Nehemiah 3–4

Rebuilding the Wall of Jerusalem

3This is how the city wall was rebuilt.^d The High Priest Eliashib and his fellow-priests rebuilt the Sheep Gate, dedicated it, and put the gates in place. They dedicated the wall as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel.

²The men of Jericho built the next section.

Zaccur son of Imri built the next section.

³The clan of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They put the beams and the gates in place, and put in the bolts and bars for locking the gate.

⁴Meremoth, the son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz, built the next section.

Meshullam, the son of Berechiah and grandson of Meshezabel, built the next section.

Zadok son of Baana built the next section.

⁵The men of Tekoa built the next section, but the leading men of the town refused to do the manual labour assigned to them by the supervisors.

⁶Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah rebuilt Jeshanah Gate.^e They put the beams and the gates in place, and put in the bolts and bars for locking the gate.

⁷Melatiah from Gibeon, Jadon from Meronoth, and the men of Gibeon and Mizpah built the next section, as far as the residence of the governor of West Euphrates.

⁸Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a goldsmith, built the next section.

Hananiah, a maker of perfumes, built the next section, as far as Broad Wall.

⁹Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of half the Jerusalem District, built the next section.

¹⁰Jedaiah son of Harumaph built the next section, which was near his own house.

Hattush son of Hashabneiah built the next section.

¹¹Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath Moab built both the next section and the Tower of the Ovens.

¹²Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of the other half of the Jerusalem District, built the next section. (His daughters helped with the work.)

¹³Hanun and the inhabitants of the city of Zanoah rebuilt the Valley Gate. They put the gates in place, put in the bolts and the bars for locking the gate, and repaired the wall for 440 metres, as far as the Rubbish Gate.

¹⁴Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the Beth Haccherem District, rebuilt the Rubbish Gate. He put the gates in place, and put in the bolts and the bars for locking the gate.

¹⁵Shallum son of Colhozeh, ruler of the Mizpah District, rebuilt the Fountain Gate. He covered the gateway, put the gates in place, and put in the bolts and the bars. At the Pool of Shelah he built the wall next to the royal garden, as far as the steps leading down from David’s City.

¹⁶Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of half the Bethzur District, built the next section, as far as David’s tomb, the pool, and the barracks.

Levites Who Worked on the Wall

¹⁷The following Levites rebuilt the next several sections of the wall:

Rehum son of Bani built the next section;

Hashabiah, ruler of half the Keilah District, built the next section on behalf of his district;

¹⁸Bavvai son of Henadad, ruler of the other half of the Keilah District, built the next section;

¹⁹Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, built the next section in front of the armoury, as far as the place where the wall turns;

²⁰Baruch son of Zabbai built the next section, as far as the entrance to the house of the High Priest Eliashib;

²¹Meremoth, the son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz, built the next section, up to the far end of Eliashib’s house.

Priests Who Worked on the Wall

²²The following priests rebuilt the next several sections of the wall:

Priests from the area around Jerusalem built the next section;

²³Benjamin and Hasshub built the next section, which was in front of their houses;

Azariah, the son of Maaseiah and grandson of Ananiah, built the next section, which was in front of his house;

²⁴Binnui son of Henadad built the next section, from Azariah’s house to the corner of the wall;

^25–26Palal son of Uzai built the next section, beginning at the corner of the wall and the tower of the upper palace near the court of the guard;

Pedaiah son of Parosh built the next section, to a point on the east near the Water Gate and the tower guarding the Temple. (This was near that part of the city called Ophel, where the temple workmen lived.)

Other Builders

²⁷The men of Tekoa built the next section, their second one, from a point opposite the large tower guarding the Temple as far as the wall near Ophel.

²⁸A group of priests built the next section, going north from the Horse Gate, each one building in front of his own house.

²⁹Zadok son of Immer built the next section, which was in front of his house. Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, keeper of the East Gate, built the next section.

³⁰Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, built the next section, their second one.

Meshullam son of Berechiah built the next section, which was in front of his house.

³¹Malchijah, a goldsmith, built the next section, as far as the building used by the temple workmen and the merchants, which was by the Miphkad^f Gate, near the room on top of the north-east corner of the wall.

³²The goldsmiths and the merchants built the last section, from the room at the corner as far as the Sheep Gate.

Nehemiah Overcomes Opposition to His Work

4When Sanballat heard that we Jews had begun rebuilding the wall, he was furious and began to ridicule us. ²In front of his companions and the Samaritan troops he said, “What do these miserable Jews think they’re doing? Do they intend to rebuild the city? Do they think that by offering sacrifices they can finish the work in one day? Can they make building stones out of heaps of burnt rubble?” ³Tobiah was standing there beside him, and he added, “What kind of wall could they ever build? Even a fox could knock it down!” ⁴I prayed, “Listen to them mocking us, O God! Let their ridicule fall on their own heads. Let them be robbed of everything they have, and let them be taken as prisoners to a foreign land. ⁵Don’t forgive the evil they do and don’t forget their sins, for they have insulted us who are building.”

⁶So we went on rebuilding the wall, and soon it was half its full height, because the people were eager to work.

⁷Sanballat, Tobiah, and the people of Arabia, Ammon, and Ashdod heard that we were making progress in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and that the gaps in the wall were being closed, and they were very angry. ⁸So they all plotted together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion, ⁹but we prayed to our God and kept men on guard against them day and night.

¹⁰The people of Judah had a song they sang:

“We grow weak carrying burdens;

There’s so much rubble to take away.

How can we build the wall today?”

¹¹Our enemies thought we would not see them or know what was happening until they were already upon us, killing us and putting an end to our work. ¹²But time after time Jews who were living among our enemies came to warn us of the plans our enemies were making against us.^{g 13}So I armed the people with swords, spears, and bows, and stationed them by clans behind the wall, wherever it was still unfinished.

¹⁴I saw that the people were worried, so I said to them and to their leaders and officials, “Don’t be afraid of our enemies. Remember how great and terrifying the Lord is, and fight for your fellow-countrymen, your children, your wives, and your homes.” ¹⁵Our enemies heard that we had found out what they were plotting, and they realized that God had defeated their plans. Then all of us went back to rebuilding the wall.

¹⁶From then on half my men worked and half stood guard, wearing coats of armour and armed with spears, shields, and bows. And our leaders gave their full support to the people ¹⁷who were rebuilding the wall. Even those who carried building materials worked with one hand and kept a weapon in the other, ¹⁸and everyone who was building kept a sword strapped to his waist. The man who was to sound the alarm on the bugle stayed with me. ¹⁹I told the people and their officials and leaders, “The work is spread out over such a distance that we are widely separated from one another on the wall. ²⁰If you hear the bugle, gather round me. Our God will fight for us.” ²¹So every day, from dawn until the stars came out at night, half of us worked on the wall, while the other half stood guard with spears.

²²During this time I told the men in charge that they and all their helpers had to stay in Jerusalem at night, so that we could guard the city at night as well as work in the daytime. ²³I didn’t take off my clothes even at night, neither did any of my companions nor my servants nor my bodyguard. And we all kept our weapons to hand.^h