Rebuilding the Wall

3 Then ^bEliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built ^cthe Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and ^dset its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the ^eTower of Hananel. 2 And next to him ^fthe men of Jericho built. And next to them¹ Zaccur the son of Imri built.

3 The sons of Hassenaah built ^gthe Fish Gate. ^hThey laid its beams and ^dset its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 4 And next to them ⁱMeremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them ^jMeshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired. 5 And next to them ^kthe Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.²

6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah ^lrepaired the Gate of Yeshanah.^{3 h}They laid its beams and ^dset its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 7 And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, the seat of ^mthe governor of the province Beyond the River. 8 Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as ⁿthe Broad Wall. 9 Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, ^oruler of half the district of⁴ Jerusalem, repaired. 10 Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah repaired. 11 Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and ^pthe Tower of the Ovens. 12 Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ^qruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.

13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired ^rthe Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and ^sset its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits⁵ of the wall, as far as ^tthe Dung Gate.

14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of ^uBeth-haccherem, repaired ^tthe Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and ^sset its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

15 And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired ^vthe Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and ^sset its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of ^wthe Pool of Shelah of ^xthe king’s garden, as far as ^ythe stairs that go down from the city of David. 16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite ^zthe tombs of David, as far as ^athe artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men. 17 After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired for his district. 18 After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah. 19 Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at ^bthe buttress.⁶ 20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired⁷ another section from the buttress to the door of the house of ^cEliashib the high priest. 21 After him ^dMeremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22 After him the priests, the men of ^ethe surrounding area, repaired. 23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah repaired beside his own house. 24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress and to ^fthe corner. 25 Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the buttress and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at ^gthe court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh 26 ^hand the temple servants living on ⁱOphel repaired to a point opposite ^jthe Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower. 27 After him ^kthe Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.

28 Above ^lthe Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house. 29 After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired. 30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him ^mMeshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite ⁿhis chamber. 31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate,⁸ and to the upper chamber of the corner. 32 And between the upper chamber of the corner and ^othe Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.

Opposition to the Work

4 ¹ Now when ^qSanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2 And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of ^rSamaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves?² Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” 3 ^qTobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—^sif a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” 4 ^tHear, O our God, for we are despised. ^uTurn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. 5 ^vDo not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

6 So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

7 ³ But when ^qSanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. 8 ^wAnd they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9 And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

10 In Judah it was said,⁴ “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” 11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” 12 At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.”⁵ 13 So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, ^x“Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, ^ywho is great and awesome, ^zand fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

The Work Resumes

15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us ^aand that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. 16 From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and ^bcoats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, 17 who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. 18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 19 And I said to ^cthe nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. 20 In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. ^dOur God will fight for us.”

21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. 22 I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” 23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; ^eeach kept his weapon at his right hand.⁶

Nehemiah Stops Oppression of the Poor

5 Now there arose ^fa great outcry of the people and of their wives ^gagainst their Jewish brothers. 2 For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.” 3 There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” 4 And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for ^hthe king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5 Now ⁱour flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet ^jwe are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

6 I was very angry when I heard ^ftheir outcry and these words. 7 I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, ^k“You are exacting interest, each from his brother.” And I held a great assembly against them 8 and said to them, “We, as far as we are able, ^lhave bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say. 9 So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk ^min the fear of our God ⁿto prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? 10 Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. 11 Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” 12 Then they said, “We will restore these and ^orequire nothing from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and ^pmade them swear ^qto do as they had promised. 13 ^rI also shook out the fold¹ of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.” ^sAnd all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

Nehemiah’s Generosity

14 Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from ^tthe twentieth year to ^uthe thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, ^vneither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. 15 The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration² forty shekels³ of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, ^wbecause of the fear of God. 16 I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover, there were ^xat my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 ^yNow what was prepared at my expense⁴ for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this ^vI did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people. 19 ^zRemember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.

Conspiracy Against Nehemiah

6 Now when ^aSanballat and Tobiah and ^bGeshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (^calthough up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of ^dOno.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem¹ also says it, that you and ^ethe Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God,² strengthen my hands.

10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was ^fconfined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live?³ I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, ^gbut he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 ^hRemember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also ⁱthe prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

The Wall Is Finished

15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And ^jwhen all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, ^kfor they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 17 Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of ^lArah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of ^mMeshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife. 19 Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.

7 Now when the wall had been built ⁿand I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, 2 I gave ^omy brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of ^pthe castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was ^qa more faithful and God-fearing man than many. 3 And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” 4 The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.

Lists of Returned Exiles

5 Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of ^rthose who came up at the first, and I found written in it:

6 ^sThese were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town. 7 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, ^tAzariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: 8 the sons of Parosh, 2,172. 9 The sons of Shephatiah, 372. 10 The sons of Arah, ^u652. 11 The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818. 12 The sons of ^vElam, 1,254. 13 The sons of Zattu, 845. 14 The sons of Zaccai, 760. 15 The sons of ^wBinnui, 648. 16 The sons of Bebai, 628. 17 The sons of Azgad, 2,322. 18 The sons of Adonikam, 667. 19 The sons of Bigvai, 2,067. 20 The sons of Adin, 655. 21 The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. 22 The sons of Hashum, 328. 23 The sons of ^xBezai, 324. 24 The sons of Hariph, 112. 25 The sons of ^yGibeon, 95. 26 The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188. 27 The men of Anathoth, 128. 28 The men ^zof Beth-azmaveth, 42. 29 The men of ^aKiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. 30 The men of Ramah and Geba, 621. 31 The men of Michmas, 122. 32 The men of Bethel and Ai, 123. 33 The men of the other Nebo, 52. 34 The sons of ^bthe other Elam, 1,254. 35 The sons of Harim, 320. 36 The sons of Jericho, 345. 37 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721. 38 The sons of Senaah, 3,930.

39 The priests: the sons of ^cJedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, 973. 40 The sons of ^dImmer, 1,052. 41 The sons of ^ePashhur, 1,247. 42 The sons of ^fHarim, 1,017.

43 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the sons of ^gHodevah, 74. 44 The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148. 45 The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138.

46 The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 47 the sons of Keros, the sons of ^hSia, the sons of Padon, 48 the sons of Lebana, the sons of ⁱHagaba, the sons of ⁱShalmai, 49 the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, 50 the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, 51 the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, 52 the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of ^jNephushesim, 53 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 54 the sons of ^kBazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 55 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 56 the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.

57 The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of ^lPerida, 58 the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 59 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of ^mAmon.

60 All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392.

61 ⁿThe following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, ^oAddon, and Immer, but they could not prove their fathers’ houses nor their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: 62 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642. 63 Also, of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name). 64 These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 65 ^pThe ^qgovernor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food until a priest with Urim and Thummim should arise.