And they sent a message to me four times like this, and I returned an answer like this to them.

And Sanballat sent his servant with an open letter, [another] word like this to me a fifth time, in his hand.

In it was written, "It has been reported among the nations, and Gashmu also is saying it, that you and the Jews are considering rebellion. Therefore, truly you are building the wall and you are becoming their king, according to these words.

You have also set up prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, saying, '[There is] a king in Judah.' And now it will be proclaimed to the king according to these words. Now, come and we will plan together."

So I sent to him saying, "None of these words you have spoken has happened. You are indeed saying [things] created in your own mind"--

for all of them [sought] to frighten us, saying, "their hands will not do the work." And now, [God], strengthen my hands.

Now I went into the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined [at home], and he said, "Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple; for they are coming to kill you--during the night they are coming to kill you."

For this reason he was hired: to frighten [me] so that I would act and sin, so that they would have a bad report so they could taunt me.

Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to their works, and also Noadiah the prophetess, and the remainder of the prophets who were frightening me.

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

Also, in those days the nobles of Judah increasingly sent their letters to Tobiah, and [letters] from Tobiah returned to them.

For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah. His son Jehohanan took as a wife the daughter of Meshullam son of Berekiah.

They also were speaking of his good deeds in my presence, and they were sending my words out to him. Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

I gave command over Jerusalem to my brother Hanani and Hananiah the commander of the citadel. For he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.

I said to them, "Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot. While they are standing guard let them shut and fasten the doors. And appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his post and another opposite his house."

Then my God put into my heart to assemble the nobles, the prefects, and the people to be enrolled. I found the book of the genealogy of those who first came back, and I found [this] written upon it:

These are the people of the province who came up from captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each one to his city.

the descendants of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two.

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

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

The descendants of Pahath-Moab, of the descendants of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and eighteen.

The descendants of Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four.

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

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

The men of Beth-azmaveth, forty-two.

The men of Micmash, one hundred and twenty-two.

The men of the other Nebo, fifty-two.

The people of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four.

The descendants of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two.

The descendants of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven.

All the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon's servants were three hundred and ninety-two.

These were the ones who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they were not able to prove their ancestral houses or their descent, whether they were from Israel:

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

So the governor said to them that they could not eat the most holy food until a priest could come with Urim and Thummim.

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

besides their servants and female slaves--these were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. And the male and female singers were two hundred and forty-five,

Now some from the heads of the {families} gave to the work. The governor gave to the storehouse one thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, and five hundred and thirty priestly tunics.

Now some of the heads of the {families} gave to the storehouse of the work twenty thousand gold darics and two thousand two hundred silver minas.

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

All of the people gathered as one to the public square before the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses that Yahweh had commanded Israel.

So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly for [each] man and woman to hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month.

He read from it facing the public square before the Water Gate from dawn until noon that day, opposite the men, women, and those with understanding. The ears of all the people [were attentive] to the book of the law.

Then Ezra blessed Yahweh the great God, and all of the people answered, "Amen! Amen!" while lifting their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped Yahweh [with their] noses to the ground.

Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all of the people, "This day is holy to Yahweh your God. Do not mourn nor weep." For all of the people wept when they heard the words of the law.

Then he said to them, "Go, eat festive food and drink sweet drinks, and send a share to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our lord. Do not be grieved because the joy of Yahweh is your refuge."

So the Levites silenced all of the people, saying, "Silence, for this day is holy. Do not be grieved."

All of the people went to eat, to drink, to send a share, and to have great joy because they understood the words that they had made known to them.

On the second day the heads of the {families} of all the people, the priests, and the Levites gathered together to Ezra the scribe to study the words of the law.

and that they should proclaim and give voice in all of their cities in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the hill and bring olive tree branches, olive oil wood branches, myrtle shrub branches, palm tree branches, and other leafy tree branches to make booths, as it is written."

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.

And he read from the scroll of the law of God day by day from the first day up to the last day. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day there was an assembly according to the rule.

On the twenty-fourth day of this month the {Israelites} gathered in fasting, in sackcloths, and with soil on them.

They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of Yahweh their God for a fourth part of the day, and for a fourth they were confessing and worshiping Yahweh their God.

Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani stood on the platform of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to Yahweh their God.

"You alone are Yahweh. You alone have made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and all of their army, the earth and all that is in it, the waters and all that is in them. You give life to all of them, and the army of the heavens worship you.

You found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite--to give [it] to his seed. And you have kept your word because you are righteous.

You gave signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all of his servants, and all of the people of his land because you knew that they acted arrogantly against them. You made a name for yourself, as it is this day.

You led them by day with a column of cloud and with a column of fire by night, to give them light on the way that they were to go.

You made known your holy Sabbath to them and gave them commandments, regulations, and law by the hand of your servant Moses.

You gave them bread from heaven for their starvation, and you caused water to go out from a rock for their thirst. You told them to go in order to take into possession the land that you have sworn by your hand to give to them.

"But they and our ancestors acted arrogantly and stiffened their neck and did not listen to your commandments.

They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders that you did among them. They stiffened their neck and in their rebellion {determined} to return to their slavery. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, {slow to anger}, abundant in loyal love, so you did not abandon them.

But you in your many mercies did not abandon them in the desert. The column of cloud [that was] over them in the day did not cease to leave them on the way, and the column of fire by night [that] gave light to them on the way that they went.

And you gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.

You made their children numerous like the stars of the heavens and brought them to the land that you told their ancestors to enter in order to take possession.

So the children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites; you gave them into their hand, and their kings and the nations of the land to do with them according to their pleasure.

"But they rebelled and were rebellious against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them to turn back to you, and they did great blasphemies.

Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemy, and they brought trouble to them. Then in the time of their trouble they cried out to you, and you heard from the heavens, and according to your great compassions, you gave them saviors, and you saved them from the hand of their enemies.

But when they had rest they returned to doing evil before you, and you abandoned them in the hand of their enemies, and they ruled over them. Then they returned and cried out to you, and from the heavens you heard and many times rescued them according to your compassions.

You warned them so that they would return to your law. Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commandments but sinned against your judgments that a person must do so that they may live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not listen.

But in your great compassions you did not put an end to them, and you did not abandon them. For you are a gracious and compassionate God.

"And now our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God who keeps [his] covenant and loyal love, do not belittle in your presence all of the hardship that is found in us, our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all of our people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

Our kings, our officials, our priests, and our ancestors did not keep your law and did not listen to your commandments and statutes that you declared to them.

And in their kingdom and in the greatness you gave to them, and in the wide and fertile land that you gave before them, they did not serve you and did not turn from their evil deeds.

Behold, we are slaves to this day, and the land that you have given to our ancestors to eat its fruits and [enjoy] its goodness--behold, we are slaves in it!

Its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have given over us because of our sins, and [they are] ruling over our dead bodies and our livestock at their pleasure. We are in great trouble.

"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--

[are] helping their brothers, their nobles, and entering into a solemn oath to walk in the law of God which was given by the hand of Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all of the commandments of Yahweh our Lord and his judgments and regulations.

We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land nor take their daughters for our sons.

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.

"We put on ourselves the commandment upon us to yearly give a third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God:

And we have cast lots for the contributions of the wood offering of the priests, the Levites, and the people to bring [it] to the house of our God, by our fathers' houses, at designated times, year by year, to burn on the altar of Yahweh our God--as it is written in the law.

And the firstborn of our sons and beasts--as it is written in the law--and the firstborn of our cattle and sheep, to bring to the house of our God [and] to the priests serving in the house of our God.

And we bring the best of our dough, our offerings, the fruit of every tree, new wine, and olive oil to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and [to bring] the tithe of our soil to the Levites, for the Levites [receive] the tithes in all of our rural towns.

And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, will be with the Levites during the tithe the Levites receive. The Levites will bring up a tithe of the tithes for the house of our God to the chambers of the storehouse.

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."

Now the commanders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the remainder of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the holy city of Jerusalem, the [other] nine's place [was in] the [other] cities.

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

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 brothers, heads of the {families}, two hundred and forty-two. And Amashai son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer,

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.

All of the Levites in the holy city [were] two hundred and eighty-four.

The gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers, the keepers of the gates, one hundred and seventy-two.

For [there was] a command of the king concerning them and a regulation concerning the singers, required {day by day}.

Zanoah, Adullam and {their settlements}, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and {its settlements}. So they camped from Beersheba up to [the] Valley [of] Hinnom.

And from the Levites the working groups of Judah [were assigned] to Benjamin.

And the heads of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their brothers opposite them, to praise and to give thanks by the command of David the man of God, section alongside section.

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites from all of their places in order to bring them to Jerusalem to do the dedication with joy, thanksgivings, song and cymbals, stringed instruments and lyres.

Then I brought the commanders of Judah up on to the wall. I appointed two great choirs; [one went in] a procession to the right on the wall to the Dung Gate.

At the Fountain Gate opposite them they went up the steps of the city of David, at the assent to the wall, over the house of David, and up to the Water Gate to the east.