Nehemiah’s Prayer; Nehemiah’s mission; Nehemiah Prays for His People

1 The account by Hakalyah’s son Nehemyah (Nehemiah).

In the month of Kislev during the twentieth year of the reign of King Artahshashta (Artaxerxes) over the Persian Empire, I was in the capital city of Shushan (Susa). 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came ≈with some other men from Yehudah, and I asked them about the Jews who’d escaped ≈and managed to avoid being exiled, and about Yerushalem, 3 and he told me, “The ones left behind in the provinces and who ≈avoided the captivity, are in ≈a bad way and feeling depressed. The wall around Yerushalem was torn down, and its gates were burnt.”

4 When I heard ≈all that, I sat down and I ≈was upset for days. I fasted and cried and prayed to the God of the heavens, 5 and I said, “Oh Yahweh, God of the heavens, the great and awesome God, who keeps &his agreement and ≈is determinedly loyal to those who love him and ≈obey his instructions: 6 Please listen ≈carefully to your servant’s prayer that I’m ≈presenting to you today, day and night, on account of your servants the ≈Israelis. ≈On behalf of all Israelis, I’m confessing that we’ve sinned against you—≈both my generation and previous generations. 7 We’ve acted extremely corruptly—≈disobeying you by not ≈obeying your commands, statutes, and judgements that you ≈instructed through your servant Mosheh. 8 Please remember ≈that you told your servant Mosheh ≈that if we act unfaithfully, you yourself would scatter us among the nations,[ref] 9 ≈but if we’d return to you and obey your instructions, then even if we had been banished to the ends of the earth, you’d gather us back up and bring us back to the place where you’ve established your name and reputation.[ref]

10 “≈We’re your servants and your people that you ≈rescued from slavery with your ≈incredible power. 11 Oh, my master, please ≈listen carefully to your servant’s prayer, and to the prayer of your other servants who delight to ≈honour your name. Please cause your servant to succeed today, and give ≈me favour in the king’s eyes.”

Now as for me, I was the king’s cupbearer.

2 In the ≈spring of the twentieth year of King Artahshashta’s reign, I ≈was serving wine to the king. ≈I’d never looked sad before in his presence, 2 and the king ≈asked me, “Why ≈do you look unhappy? ≈I know that you’re not sick ≈so something must be upsetting you.”

I was very scared 3 and I ≈answered the king, “May the king live forever. ≈I can’t help but look unhappy when the city containing my ancestors’ graves has had its gates burnt down and it’s now abandoned.”[ref] 4 “≈So what would you like to happen?” the king ≈asked.

Then I prayed to the God of heaven 5 and ≈answered the king, “If ≈I have your favour, and if it seems good to the king, maybe you’d send me to Yehudah—to the city of my ancestors’ graves ≈so I could rebuild it.”

6 Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “≈How long would your journey be? And when would you return?” ≈So I gave him a date and he seemed happy with it, because he released me to go.

7 ≈Then I made another request, “If it ≈pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of ≈the provinces across the Euphrates river to ask them to help me in my travel towards Yehudah. 8 Also a letter to Asaf, the keeper of the king’s forest, so he’ll give me timber for the beams of the gates of the fortress ≈near the temple, and for the city wall, and for the house ≈that I’ll live in.” Then the king ≈granted those requests, thanks to God’s help on what I was doing.

The city walls rebuilt

9 Then I went to the governors of ≈the provinces across the Euphrates, and I gave them the king’s letters. The king had sent army officers and horsemen with me. 10 When Sanvallat the Horonite and the servant Toviyyah the Ammonite heard >my plans, ≈they were very angry that someone would come to help the Israelis.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Wall; Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls; Nehemiah’s Inspection of the Walls

11 ≈So I ≈got to Yerushalem and was there for three days, 12 ≈One night, I got up and took a few men with me, without having told anyone what I felt that my God had been telling me to do for Yerushalem. ≈We only had the one horse that I was riding, 13 and we went out ≈in the dark through the Valley Gate and past the Dragon Well to the Dung Gate. I was ≈carefully inspecting the *city walls—≈noting where they were broken down and which gates had been burnt out. 14 Then I crossed to the Fountain Gate and the Royal Pool, but there was nowhere that we could get my mount through the rubble. 15 ≈So I went up the creek bed ≈in the dark, carefully inspecting the wall, before turning back and returning quietly through the Valley Gate.

16 ≈None of the city officials knew where I’d gone or what I was doing, and up until this point I hadn’t yet told >my plans to the Jewish leaders or the priests or nobles or city officials, or ≈hired any workers.

Decision to Restore the Walls

17 ≈So now I told them, “You call all see the ≈desperate situation that we’re in: Yerushalem is ≈in ruins and its gates have been burnt out. ≈So now, let’s rebuild the *city wall and then we’ll no longer be ≈mocked by others.” 18 I told them how God ≈had helped me so far and what the king had ≈given me permission to do.

“Well, ≈let’s get started on the rebuilding,” they said, and ≈got ready to work together. 19 ≈But then Sanvallat the Horonite, and the Ammonite servant Toviyyah, and Geshem the Arabian heard, and they mocked and despised us, saying, “What ≈are you guys all up to? Are you all rebelling against the king?”

20 I ≈answered them by explaining, “The God of the heavens will ≈help us to succeed, and we ourselves, his servants, will ≈do the rebuilding work, but you all will have ≈no part in it, and no rights in Yerushalem.”

3 The high priest Elyashiv ≈worked together with his brothers the priests, and they rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They themselves dedicated it and installed the doors on it. ≈In addition, they dedicated @the section of the wall as far as the Tower of the Hundred and ≈beyond that to the Tower of Hananel.

2 The men from Yericho rebuilt ≈the section beside them, and Imri’s son Zakkur rebuilt ≈the next section again. 3 Hassena’ah’s son rebuilt the Fish Gate—laying the beams then installing the doors with their bolts and bars.

4 Uriyyah’s son Meremot (the son of Hakkoz’s son Uriyyah) ≈rebuilt a section, as did Meshullam (son of Mesheyzav’s son Berekyah) and Ba’ana’s son Tsadok. 5 The Tekoites ≈worked next to them, but their ≈leaders wouldn’t actually help with the work.

6 Paseah’s son Yoyada and Besodeyah’s son Meshullam rebuilt the Yeshanah Gate—laying the beams then installing the doors with their bolts and bars. 7 ≈Next to them was Melatyah the Gibeonite, Yadon the Meronotite, and men of Gibeon and Mitspah rebuilding the section to the ≈residence of the governor of the regions that side of the Euphrates.

8 ≈Next again was Harhayah’s son Uzziyel (one of the goldsmiths), then Hananyah (who was a son of the perfumers) rebuilt as far as the Broad Wall. 9 ≈Then it was Hur’s son Refayah, the administrator for half of the Yerushalem district. 10 Harumaf’s son Yedayah ≈repaired the section in front of his house, then Hashavneyah’s son Hatthush ≈made the next repairs.

11 Harim’s son Malkiyyah and Pahat-Moav’s son Hashshuv repaired a section, as well as the Tower of Ovens. 12 ≈Next to them was Hallohesh’s son Shallum, the administrator for another half of the Yerushalem district, helped by his daughters.

13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah rebuilt the Valley Gate—installing the doors with their bolts and bars, as well as repairing 500m of wall along to the Dung Gate. 14 Rekav’s son Malkiyyah, the administrator for the Beyt-Hakkarem district, rebuilt the Dung Gate—installing the doors with their bolts and bars.

15 Kol-Hozeh’s son Shallun, the administrator for the Mitspah district, rebuilt the Fountain Gate—he built and covered it, installing the doors with their bolts and bars, and repaired the wall of the Shelah (Siloam) Pool from the king’s garden as far as the stairs that come down from the City of David. 16 ≈Next to him was Azbuk’s son Nehemyah, the administrator for half of the Beyt-Tsur district

Levites Who Worked on the Wall

17 ≈Next to him were some Levites: Bani’s son Rehum, then Hashavyah (the administrator for half of the Keilah district) did his district, 18 ≈then Henadad’s son Bavvai the administrator for the other half of the Keilah district.

19 ≈Then there was Yeshu’a’s son Etser (the administrator of Mitspah) repaired a section opposite the steps up to the armoury where the wall turned at an angle.

20 ≈Then Tsakkay’s son Baruk enthusiastically repaired another section from that angle to the entrance to the house of the high priest Elyashiv. 21 ≈Next to him was Meremot (son of Hakots’ son Uriyyah) who repaired another section from the doorway of Elyashiv’s house to the end of *it.

Priests Who Worked on the Wall

22 ≈Next to them, some priests from the surrounding area ≈made repairs.

23 After them Benyamin and Hashshuv repaired a section ≈in front of their house, then Azaryah (son of Ananyah’s son Ma’aseyah) repaired beside his house, 24 Henadad’s son Binnui repaired another section from Azaryah’s house to the corner, 25 Uzai’s son Palal did opposite the corner and the tower above the ≈palace by the guards’ courtyard, and then Parosh’s son Pedayah.

Other Builders

26 The temple servants who lived in Ofel repaired as far as ≈the eastern side of the Water Gate and its tower. 27 After #them, the men from Tekoa repaired another section from opposite that tall tower to the Ofel wall.

28 The priests repaired ≈the section past the Horse Gate—each of them repairing the section in front of his own house. 29 ≈Next to them, Immer’s son Tsadok repaired opposite his house, then Shecanyah’s son Shemayah the gatekeeper at the Eastern Gate ≈repaired the next section.

30 After him was Shelemyah’s son Hananyah with Zalaf’s sixth son Hanun working on a second section, then Berekyah’s sib Meshullam repairing a section in front of his quarters. 31 ≈Next was the goldsmiths’ son Malkiyyah who repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and up to the upper room in the corner, 32 and the other goldsmiths and some merchants repaired the last section of the wall from the upper room in the corner to the Sheep Gate.

4 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he got really angry. He mocked the Jews 2 and he spoke before ≈in front of his brothers and the army of Samaria, “What are those feeble Jews doing? ≈Do they think they’ll be able to rebuild that place themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they ≈get finished one day? Will they form the stones ≈back together from piles of dust, when they’ve been ≈weakened by the heat of the fires?”

3 Toviyyah the Ammonite was ≈standing beside him and confirmed, “Yes, even if a fox ≈walked over that stone wall that they’re building, it would make ≈it fall down.”

4 I prayed, “Our God, ≈listen to how we’re mocked and cause their ≈words to return on their own heads and ≈send them away as captives to become the plunder for another country. 5 Don’t just cover over their evil, and don’t ≈just ignore their sin, because they’ve repeatedly ≈made the workers get angry.”

6 ≈So we kept on at building the wall, and eventually all the wall was joined together ≈at about half its height, and ≈so the people were encouraged to keep persevering.

7 ≈Now when Sanballat, and Toviyyah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the Yerushalem walls ≈were getting repaired and the breaks were beginning to be closed up, it ≈made them extremely angry 8 and they all got together to come to ≈attack Yerushalem and ≈to throw us into confusion. 9 ≈So we prayed to our God, ≈as well as setting up a 24-hour guard to watch out for them.

10 ≈People around Yehudah said, “The ≈workers are running out of strength and there’s ≈a lot of rubble still to be moved. ≈Maybe we’re not up to building this wall.”

11 Then ≈those against us said, “≈We’ll rush in among them and kill some of them before they even see us or know that we’re coming, then ≈that will bring the work to an end.” 12 ≈After that, whenever the Jews living close to them came, they ≈repeatedly warned us, “≈They’re going to attack us from all directions.” 13 ≈So I stationed guards behind the lowest places along the wall ≈and where there were still gaps. I also ≈made sure that the families stood guard with their swords, spears, and bows.

14 I looked then I ≈got organised and told the nobles and the prefects, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of their ≈threats. Remember my ≈powerful and fearsome master, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” 15 ≈After all that, when our enemies ≈realised that we were aware of their intentions and that God had frustrated their surprise attack plan, ≈we all returned to our work on the wall.

16 ≈So from that day onwards, half of my young men would ≈work on the rebuilding, while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, and breastplates, and the officials ≈encouraged them all from behind. 17 Both those who were ≈placing the stones on the wall and those who were carrying the heavy loads to them, always ≈had their weapons with them in case of an attack. 18 The builders ≈had their swords strapped to their sides as they worked, and ≈the man who would sound the trumpet stayed with me. 19 Then I told the nobles and prefects, and the rest of the people, “≈This job is so large and extensive that we’re all separated from each other when we work on the wall, 20 so whenever you all hear the trumpet blast, join us at that place. Our God will fight for us.” 21 ≈So we ≈continued the work with half of them keeping their hands on their spears from the ≈beginning of the day until the stars came out at night.

22 Also at that time, I told the people, “≈Every worker including servants should spend the night inside the city, so they double as workers during the day and guards at night.” 23 During that period of construction, none of us, not even our servants, ≈stayed undressed or ≈separated from our weapons, even when washing.

5 ≈However around then, there was a ≈widespread complaint from the people and their wives against ≈what their fellow Jews were doing. 2 ≈Some of them complained, “≈There’s a lot of us when we include our sons and daughters. ≈We need grain so we can eat and ≈stay alive.”

3 ≈Others said, “We are mortgaging our fields and vineyards, and our houses so we can get grain during this famine.”

4 ≈Yet others said, “We’ve borrowed silver to pay the tax on our fields and our vineyards ≈that goes to the tribute to be paid to the foreign king. 5 ≈We’re Jews just like our countrymen, but we’re having to commit our children into bondage as slaves—yes, even our daughters. ≈Now we own nothing at all—not even our fields and vineyards.

6 I got very angry when I heard their ≈complaints and desperation, 7 and ≈I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I ≈protested to the nobles and the officials, “You guys are ≈charging interest against your own countrymen.”[ref]

≈So I called for a gathering of all the people to deal with them, 8 and I told them, “Our brothers, the Jews, were sold to other countries as slaves ≈and we’ve done all we can to bring them back here. But now even you yourselves are buying and selling your own countrymen to make a profit.” They ≈couldn’t argue against that, so they were just silent.

9 “It’s not good what you’re doing,” I ≈continued. “Shouldn’t you all ≈respect and obey our God, because ≈otherwise we’ll be despised by the other nations, our enemies. 10 I myself have lent them money and grain, as have my brothers and my young men, but please let’s forgo charging interest. 11 Please, even today, return their fields to them, and their vineyards and olive orchards, their houses, and ≈the interest on the money and the grain, the new wine, and the oil that you are charging against them.”

12 “≈Okay, we’ll do what you’re asking,” they ≈responded. “We’ll return >their property and we ≈won’t impose any more charges on them.”

≈So I called the priests ≈to witness those nobles and officials making an oath to do what they’d said they would do. 13 Also I shook ≈the folds of my robe and told >them, “May God shake you all out of his house like that, and ≡shake ≈every man’s business if he doesn’t do what he just promised—may he be shaken out like that and ≈lose everything.”

The Generosity of Nehemiah; Nehemiah’s Unselfishness

14 Also, from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the Yehudah region (for the twelve years from the Persian King Artahshashta’s 20th year until his 32nd year), I myself didn’t ≈accept the governor’s food allowance, nor did my ≈relatives. 15 The governors who preceded me had been very ≈hard on the people—≈demanding bread and wine and forty silver coins. Even their servants ≈oppressed the people. In contrast, I didn’t do that ≈due to desire to honour God. 16 Also I ≈remained focussed on rebuilding the wall, and we ≈didn’t invest in a farm property, and all my servants ≈also contributed to the work. 17 ≈I regularly fed a hundred and fifty Jewish leaders and city officials, as well as visitors from other countries around us, 18 ≈so in one day we needed one bull, six choice sheep, ≈and various kinds of poultry, as well as various types of wines every ten days. ≈I didn’t demand any of this from the people because it would have been a heavy burden for them.

19 My God, remember me for the good that I’ve done for these people.

6 Although we didn’t yet have any doors in the gates, when Sanballat and Toviyyah and Geshem the Arabian and the rest of our enemies heard that we’d finished building the wall so it didn’t have any gaps left in it, 2 Sanballat and Geshem ≈invited me, “We’d like to arrange to meet with you in one of the villages on the Ono plain.” ≈But they were ≈intending to harm me. 3 ≈So I sent messengers back to them, “≈This work is important and extensive, so I can’t afford to abandon it and have the work stop if I travelled down to you on the plain.”

4 They ≈tried four times to get me to go, but I kept refusing them for those same reasons.

5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me a fifth time ≈with the same request, but this time in an unsealed, open letter 6 saying, “≈There’s rumours flying around in nearby countries, and Geshem ≈confirms it, that you and the Jews are building the wall because you’re all plotting thinking to rebel. Then you’d become their king, according to ≈what we’re hearing. 7 ≈We’ve also heard that you’ve set up ‘prophets’ to speak out in Yerushalem to say about you, ‘There’s a king in Yehudah.’ By now, all of that will have been heard by the Persian king. ≈So now, come and let’s ≈discuss this together.”

8 I sent ≈a message straight back, “≈None of what you’re saying is true. It’s simply your own imagination at work.”

9 We knew that they were just trying to frighten us ≈so that we’d stop the repairs and it would never get finished.

My God, strengthen my hands.

10 After that, I entered Shemayah’s house (the son of Mehetav’el’s son Delayah) who was confined to his house, and he said, “Let’s set a time to meet in the temple—we’ll shut the temple doors because they’ll be coming to kill you—probably in the night.”

11 ≈But I disagreed, “Would a man like me run away? ≈Besides that, who’s allowed to live inside the temple? I won’t ≈do that.”

12 ≈Then I suddenly realised that God hadn’t told him to say that, but rather he was working against me because he’d been paid by Toviyyah and Sanballat. 13 ≈They must have hired him so that I’d be afraid and ≈take that advice and sin. ≈Then they could have ruined my reputation and discredited me.

14 My God, remember what Toviyyah and Sanballat have done, and also the prophetess Noadyah and the other prophets who’ve been ≈trying to scare me.