but you pretend them out of your own heart.

And I came to 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, inside the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple. For they will come to kill you. Yea, in the night they will come to kill you.

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

Therefore he was hired that I should be afraid, and do so, and I should sin, and be for them an evil name, with which they might reproach me.

My God, think upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

And the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days.

And in those days the nobles of Judah were increasing their letters going to Tobiah; and Tobiah's came to them.

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

Also they reported his good deeds before me, and told my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.

And I said to them, Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they stand by, let them shut and bar the doors. And set guards from the people of Jerusalem, each one in his watch, and each one to be across from his house.

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

These are the sons of the province who went up out of the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. And they came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city,

The sons of Parosh, two thousand and seventy-two.

The sons of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two.

The sons of Arah, six hundred and fifty-two.

The sons of Pahath-moab, of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand, eight hundred and eighteen.

The sons of Elam, a thousand two hundred and fifty-four.

The sons of Azgad, two thousand three hundred and twenty-two.

The sons of Bigvai, two thousand and sixty-seven.

The men of Beth-azmaveth, forty-two.

The men of Michmas, a hundred and twenty-two.

The men of the other Nebo, fifty-two.

The sons of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred and fifty-four.

The sons of Immer, a thousand and fifty-two.

The sons of Pashur, a thousand two hundred and forty-seven.

All the temple-slaves, and the sons of Solomon's servants, three hundred and ninety-two.

The sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, six hundred and forty-two.

And of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Koz, the sons of Barzillai, who took one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite to wife, and was called after their name.

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

All the congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty,

besides their manservants and their maidservants; these were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. And they had two hundred and forty-five singing men and singing women.

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

And some of the chiefs of the fathers gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury a thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, and five hundred and thirty priest's garments.

And some of the chiefs of the fathers gave to the treasury of the work twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand two hundred minas of silver.

And what the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold and two thousand minas of silver, and sixty-seven priests' garments.

And all the people gathered themselves as one man into the street before the water gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded to Israel.

And Ezra the priest brought the Law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

And he read in it before the street in front of the Water Gate from the morning until noon, in front of the men and the women, and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people listened to the Book of the Law.

And Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, amen, lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped Jehovah with their faces to the ground.

And Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the Law. And the people were in their place.

And they read in the Book of the Law of God, clearly. And they gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

And Nehemiah, the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah your God. Do not mourn or weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the Law.

Then he said to them, Go eat the fat and drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our LORD. And do not be sorry, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.

And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be quiet, for the day is holy. And do not be grieved.

And all the people went to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words which were declared to them.

And on the second day the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the Law.

and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth to the mountain and bring olive branches and pine branches and myrtle branches and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.

And all the congregation of those who had come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths. For since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day, the sons of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read in the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth was an assembly, according to the Law.

And in the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel were gathered with fasting and with sackcloth, and with earth upon them.

And they stood up in their place, and read in the Book of the Law of Jehovah their God a fourth part of the day. And another fourth part they confessed and worshiped Jehovah their God.

And stood upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice to Jehovah their God.

and found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed. And You have performed Your words, for You are righteous.

And You led them in the day by a cloudy pillar, and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way in which they should go.

And You made known to them Your holy sabbath, and commanded them commandments, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses Your servant.

And You gave them bread from the heavens for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst. And You promised them that they should go in to possess the land which You had sworn to give them.

But they and our fathers acted proudly and hardened their necks, and did not listen to Your commandments.

And they refused to obey, neither were they mindful of Your wonders which You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and did not forsake them.

yet You in Your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day to lead them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to show them light and the way in which they should go.

You also gave Your good Spirit to teach them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.

And You multiplied their sons like the stars of the heavens, and brought them into the land concerning which You had promised to their fathers that they should go in to possess it.

And the sons went in and possessed the land, and You humbled the people of the land before them, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the people of the land, so that they might do with them as they would.

But they were disobedient and rebelled against You, and cast Your Law behind their backs. And they killed Your prophets who testified against them to turn them to You, and they worked great blasphemies.

And You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, who troubled them. And in the time of their trouble, they cried to You, and You heard from Heaven. And according to Your manifold mercies, You gave them deliverers, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

But after they had rest, they did evil again before You, and You left them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the rule over them. But they returned and cried to You, and You heard from Heaven. And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,

and testified against them that You might bring them again to Your Law. But they acted proudly and did not listen to Your commandments, but sinned against Your judgments (which if a man do, he shall live in them), and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

And now, our God, the great, the mighty, and the fearful God, who keeps covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble that has come upon us, on our kings, on our rulers, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all Your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day, seem little before You.

And our kings, our rulers, our priests, and our fathers, have not kept Your Law, nor listened to Your commandments and Your words with which You testified against them.