Nehemiah 2–4

2ND CHAPTER

The King Shows Compassion to Nehemiah

¹In the month of Nisan, in Artaxerxes’ twentieth year as king, after some wine was brought for the king, I picked up the cup of wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence before. 

²The king asked me, “Why do you look so sad? You aren’t sick, are you? You must be troubled about something.” (I was really afraid). 

³“May the king live forever!” I said to the king. “Why shouldn’t I look sad when the city, the place where my ancestors are buried, is in ruins and its gates are burned down?” 

⁴“What do you want?” the king asked me. 

So I prayed to the God of heaven, ⁵and I asked the king, “If it pleases Your Majesty, and you are willing to grant my request, let me go to Judah, to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I can rebuild it.” 

⁶Then, while the queen was sitting beside him, the king asked me, “How long will you be gone, and when will you come back?” When I gave him a specific date, he was willing to let me go. 

⁷I also asked the king, “If it pleases Your Majesty, let me have letters addressed to the governors ⸤of the province⸥ west of the Euphrates River. In the letters tell them to grant me safe conduct until I arrive in Judah. ⁸Also, let me have a letter addressed to Asaph, the supervisor of Your Majesty’s forest. In the letter order him to give me wood for the gates of the fortress near the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I’ll move into.” (The king let me have the letters, because God was guiding me.) 

Nehemiah Goes to Jerusalem

⁹I went to the governors ⸤of the province⸥ west of the Euphrates River and gave them the king’s letters. (The king had sent army officers and cavalry to be with me.) ¹⁰But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, they were very upset that someone had come to give the people of Israel so much assistance. 

Nehemiah Surveys the Damage to Jerusalem’s Walls

¹¹I went to Jerusalem and was there for three days. ¹²During the night I went out with a few men without telling anyone what my God had inspired me to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I had was the one I was riding. ¹³I went through Valley Gate that night toward Snake Fountain and Dung Gate and examined the places where the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and where its gates had been burned. ¹⁴Passing through Fountain Gate, I arrived at King’s Pool, but the animal I was riding couldn’t get through. ¹⁵So I went through the valley that night and examined the wall. Then I turned back, entered Valley Gate, and returned. 

¹⁶The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I had done. I hadn’t yet told the Jews, the priests, the leaders, the other officials, or any of the rest who would be doing the work. ¹⁷Then I told them, “You see the trouble we’re in. Jerusalem is in ruins, and its gates are burned down. Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be insulted.” ¹⁸Then I told them that my God had been guiding me and what the king had told me. 

They replied, “Let’s begin to rebuild.” So they encouraged one another to begin this God-pleasing work. 

¹⁹When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they made fun of us and ridiculed us. They asked, “What are you doing? Are you going to rebel against the king?” 

²⁰“The God of heaven will give us success,” I answered them. “We, his servants, are going to rebuild. You have no property or claim or historic right in Jerusalem.” 

3RD CHAPTER

A List of the People Rebuilding Jerusalem’s Walls

¹The chief priest Eliashib and his relatives, the priests, started by rebuilding Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place. They rebuilt as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and then as far as the Tower of Hananel. ²The men from Jericho were rebuilding next to Eliashib. Zaccur, son of Imri, was next to them. ³The sons of Hassenaah rebuilt Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, locks, and bars in place. ⁴Next to them Meremoth, son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz, made repairs. Next to them Meshullam, son of Berechiah and grandson of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to them Zadok, son of Baana, made repairs. ⁵Next to them the men from Tekoa made repairs. However, the nobles wouldn’t lower themselves to work under supervisors. 

⁶Joiada, Paseah’s son, and Meshullam, Besodeiah’s son, made repairs on Old Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, locks, and bars in place. ⁷Next to them Melatiah from Gibeon and Jadon from Meronoth, with men from Gibeon and Mizpah, made repairs on the wall. They did this under the authority of the governor ⸤from the province⸥ west of the Euphrates River. ⁸Next to them Uzziel, Harhaiah’s son, a goldsmith, made repairs. Next to him Hananiah, a perfume maker, made repairs. They left out part of Jerusalem as far as Broad Wall. ⁹Next to them Rephaiah, Hur’s son, an official in charge of half a district of Jerusalem, made repairs. ¹⁰Next to them Jedaiah, Harumaph’s son, made repairs across from his own home. Next to them Hattush, Hashabneiah’s son, made repairs. ¹¹Malchiah, Harim’s son, and Hasshub, Pahath Moab’s son, made repairs on a section that included the Tower of the Ovens. ¹²Next to them Shallum, Hallohesh’s son, an official in charge of half a district of Jerusalem, made repairs with the help of his daughters. 

¹³Hanun and the people of Zanoah repaired Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and set its doors, locks, and bars in place, and they repaired 1,500 feet of the wall, as far as Dung Gate. ¹⁴Dung Gate itself was repaired by Malchiah, Rechab’s son, the official in charge of the district of Beth Hakkerem. He rebuilt it and set its doors, locks, and bars in place. 

¹⁵Shallun, Col Hozeh’s son, the official in charge of the district of Mizpah, repaired Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it, put a roof over it, and set its doors, locks, and bars in place. He also made repairs on the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King’s Garden as far as the stairs going down from the City of David. ¹⁶After him Nehemiah, Azbuk’s son, the official in charge of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs all the way to a point across from the tombs of David as far as the pool and the soldiers’ barracks. ¹⁷After him the Levites, including Rehum (Bani’s son), made repairs. Next to him Hashabiah, the official in charge of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. ¹⁸After him their relatives made repairs. This included Binnui, Henadad’s son, the official in charge of half the district of Keilah. ¹⁹Next to him Ezer, Jeshua’s son, the official in charge of Mizpah, repaired a section across from the ascent to the Armory at the Angle. ²⁰After him Baruch, Zabbai’s son,^amade repairs on a section from the Angle to the door of the house of the chief priest Eliashib. ²¹After him Meremoth, son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz, made repairs on a section from the door of Eliashib’s house to the end of Eliashib’s house. ²²After him the priests who lived in that area made repairs. ²³After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their own homes. After them Azariah, son of Maaseiah and grandson of Ananiah, made repairs next to his home. ²⁴After him Binnui, Henadad’s son, made repairs on a section from Azariah’s home to the Angle and to the corner of the wall. ²⁵Palal, Uzai’s son, made repairs across from the Angle and the upper tower that projects from the king’s palace to the guards’ courtyard. After him Pedaiah, Parosh’s son, ²⁶and the temple servants who were living on the Ophel made repairs on the wall as far as a point across from Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. ²⁷After him the men from Tekoa repaired a section across from the large projecting tower as far as the Wall of the Ophel. 

²⁸Above Horse Gate the priests made repairs. Each priest made repairs across from his own home. ²⁹After them Zadok, Immer’s son, made repairs across from his own home. After him Shemaiah, Shecaniah’s son, the guard at East Gate, made repairs. ³⁰After him Hananiah, Shelemiah’s son, and Hanun, Zalaph’s sixth son, repaired another section. After him Meshullam, Berechiah’s son, made repairs across from his living quarters. ³¹After him Malchiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the building that housed the temple servants and merchants across from Inspection Gate and as far as the upper room at the corner. ³²The goldsmiths and merchants made repairs between the upper room at the corner and Sheep Gate. 

4TH CHAPTER^a

Sanballat Ridicules the Jews

¹When Sanballat heard we were rebuilding the wall, he became enraged and made fun of the Jews. ²In front of his allies and the army from Samaria, he said, “What do these miserable Jews think they’re doing? Can they rebuild it by themselves? Are they going to offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Will they get the stones out of the rubbish heaps, burned as these stones are, and give them new strength?” 

³Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside Sanballat, said, “Even a fox would make their stone wall collapse if it walked on top of what they’re building!” 

Nehemiah Overcomes Opposition from Sanballat

⁴⸤Nehemiah prayed,⸥ “Our God, hear us. We are despised. Turn their insults back on them, and let them be robbed in the land where they are prisoners. ⁵Don’t ignore their guilt, and don’t let their sins disappear from your records. They have insulted you in front of these builders.” 

⁶So we rebuilt the wall, which was rebuilt to about half its ⸤original⸥ height. The people worked with determination. 

⁷When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from Ashdod heard that the repair work on the walls of Jerusalem was making progress and that the gaps were being filled in, they became furious. ⁸All of them plotted to attack Jerusalem to create confusion. ⁹But we prayed to our God and set guards to protect us day and night. 

¹⁰Then the people of Judah said, “The work crews…