May 31
Nehemiah 3:1 — 5:19

3 And Eliashib the high priest and his brothers, the priests, proceeded to get up and build the Sheep Gate. They themselves sanctified it and went setting up its doors; and as far as the Tower of Meah they sanctified it, as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 And at their side the men of Jericho did building. And at their side Zaccur the son of Imri did building.

3 And the Fish Gate was what the sons of Hassenaah built; they themselves timbered it and then set up its doors, its bolts and its bars. 4 And at their side Meremoth the son of Urijah the son of Hakkoz did repair work, and at their side Meshullam the son of Berechiah the son of Meshezabel did repair work; and at their side Zadok the son of Baana did repair work. 5 And at their side the Tekoites did repair work; but their majestic ones themselves did not bring the back of their neck into the service of their masters.

6 And the Gate of the Old [City] was what Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired; they themselves timbered it and then set up its doors and its bolts and its bars. 7 And at their side Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, did repair work, men of Gibeon and Mizpah, belonging to the throne of the governor beyond the River. 8 At his side Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, did repair work; and at his side Hananiah a member of the ointment mixers did repair work; and they proceeded to flagstone Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9 And at their side Rephaiah the son of Hur, a prince of half the district of Jerusalem, did repair work. 10 And at their side Jedaiah the son of Harumaph did repair work in front of his own house; and at his side Hattush the son of Hashabneiah did repair work.

11 Another measured section was what Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired, and also the Tower of the Bake Ovens. 12 And at his side Shallum the son of Hallohesh, a prince of half the district of Jerusalem, did repair work, he and his daughters.

13 The Valley Gate was what Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired; they themselves built it and then set up its doors, its bolts and its bars, also a thousand cubits in the wall as far as the Gate of the Ash-heaps. 14 And the Gate of the Ash-heaps was what Malchijah the son of Rechab, a prince of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired; he himself went building it and setting up its doors, its bolts and its bars.

15 And the Fountain Gate was what Shallun the son of Colhozeh, a prince of the district of Mizpah, repaired; he himself proceeded to build it and to roof it over and to set up its doors, its bolts and its bars, and also the wall of the Pool of the Canal to the King’s Garden and as far as the Stairway that goes down from the City of David.

16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, a prince of half the district of Beth-zur, did repair work as far as in front of the Burial Places of David and as far as the pool that had been made and as far as the House of the Mighty Ones.

17 After him the Levites did repair work, Rehum the son of Bani; at his side Hashabiah, a prince of half the district of Keilah, did repair work for his district. 18 After him their brothers did repair work, Bavvai the son of Henadad, a prince of half the district of Keilah.

19 And Ezer the son of Jeshua, a prince of Mizpah, proceeded at his side to repair another measured section in front of the going up to the Armory at the Buttress.

20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai worked with fervor [and] repaired another measured section, from the Buttress as far as the entrance of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

21 After him Meremoth the son of Urijah the son of Hakkoz repaired another measured section, from the entrance of the house of Eliashib as far as the end of Eliashib’s house.

22 And after him the priests, men of the [Jordan] District, did repair work. 23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub did repair work in front of their own house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah did repair work close by his own house. 24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another measured section, from the house of Azariah as far as the Buttress and as far as the corner.

25 [After him] Palal the son of Uzai [did repair work] in front of the Buttress and the tower that goes out from the King’s House, the upper one that belongs to the Courtyard of the Guard. After him there was Pedaiah the son of Parosh.

26 And the Nethinim themselves happened to be dwellers in Ophel; [they did repair work] as far as in front of the Water Gate on the east and the protruding tower.

27 After them the Tekoites repaired another measured section, from in front of the great protruding tower as far as the wall of Ophel.

28 Above the Horse Gate the priests did repair work, each one in front of his own house.

29 After them Zadok the son of Immer did repair work in front of his own house.

And after him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, did repair work.

30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another measured section.

After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah did repair work in front of his own hall.

31 After him Malchijah, a member of the goldsmith guild, did repair work as far as the house of the Nethinim and the traders, in front of the Inspection Gate and as far as the roof chamber of the corner.

32 And between the roof chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the traders did repair work.

4 Now it came about that, as soon as Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and highly offended, and he kept deriding the Jews. 2 And he began to say before his brothers and the military force of Samaria, yes, he began to say: “What are the feeble Jews doing? Will they depend upon themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they bring the stones to life out of the heaps of dusty rubbish when they are burned?”

3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was alongside him, and he went on to say: “Even what they are building, if a fox went up [against it], he would certainly break down their wall of stones.”

4 Hear, O our God, for we have become an object of contempt; and make their reproach return upon their own head, and give them to the plunder in the land of captivity. 5 And do not cover over their error and their sin from before you. Let it not be wiped out, for they have committed offense against the builders.

6 So we kept building the wall, and the entire wall came to be joined together clear to half its [height], and the people continued to have a heart for working.

7 Now it came about that, as soon as Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem had gone forward, for the gaps had started to be stopped up, they became very angry. 8 And all of them began to conspire together to come and fight against Jerusalem and cause me disturbance. 9 But we prayed to our God and kept a guard posted against them day and night on account of them.

10 And Judah began to say: “The power of the burden bearer has stumbled, and there is a great deal of rubbish; and we ourselves are not able to build on the wall.”

11 Moreover, our adversaries kept saying: “They will not know and they will not see until we come right in among them, and we shall certainly kill them and put a stop to the work.”

12 And it came about that, whenever the Jews dwelling close by them came in, they proceeded to say to us ten times: “[They will come up] from all the places where YOU people will return to us.”

13 So I kept [men] posted at the lowest parts of the place behind the wall at the open places, and I kept the people posted by families with their swords, their lances and their bows. 14 When I saw [their fear] I immediately rose and said to the nobles and the deputy rulers and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid on their account. Jehovah the great and the fear-inspiring One keep in YOUR mind; and fight for YOUR brothers, YOUR sons and YOUR daughters, YOUR wives and YOUR homes.”

15 Now it came about that as soon as our enemies heard that it had become known to us, so that the [true] God had frustrated their counsel and we had all of us gone back to the wall, each one to his work, 16 yes, it came about that from that day forward half of my young men were active in the work and half of them were holding the lances, the shields and the bows and the coats of mail; and the princes were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 As for the builders on the wall and those who were carrying the burden of load bearers, [each] one was active in the work with his one hand while the other [hand] was holding the missile. 18 And the builders were girded, each one with his sword upon his hip, while building; and the one to blow the horn was alongside me.

19 And I proceeded to say to the nobles and the deputy rulers and the rest of the people: “The work is large and extensive, and we are spread about upon the wall far apart from one another. 20 In the place where YOU hear the sound of the horn, there is where YOU will collect yourselves together to us. Our God himself will fight for us.”

21 While we were active in the work, the other half of them also were holding the lances, from the ascending of the dawn until the stars came out. 22 Besides, at that time I said to the people: “Let the men spend the night, each one with his attendant, in the midst of Jerusalem, and they must become for us a guard by night and workers by day.” 23 As for me and my brothers and my attendants and the men of the guard who were behind me, we were not taking off our garments, each one [having] his missile in his right hand.

5 However, there came to be a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brothers. 2 And there were those who were saying: “Our sons and our daughters we are giving as security that we may get grain and eat and keep alive.” 3 And there were those who were saying: “Our fields and our vineyards and our houses we are giving as security that we may get grain during the food shortage.” 4 And there were those who were saying: “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute on our fields and our vineyards. 5 And now our flesh is the same as the flesh of our brothers; our sons are the same as their sons, but here we are reducing our sons and our daughters to slaves, and there are some of our daughters already reduced; and there is no power in our hands while our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”

6 Now I became very angry as soon as I heard their outcry and these words. 7 So my heart took consideration within me, and I began finding fault with the nobles and the deputy rulers, and went on to say to them: “Usury is what YOU are exacting, each one from his own brother.”

Further, I arranged a great assembly on their account. 8 And I proceeded to say to them: “We ourselves have bought back our own Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations, as far as it was in our power; and at the same time will YOU yourselves sell YOUR own brothers, and must they be sold to us?” At this they became speechless, and they did not find a word. 9 And I went on to say: “The thing that YOU are doing is not good. Is it not in the fear of our God that YOU should walk because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? 10 And also I, my brothers and my attendants are giving money and grain on loan among them. Let us, please, leave off this lending on interest. 11 Please, restore to them on this day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves and their houses, and the hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil that YOU are exacting as interest from them.”

12 To this they said: “We shall make restoration, and from them we shall ask nothing back. We shall do precisely as you are saying.” So I called the priests and made them swear to do according to this word. 13 Also, my bosom I shook out and then said: “In this manner may the [true] God shake out from his house and from his acquired property every man that does not carry out this word; and in this manner may he become shaken out and empty.” To this all the congregation said: “Amen!” And they began to praise Jehovah. And the people proceeded to do according to this word.

14 Another thing: From the day that he commissioned me to become their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I myself and my brothers did not eat the bread due the governor. 15 As for the former governors that were prior to me, they had made it heavy upon the people, and they kept taking from them for bread and wine daily forty silver shekels. Also, their attendants themselves domineered over the people. As for me, I did not do that way on account of the fear of God.

16 And, what is more, in the work of this wall I took a hand, and not a field did we acquire; and all my attendants were collected together there for the work. 17 And the Jews and the deputy rulers, a hundred and fifty men, and those coming in to us from the nations that were around us were at my table. 18 As for that which happened to be made ready daily, one bull, six select sheep and birds were made ready for me, and once every ten days every sort of wine in abundance. And along with this the bread due the governor I did not demand, because the service upon this people was heavy. 19 Do remember for me, O my God, for good, all that I have done in behalf of this people.

End of May