NEHEMIAH


Taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978 by the New 
York Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

NEH 1:11  O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your 
servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your 
name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence 
of this man." I was cupbearer to the king.

2:1  In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when 
wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had 
not been sad in his presence before;

2  so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not 
ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart." I was very much afraid,

3  but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face 
not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and 
its gates have been destroyed by fire?"

4  The king said to me, "What is it you want?" Then I prayed to the God of 
heaven,

5  and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has 
found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my 
fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it."

6  Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long 
will your journey take, and when will you get back?" It pleased the king to 
send me; so I set a time.

7  I also said to him, "If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the 
governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct 
until I arrive in Judah?

8  And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so he 
will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the 
temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?" And 
because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my 
requests.

9  So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king's 
letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

10  When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard 
about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote 
the welfare of the Israelites.

11  I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days

12  I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what 
my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with 
me except the one I was riding on.

13  By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and 
the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken 
down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.

14  Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there 
was not enough room for my mount to get through;

15  so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned 
back and reentered through the Valley Gate.

16  The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, 
because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or 
officials or any others who would be doing the work.

17  Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in 
ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the 
wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace."

18  I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the 
king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began 
this good work.

19  But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and 
Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. "What is this 
you are doing?" they asked. "Are you rebelling against the king?"

20  I answered them by saying, "The God of heaven will give us success. We 
his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in 
Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it."

3:16  Beyond him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of a half-district of Beth 
Zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the 
artificial pool and the House of the Heroes.

4:6  So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the 
people worked with all their heart.

7  But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of 
Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that 
the gaps were being closed, they were very angry.

8  They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir 
up trouble against it.

9  But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this 
threat.

10  Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is 
giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall."

11  Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right 
there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work."

12  Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, 
"Wherever you turn, they will attack us."

13  Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of 
the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their 
swords, spears and bows.

14  After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the 
officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember 
the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons 
and your daughters, your wives and your homes."

15  When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God 
had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.

16  From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half 
were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted 
themselves behind all the people of Judah

17  who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work 
with one hand and held a weapon in the other,

18  and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But 
the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.

19  Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, 
"The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from 
each other along the wall.

20  Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will 
fight for us!"

21  So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the 
first light of dawn till the stars came out.

22  At that time I also said to the people, "Have every man and his helper 
stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and 
workmen by day."

23  Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off 
our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.

5:6  When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry.

7  I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I 
told them, "You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!" So I called 
together a large meeting to deal with them

8  and said: "As far as possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers 
who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for 
them to be sold back to us!" They kept quiet, because they could find 
nothing to say.

9  So I continued, "What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in 
the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?

10  I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and 
grain. But let the exacting of usury stop!

11  Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and 
houses, and also the usury you are charging them--the hundredth part of the 
money, grain, new wine and oil."

12  "We will give it back," they said. "And we will not demand anything 
more from them. We will do as you say." Then I summoned the priests and 
made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised.

13  I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, "In this way may God 
shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this 
promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!" At this the whole 
assembly said, "Amen," and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had 
promised.

14  Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was 
appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-
second year--twelve years--neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted 
to the governor.

15  But the earlier governors--those preceding me--placed a heavy burden on 
the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food 
and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of 
reverence for God I did not act like that.

16  Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were 
assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.

17  Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as 
well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations.

18  Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for 
me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of 
all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the 
demands were heavy on these people.

19  Remember me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people.

6:1  When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of 
our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it--
though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates--

2  Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: "Come, let us meet together 
in one of the villages on the plain of Ono." But they were scheming to harm 
me;

3  so I sent messengers to them with this reply: "I am carrying on a great 
project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and 
go down to you?"

4  Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the 
same answer.

5  Then, the fifth time, Sanballat sent his aide to me with the same 
message, and in his hand was an unsealed letter

6  in which was written: "It is reported among the nations--and Geshem says 
it is true--that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you 
are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about 
to become their king

7  and have even appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in 
Jerusalem: 'There is a king in Judah!' Now this report will get back to the 
king; so come, let us confer together."

8  I sent him this reply: "Nothing like what you are saying is happening; 
you are just making it up out of your head."

9  They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too 
weak for the work, and it will not be completed." But I prayed, "Now 
strengthen my hands."

10  One day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of 
Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home. He said, "Let us meet in the house 
of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because men 
are coming to kill you--by night they are coming to kill you."

11  But I said, "Should a man like me run away? Or should one like me go 
into the temple to save his life? I will not go!"

12  I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied 
against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

13  He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by 
doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.

14  Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, because of what they have 
done; remember also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who 
have been trying to intimidate me.

15  So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two 
days.

7:1  After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the 
gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed.

2  I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the 
commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God 
more than most men do.

3  I said to them, "The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the 
sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the 
doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at 
their posts and some near their own houses."

7  in company with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, 
Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum and Baanah): The list 
of the men of Israel:

12:1  These were the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel son 
of Shealtiel and with Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

2  Amariah, Malluch, Hattush,

3  Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,

4  Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,

5  Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah,

6  Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,

7  Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah and Jedaiah. These were the leaders of the priests 
and their associates in the days of Jeshua.

8  The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and also 
Mattaniah, who, together with his associates, was in charge of the songs of 
thanksgiving.

9  Bakbukiah and Unni, their associates, stood opposite them in the 
services.

10  Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, 
Eliashib the father of Joiada,

11  Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua.

12  In the days of Joiakim, these were the heads of the priestly families: 
of Seraiah's family, Meraiah; of Jeremiah's, Hananiah;

13  of Ezra's, Meshullam; of Amariah's, Jehohanan;

14  of Malluch's, Jonathan; of Shecaniah's, Joseph;

15  of Harim's, Adna; of Meremoth's, Helkai;

16  of Iddo's, Zechariah; of Ginnethon's, Meshullam;

17  of Abijah's, Zicri; of Miniamin's and of Moadiah's, Piltai;

18  of Bilgah's, Shammua; of Shemaiah's, Jehonathan;

19  of Joiarib's, Mattenai; of Jedaiah's, Uzzi;

20  of Sallu's, Kallai; of Amok's, Eber;

21  of Hilkiah's, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah's, Nethanel.

22  The family heads of the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, 
Johanan and Jaddua, as well as those of the priests, were recorded in the 
reign of Darius the Persian.

13:1  On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the 
people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should 
ever be admitted into the assembly of God,

2  because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had 
hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. (Our God, however, turned the 
curse into a blessing.)

3  When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were 
of foreign descent.

4  Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the 
storerooms of the house of our God. He was closely associated with Tobiah,

5  and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the 
grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes of 
grain, new wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers and 
gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests.

6  But while all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the 
thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the 
king. Some time later I asked his permission

7  and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib 
had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God.

8  I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah's household goods out of 
the room.

9  I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the 
equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.

10  I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been 
given to them, and that all the Levites and singers responsible for the 
service had gone back to their own fields.

11  So I rebuked the officials and asked them, "Why is the house of God 
neglected?" Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.

12  All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and oil into the 
storerooms.

13  I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named 
Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zaccur, the son 
of Mattaniah, their assistant, because these men were considered 
trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to 
their brothers.

14  Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out what I have so 
faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.

15  In those days I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath 
and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, 
grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this 
into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food 
on that day.

16  Men from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all 
kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the 
people of Judah.

17  I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this wicked 
thing you are doing--desecrating the Sabbath day?

18  Didn't your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all 
this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more 
wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath."

19  When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, 
I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I 
stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought 
in on the Sabbath day.

20  Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the 
night outside Jerusalem.

21  But I warned them and said, "Why do you spend the night by the wall? If 
you do this again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they no 
longer came on the Sabbath.

22  Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the 
gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this also, O 
my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.

23  Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from 
Ashdod, Ammon and Moab.

24  Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of 
one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of 
Judah.

25  I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men 
and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God's name and said: 
"You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you 
to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves.

26  Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel 
sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by 
his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into 
sin by foreign women.

27  Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness 
and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?"

28  One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-
law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me.

29  Remember them, O my God, because they defiled the priestly office and 
the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.

30  So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and 
assigned them duties, each to his own task.

31  I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, 
and for the firstfruits. Remember me with favor, O my God.

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