Nehemiah 3-4

GOD’S WORD Translation

A List of the People Rebuilding Jerusalem’s Walls

3 The chief priest Eliashib and his relatives, the priests, started by rebuilding Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place. They rebuilt as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and then as far as the Tower of Hananel. ² The men from Jericho were rebuilding next to Eliashib. Zaccur, son of Imri, was next to them. ³ The sons of Hassenaah rebuilt Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, locks, and bars in place. ⁴ Next to them Meremoth, son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz, made repairs. Next to them Meshullam, son of Berechiah and grandson of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to them Zadok, son of Baana, made repairs. ⁵ Next to them the men from Tekoa made repairs. However, the nobles wouldn’t lower themselves to work under supervisors.

⁶ Joiada, Paseah’s son, and Meshullam, Besodeiah’s son, made repairs on Old Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, locks, and bars in place. ⁷ Next to them Melatiah from Gibeon and Jadon from Meronoth, with men from Gibeon and Mizpah, made repairs on the wall. They did this under the authority of the governor ⌞from the province⌟ west of the Euphrates River. ⁸ Next to them Uzziel, Harhaiah’s son, a goldsmith, made repairs. Next to him Hananiah, a perfume maker, made repairs. They left out part of Jerusalem as far as Broad Wall. ⁹ Next to them Rephaiah, Hur’s son, an official in charge of half a district of Jerusalem, made repairs. ¹⁰ Next to them Jedaiah, Harumaph’s son, made repairs across from his own home. Next to them Hattush, Hashabneiah’s son, made repairs. ¹¹ Malchiah, Harim’s son, and Hasshub, Pahath Moab’s son, made repairs on a section that included the Tower of the Ovens. ¹² Next to them Shallum, Hallohesh’s son, an official in charge of half a district of Jerusalem, made repairs with the help of his daughters.

¹³ Hanun and the people of Zanoah repaired Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and set its doors, locks, and bars in place, and they repaired 1,500 feet of the wall, as far as Dung Gate. ¹⁴ Dung Gate itself was repaired by Malchiah, Rechab’s son, the official in charge of the district of Beth Hakkerem. He rebuilt it and set its doors, locks, and bars in place.

¹⁵ Shallun, Col Hozeh’s son, the official in charge of the district of Mizpah, repaired Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it, put a roof over it, and set its doors, locks, and bars in place. He also made repairs on the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King’s Garden as far as the stairs going down from the City of David. ¹⁶ After him Nehemiah, Azbuk’s son, the official in charge of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs all the way to a point across from the tombs of David as far as the pool and the soldiers’ barracks. ¹⁷ After him the Levites, including Rehum (Bani’s son), made repairs. Next to him Hashabiah, the official in charge of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. ¹⁸ After him their relatives made repairs. This included Binnui, Henadad’s son, the official in charge of half the district of Keilah. ¹⁹ Next to him Ezer, Jeshua’s son, the official in charge of Mizpah, repaired a section across from the ascent to the Armory at the Angle. ²⁰ After him Baruch, Zabbai’s son,^[a] made repairs on a section from the Angle to the door of the house of the chief priest Eliashib. ²¹ After him Meremoth, son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz, made repairs on a section from the door of Eliashib’s house to the end of Eliashib’s house. ²² After him the priests who lived in that area made repairs. ²³ After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their own homes. After them Azariah, son of Maaseiah and grandson of Ananiah, made repairs next to his home. ²⁴ After him Binnui, Henadad’s son, made repairs on a section from Azariah’s home to the Angle and to the corner of the wall. ²⁵ Palal, Uzai’s son, made repairs across from the Angle and the upper tower that projects from the king’s palace to the guards’ courtyard. After him Pedaiah, Parosh’s son, ²⁶ and the temple servants who were living on the Ophel made repairs on the wall as far as a point across from Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower. ²⁷ After him the men from Tekoa repaired a section across from the large projecting tower as far as the Wall of the Ophel.

²⁸ Above Horse Gate the priests made repairs. Each priest made repairs across from his own home. ²⁹ After them Zadok, Immer’s son, made repairs across from his own home. After him Shemaiah, Shecaniah’s son, the guard at East Gate, made repairs. ³⁰ After him Hananiah, Shelemiah’s son, and Hanun, Zalaph’s sixth son, repaired another section. After him Meshullam, Berechiah’s son, made repairs across from his living quarters. ³¹ After him Malchiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the building that housed the temple servants and merchants across from Inspection Gate and as far as the upper room at the corner. ³² The goldsmiths and merchants made repairs between the upper room at the corner and Sheep Gate.

Sanballat Ridicules the Jews

4 ^[b]When Sanballat heard we were rebuilding the wall, he became enraged and made fun of the Jews. ² In front of his allies and the army from Samaria, he said, “What do these miserable Jews think they’re doing? Can they rebuild it by themselves? Are they going to offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Will they get the stones out of the rubbish heaps, burned as these stones are, and give them new strength?”

³ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside Sanballat, said, “Even a fox would make their stone wall collapse if it walked on top of what they’re building!”

Nehemiah Overcomes Opposition from Sanballat

⁴ ⌞Nehemiah prayed,⌟ “Our God, hear us. We are despised. Turn their insults back on them, and let them be robbed in the land where they are prisoners. ⁵ Don’t ignore their guilt, and don’t let their sins disappear from your records. They have insulted you in front of these builders.”

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall, which was rebuilt to about half its ⌞original⌟ height. The people worked with determination.

⁷ When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people from Ashdod heard that the repair work on the walls of Jerusalem was making progress and that the gaps were being filled in, they became furious. ⁸ All of them plotted to attack Jerusalem to create confusion. ⁹ But we prayed to our God and set guards to protect us day and night.

¹⁰ Then the people of Judah said, “The work crews are worn out, and there is too much rubble. We can’t continue to rebuild the wall.”

¹¹ Our enemies said, “Before they know what is happening or see a thing, we will be right in the middle of them. We’ll kill them and bring the work to an end.”

¹² Jews who were living near our enemies warned us ten times that our enemies would attack us from every direction.

¹³ That is why I positioned people by their families behind the wall where it was lowest and most exposed. The people were armed with swords, spears, and bows. ¹⁴ I looked them over and proceeded to tell the nobles, the leaders, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of our enemies. Remember how great and awe-inspiring the Lord is. Fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

¹⁵ When our enemies heard that we knew about their plots and that God had prevented their plans from being successful, we all went back to the work on the wall. Each person performed his own job. ¹⁶ From that day on, half of my men worked on the wall, and the other half were wearing body armor and holding spears, shields, and bows. The leaders stood behind all the Judeans ¹⁷ who were rebuilding the wall. The workers who were carrying loads did the work with one hand and held their weapons with the other, ¹⁸ and each builder had his sword fastened to his side. The man who was supposed to sound the trumpet alarm was with me. ¹⁹ I told the nobles, the leaders, and the rest of the people, “So much work has to be done in different places that we are widely separated from one another on the wall. ²⁰ When you hear the trumpet, assemble around me. Our God will fight for us!”

²¹ So we continued to work. Half of us held spears from early dawn until the stars came out. ²² At that time I told the people, “Every man and his servant should stay overnight in Jerusalem so that we can set a guard at night and work during the day.” ²³ My brothers, my servants, and the guards assigned to me never changed their clothes. Neither did I. We each kept our weapons at hand.