Let, I pray thee, thine ears be attentive and thine eyes open - to hearken unto the prayer of thy servant - -which, I, am praying before thee now, day and night, for the sons of Israel, thy servants, - -and making confession concerning the sins of the sons of Israel, which we have committed against thee, both I and the house of my father, have sinned.

We have dealt, very corruptly, against thee, - and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes nor the regulations, which thou didst command Moses thy servant.

Then said the king unto me, Wherefore is thy countenance sad, seeing that, thou, art not sick? this is nothing else, but sadness of heart. Then feared I exceedingly,

and said unto the king - Let the, king, unto times age-abiding, live! Wherefore should my countenance, not be sad, when, the city - the place of the sepulchres of my fathers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

Then rose I by night, I, and a few men with me, I having told no man, what, my God, had been putting in my heart, to do for Jerusalem, - and, beast, was there none with me, save the beast on which, I myself, was riding.

So I went forth through the valley-gate by night, even unto the front of the snake-fountain, and into the dung-gate, - and I viewed the walls of Jerusalem, how, they, were broken down, and, the gates thereof, consumed with fire.

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

Now, the deputies, knew not whither I had gone, nor what I was doing, - not even to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the deputies, nor to the rest who were doing the work, had I as yet told it.

and, at their hand, repaired, the Tekoites, - but, their chiefs, put not their neck into the service of their lords.

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.

howbeit we prayed unto our God, - and set a watch against them, day and night, because of them.

Then said Judah, The strength of the burden-bearer faileth, and, the rubbish, aboundeth, - and, we, are not able to build at the wall;

and our adversaries have said, They shall not know, neither shall they see, until we come into their midst, and slay them, - so shall we cause the work to cease.

Then I looked and rose up, and said - unto the nobles and unto the deputies and unto the rest of the people, Do not ye fear because of them, - the great and fearful Lord, remember ye, so shall ye fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

Moreover, at that time, I said to the people, Let, every one with his young man, lodge for the night in the midst of Jerusalem, - so shall they serve us, in the night, as a watch, and, the day, for work.

Then said I, Not good, is the thing which ye are doing, - ought ye not, in the fear of God, to walk, because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?

Also, my lap, shook I out, and said - Thus and thus, may God shake out every man who shall not confirm this promise, out of his house and out of his labour, yea, thus and thus, let him be shaken out and empty, - And all the convocation said, Amen! and praised Yahweh, and the people did according to this promise.

Moreover, from the day I was commanded to become their pasha in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year, even unto the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I and my brethren, pasha's bread, have not eaten;

whereas, the former pashas, who were before me, suffered themselves to be a burden upon the people, and took from them in bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver, even, their young men, bare rule over the people, - but, I, did not so, because of the fear of God.

Now, that which was prepared for a single day, was - one ox, six choice sheep, also, fowls, were prepared for me, and, apportioned unto ten days, of every sort of wine, in abundance, - yet, in spite of this, the bread of the pasha, demanded I not, because heavy was the bondage upon this people.

And it came to pass, when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arabian and to the rest of our enemies, that I had built the wall, and there was left therein no breach, - though, up to that time, the doors, had I not set up in the gates,

For, they all, were seeking to put us in fear, saying, Their hands will slacken from the work, and it will not be accomplished. Now, therefore, strengthen thou my hands!

When, I, came into the house of Shemaiah, son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, he, being shut in, he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, in the midst of the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to slay thee, yea, by night, are they coming to slay thee.

Then said I, Should, such a man as I, flee? Who then, being such as I, would enter the temple to save his life? I will not enter.

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:

Have remembrance, O my God, of Tobiah and of Sanballat, according to these their doings, - moreover also, of Noadiah the prophetess, and of the rest of the prophets, who would have put me in fear.

And I said unto them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until, hot, be the sun, and, while they are standing by, let them close the doors, and make them fast, - setting watches, of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one over against his own house.

Now, the city, was broad on both hands, and large, but, the people, were few in the midst thereof, - and the houses had not been built.

And, these, are they who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, - but they could not tell their ancestral house, nor their seed, whether, of Israel, they were:

These, sought their writing wherein they were registered, but it was not found, - so they were desecrated out of the priesthood;

and the governor told them, they must not eat of the most holy things, - until there should stand up a priest, with Lights and Perfections.

Then Nehemiah - he, was the governor - and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites who were causing the people to understand, said unto all the people, To-day, is, holy, unto Yahweh your God, do not mourn, nor weep, - for, weeping, were all the people, when they heard the words of the law.

So 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 holy is the day, unto our Lord, - and be not grieved, for, the joy of Yahweh, is your strength.

And, the Levites, were quieting all the people, saying - Hush! for, the day, is holy, - and be not grieved.

And all the convocation of them who had returned out of the captivity made booths, and dwelt in booths, for, since the days of Jeshua son of Nun, had not the sons of Israel done so, unto that day, - and there was very great rejoicing.

and didst grant signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for thou hadst taken note, that they ruled proudly over them, - and so thou didst make thee a name, as at this day.

And, in a pillar of cloud, didst thou lead them, by day, - and in a pillar of fire, by night, to light up for them the way wherein they should go.

But, they and our fathers, dealt proudly, - and hardened their neck, and hearkened not unto thy commandments;

but refused to hearken, neither kept in mind thy wonders which thou hadst done with them, but they hardened their neck, and appointed a head that they might return to their servitude, in their perverseness. But, thou, art a God of forgivenesses, gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness, and didst not forsake them.

yet, thou, in thine abounding compassions, didst not forsake them in the desert, - the pillar of cloud, departed not from over them by day, to lead them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to light up for them the way wherein they should go.

And, thy Good Spirit, thou gavest, to instruct them, - and, thy manna, thou withheldest not from their mouth, and, water, thou gavest them, for their thirst.

Yea, forty years, didst thou sustain them in the desert, they lacked nothing, - their mantles, waxed not old and, their feet, swelled not.

and didst testify against them, to bring them back unto thy law, yet, they, dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, and, against thy regulations, they sinned, the which - if any son of earth shall do - then shall he live by them, - and yielded a rebellious shoulder, and, their neck, they stiffened, and hearkened not.

And thou didst suffer many years to pass over them, and didst testify against them by thy Spirit through thy prophets, yet did they not give ear, - therefore didst thou deliver them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

Yet, in thine abounding compassions, thou didst not make of them an end, neither didst thou forsake them, - for, a GOD gracious and full of compassion, thou art.

Now, therefore, O our God - the GOD great, mighty, and fearful - keeping the covenant and the lovingkindness, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, which hath come upon us - on our kings, on our rulers, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, - from the days of the kings of Assyria, until this day.

and, our kings, our rulers, our priests, and our fathers, have not kept thy law, - nor given heed unto thy commandments, or unto thy testimonies, wherewith thou hast testified against them.

But, they, in their kingdom, and in thine abundant goodness which thou gavest them, and in the broad and fat land which thou didst set before them, did not serve thee, neither turned they from their wicked doings.

and that we would not give our daughters unto the peoples of the land, - and, their daughters, would we not take for our sons;

and, if the peoples of the land should be bringing in wares, or any corn on the sabbath day, to sell, we would not buy of them on the sabbath, or on a holy day, - and that we would remit the seventh year, and the loan of every hand.

For, into the chambers, should the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi bring in the heave-offering of the corn, the new wine and the oil, since, there, are the utensils of the sanctuary, and the priests who are in attendance, and the doorkeepers, and the singers, - so would we not neglect the house of our God.

For, the commandment of the king, was upon them, - as to a fixed provision for the singers, the need of a day upon its day.

Now, all Israel - in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, used to give the portions of the singers and the doorkeepers, the need of a day upon its day, - and they hallowed them unto the Levites, and, the Levites, hallowed them unto the sons of Aaron.

On that day, a portion, was read in the book of Moses, in the ears of the people, - and it was found written therein, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not enter into the convocation of God, unto times age-abiding;

because they met not the sons of Israel, with bread and with water, - but hired against them Balaam, to curse them, although our God turned the curse into a blessing.

But, throughout all this time , was I not in Jerusalem, - for, in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon, I came unto the king, and, at the end of certain days, obtained I leave of the king;

Then came I to know, that, the portions of the Levites, had not been given them , - so that the Levites and the singers, who had been doing the work, had fled every one to his field.

Remember me, O my God, concerning this, - and do not wipe out my lovingkindnesses, which I have done for the house of my God, and for those keeping charge thereof.

Was it not, thus, your fathers did, and our God brought upon us all this calamity, and upon this city? - and, ye, would add indignation against Israel, by profaning the sabbath!

And it came to pass, when the gates of Jerusalem made a shadow before the sabbath, then gave I word, and they shut the doors, and I gave word, that they should not open them, until after the sabbath, - and, some of my young men, set I near the gates, so that no burden should be brought in, on the sabbath day.

Therefore I testified against them, and said unto them, Wherefore are ye lodging against the wall? if ye do it again, a hand, will I thrust upon you, - From that time, they came not on the sabbath.

and, their children, were one-half speaking the language of Ashdod, and understood not how to speak the language of the Jews, - but after the tongue of both people.

So I contended with them, and laid a curse upon them, and I smote, from among them, certain men, and pulled out their hair, - and I put them on oath by God, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take of their daughters, for your sons nor for yourselves.

Was it not, over these things, that Solomon king of Israel sinned - though, among many nations, there was no king such as he, and he was, beloved by his God, and so God gave him to be king over all Israel, - even him, did foreign women, cause to sin.