1 *The words of aNehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month bChisleu, in cthe twentieth year, as I was in dShushan ethe palace, 2 That fHanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also gis broken down, and hthe gates thereof are burned with fire. 4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that iI sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, 5 And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, kthe great and terrible God, lthat keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 6 Let mthine ear now be attentive, and mnthine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and oconfess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: pboth I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have qdealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, rwhich thou commandedst thy servant Moses. 8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, sIf ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 9 tBut if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; uthough there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them xunto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. 10 yNow these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech thee, zlet now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, awho desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s bcupbearer.

2 *And it came to pass in the month aNisan, in bthe twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and cI took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. 2 Wherefore the king said unto me, dWhy is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but esorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, 3 And said unto the king, fLet the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when gthe city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and hthe gates thereof are consumed with fire? 4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to ithe God of heaven. 5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. 6 And the king said unto me, (the †queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a jtime. 7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the kgovernors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; 8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s lforest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the mpalace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for nthe house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, oaccording to the good hand of my God upon me.

9 *Then I came to the kgovernors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. 10 When pSanballat the qHoronite, and rTobiah the servant, the sAmmonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man tto seek the welfare of the children of Israel. 11 uSo I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. 12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. 13 And I went out by night by the wgate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the xdung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were ybroken down, and zthe gates thereof were consumed with fire. 14 Then I went on to the agate of the fountain, and to the bking’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. 15 Then went I up in the night by the cbrook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the wgate of the valley, and so returned. 16 And the drulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the drulers, nor to the rest that did the work. 17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem elieth waste, and fthe gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more ga reproach. 18 Then I told them of hthe hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they istrengthened their hands for this good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and kGeshem the Arabian, heard it, they llaughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? mwill ye rebel against the king? 20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: nbut ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

3 Then aEliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the bsheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the ctower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the dtower of Hananeel. 2 And †next unto him builded ethe men of Jericho. And next to them builded fZaccur the son of Imri. 3 But the gfish gate did the sons of hHassenaah build, who also ilaid the beams thereof, and jset up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. 4 And next unto them repaired kMeremoth the son of kUrijah, the son of lKoz. And next unto them repaired mMeshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of nMeshezabeel. And next unto them repaired nZadok the son of Baana. 5 And next unto them the oTekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to pthe work of their Lord. 6 Moreover the qold gate repaired Jehoiada the son of rPaseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they ilaid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. 7 And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon sthe Meronothite, the men of tGibeon, and of uMizpah, unto the xthrone of the governor on this side the river. 8 Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the ygoldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired zHananiah the son of one of the aapothecaries, and they ||fortified Jerusalem unto the bbroad wall. 9 And next unto them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of cthe half part of Jerusalem. 10 And next unto them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, even over against his house. And next unto him repaired dHattush the son of eHashabniah. 11 fMalchijah the son of gHarim, and hHashub the son of iPahath-moab, repaired the †other piece, and the ktower of the furnaces. 12 And next unto him repaired Shallum the son of lHalohesh, the ruler of cthe half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters. 13 The mvalley gate repaired nHanun, and the inhabitants of oZanoah; they built it, and pset up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits on the wall unto qthe dung gate. 14 But the qdung gate repaired rMalchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of sBeth-haccerem; he built it, and pset up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. 15 But tthe gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of uCol-hozeh, the ruler of part of vMizpah; he built it, and covered it, and pset up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of wSiloah by the xking’s garden, and unto ythe stairs that go down from the city of David. 16 After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of zBeth-zur, unto the place over against athe sepulchres of David, and to the bpool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty. 17 After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of cBani. Next unto him repaired dHashabiah, the ruler of the half part of eKeilah, in his part. 18 After him repaired their brethren, Bavai the son of fHenadad, the ruler of the half part of eKeilah. 19 And next to him repaired gEzer the son of hJeshua, the ruler of iMizpah, another piece over against the going up to kthe armoury at lthe turning of the wall. 20 After him mBaruch the son of n||Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from lthe turning of the wall unto the door of the house of oEliashib the high priest. 21 After him repaired pMeremoth the son of Urijah the son of Koz another piece, from the door of the house of oEliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22 And after him repaired the priests, the men of qthe plain. 23 After him repaired rBenjamin and sHashub over against their house. After him repaired tAzariah the son of uMaaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house. 24 After him repaired wBinnui the son of fHenadad another piece, from the house of tAzariah unto lthe turning of the wall, even unto xthe corner. 25 Palal the son of Uzai, over against lthe turning of the wall, and the tower which lieth out from ythe king’s high house, that was by zthe court of the prison. After him aPedaiah the son of bParosh. 26 Moreover cthe Nethinims ||dwelt in ||Ophel,