Nehemiah 1-2

Common English Bible

Loss of Jerusalem

1 These are the words of Nehemiah, Hacaliah’s son.

In the month of Kislev,^[a] in the twentieth year,^[b] while I was in the fortress city of Susa, ²Hanani, one of my brothers, came with some other men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem.

³They told me, “Those in the province who survived the captivity are in great trouble and shame! The wall around Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire!”

Confession

⁴When I heard this news, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. ⁵I said:

“Lord God of heaven, great and awesome God, you are the one who keeps covenant and is truly faithful to those who love you and keep your commandments. ⁶Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant, which I now pray before you night and day for your servants, the people of Israel.

“I confess the sins of the people of Israel, which we have committed against you. Both I and my family have sinned. ⁷We have wronged you greatly. We haven’t kept the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded your servant Moses.

⁸“Remember the word that you gave to your servant Moses when you said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. ⁹But if you return to me and keep my commandments by really doing them, then, even though your outcasts live^[c] under distant skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place that I have chosen as a dwelling for my name.’ ¹⁰They are your servants and your people. They are the ones whom you have redeemed by your great power and your strong hand.

¹¹“Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in honoring your name. Please give success to your servant today and grant him favor in the presence of this man!”

Cupbearer’s plea

At that time, I was a cupbearer to the king. 2 ¹In the month of Nisan,^[d] in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, the king was about to be served wine. I took the wine and gave it to the king. Since I had never seemed sad in his presence, ²the king asked me, “Why do you seem sad? Since you aren’t sick, you must have a broken heart!”

I was very afraid ³and replied, “May the king live forever! Why shouldn’t I seem sad when the city, the place of my family’s graves, is in ruins and its gates destroyed by fire?”

⁴The king asked, “What is it that you need?”

I prayed to the God of heaven ⁵and replied, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, please send me to Judah, to the city of my family’s graves so that I may rebuild it.”

⁶With the queen sitting beside him, the king asked me, “How long will you be away and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I told him how long I would be gone.

⁷I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may letters be given me addressed to the governors of the province Beyond the River to allow me to travel to Judah. ⁸May the king also issue a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, directing him to supply me with timber for the beams of the temple fortress gates, for the city wall, and for the house in which I will live.”

The king gave me what I asked, for the gracious power of my God was with me.

Inspecting Jerusalem

⁹So I went to the governors of the province^[e] Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. The king had sent officers of the army and cavalry with me.

¹⁰When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard this, they were very angry that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

¹¹When I reached Jerusalem and had been there for three days, ¹²I set out at night, taking only a few people with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God was prompting me to do for Jerusalem, and the only animal I took was the one I rode. ¹³I went out by night through the Valley Gate past the Dragon’s Spring to the Dung Gate so that I could inspect the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down, as well as its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.

¹⁴Then I went on to the Spring Gate and to the King’s Pool. Since there was no room for the animal on which I was riding to pass, ¹⁵I went up by way of the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I turned back and returned by entering through the Valley Gate.

Let’s rebuild

¹⁶The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I was doing. I hadn’t yet told the Jews, the priests, the officials, the officers, or the rest who were to do the work. ¹⁷So I said to them, “You see the trouble that we’re in: Jerusalem is in ruins, and its gates are destroyed by fire! Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we won’t continue to be in disgrace.” ¹⁸I told them that my God had taken care of me, and also told them what the king had said to me.

“Let’s start rebuilding!” they said, and they eagerly began the work.^[f]

¹⁹But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and made fun of us. “What are you doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”

²⁰“The God of heaven will give us success!” I replied. “As God’s servants, we will start building. But you will have no share, right, or claim in Jerusalem.”