The Book of

NEHEMIAH

Chapter 1

Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles

1 The words of aNehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in bthe month Chislev, cin the twentieth year, while I was in dSusa the 1capitol,

2 that aHanani, one of my brothers, and 1some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the aprovince who survived the captivity are in great distress and breproach, and bthe wall of Jerusalem is broken down and cits gates are burned with fire.”

4 When I heard these words, aI sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before bthe God of heaven.

5 I said, “I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, athe great and awesome God, bwho preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,

6 alet Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, bconfessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; cI and my father’s house have sinned.

7 “aWe have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances bwhich You commanded Your servant Moses.

8 “Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘aIf you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples;

9 abut if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I bwill gather them from there and will bring them cto the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’

10 “aThey are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

11 “O Lord, I beseech You, amay Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to 1revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.”

Now I was the bcupbearer to the king.

Chapter 2

Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered

1 And it came about in the month Nisan, ain the twentieth year of King bArtaxerxes, that wine was before him, and cI took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.

2 So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? aThis is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid.

3 I said to the king, “aLet the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad bwhen the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?”

4 Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” aSo I prayed to the God of heaven.

5 I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”

6 Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and aI gave him a definite time.

7 And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given me afor the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah,

8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s aforest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of bthe fortress which is by the 1temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because cthe good hand of my God was on me.

9 Then I came to athe governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now bthe king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.

10 When aSanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite 1official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls

11 So I acame to Jerusalem and was there three days.

12 And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my 1mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding.

13 So I went out at night by athe Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Well and on to the 1Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem bwhich were broken down and its cgates which were consumed by fire.

14 Then I passed on to athe Fountain Gate and bthe King’s Pool, but there was no place for 1my mount to pass.

15 So I went up at night by the aravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned.

16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work.

17 Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that aJerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.”

18 I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” aSo they put their hands to the good work.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite 1official, and aGeshem the Arab heard it, bthey mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? aAre you rebelling against the king?”

20 So I answered them and said to them, “aThe God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, bbut you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem.”

Chapter 3

Builders of the Walls

1 Then aEliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built bthe Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and chung its doors. They consecrated 1the wall to dthe Tower of the Hundred and ethe Tower of Hananel.

2 Next to him athe men of Jericho built, and next to 1them Zaccur the son of Imri built.

3 Now the sons of Hassenaah built athe Fish Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.

4 Next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz made repairs. And next to him Meshullam the son of Berechiah the son of Meshezabel made repairs. And next to 1him Zadok the son of Baana also made repairs.

5 Moreover, next to 1him the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not 2support the work of their masters.

6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired athe Old Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars.

7 Next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, 1also made repairs for the official seat of the agovernor of the province beyond the River.

8 Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah of the agoldsmiths made repairs. And next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they restored Jerusalem as far as bthe Broad Wall.

9 Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, athe official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.

10 Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs.

11 Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and athe Tower of Furnaces.

12 Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, athe official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.

13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired athe Valley Gate. They built it and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall to the 1Refuse Gate.

14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, the official of the district of aBeth-haccherem repaired the 1bRefuse Gate. He built it and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars.

15 Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, the official of the district of Mizpah, arepaired the Fountain Gate. He built it, covered it and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah at bthe king’s garden as far as cthe steps that descend from the city of David.

16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, aofficial of half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs as far as a point opposite the tombs of David, and as far as bthe artificial pool and the house of the mighty men.

17 After him the Levites carried out repairs under Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, the official of half the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his district.

18 After him their brothers carried out repairs under Bavvai the son of Henadad, official of the other half of the district of Keilah.

19 Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, athe official of Mizpah, repaired 1another section in front of the ascent of the armory bat the Angle.

20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the Angle to the doorway of the house of aEliashib the high priest.

21 After him Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another section, from the doorway of Eliashib’s house even as far as the end of 1his house.

22 After him the priests, athe men of the 1valley, carried out repairs.

23 After 1them Benjamin and Hasshub carried out repairs in front of their house. After 1them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, carried out repairs beside his house.

24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah as far as athe Angle and as far as the corner.

25 Palal the son of Uzai made repairs in front of the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king, which is by athe court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs.

26 aThe temple servants living in bOphel made repairs as far as the front of cthe Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower.

27 After 1them athe Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower and as far as the wall of Ophel.

28 Above athe Horse Gate the priests carried out repairs, each in front of his house.

29 After 1them Zadok the son of Immer