Nehemiah 1-3

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, ² Hanani, 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.

³ They 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

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

Cupbearer’s plea

At that time, I was a cupbearer to the king. 2 ¹ In 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, ² the king asked me, “Why do you seem sad? Since you aren’t sick, you must have a broken heart!”

I was very afraid ³ and 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?”

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

I prayed to the God of heaven ⁵ and 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.”

⁶ With 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.

⁷ I 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. ⁸ May 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

⁹ So 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.

¹⁰ When 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.

¹¹ When I reached Jerusalem and had been there for three days, ¹² I 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. ¹³ I 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.

¹⁴ Then 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, ¹⁵ I 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

¹⁶ The 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. ¹⁷ So 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.” ¹⁸ I 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]

¹⁹ But 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.”

Rebuilding the gates and walls

3 Then Eliashib the high priest set to work with his fellow priests and built^[g] the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set up its doors, then dedicated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred and as far as the Tower of Hananel.

² The people of Jericho built next to them, and Zaccur, Imri’s son, built next to them. ³ The children of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and set up its doors, bolts, and bars. ⁴ Next to them Meremoth, Uriah’s son and Hakkoz’s grandson, made repairs. Meshullam, Berechiah’s son and Meshezabel’s grandson, made repairs next to them, and Zadok, Baana’s son, made repairs next to them. ⁵ Next to them the people from Tekoa made repairs, but their officials wouldn’t help with the work^[h] of their supervisors.^[i]

⁶ Joiada, Paseah’s son, and Meshullam, Besodeiah’s son, repaired the Mishneh Gate;^[j] they laid its beams and set up its doors, bolts, and bars. ⁷ Next to them repairs were made by Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, and^[k] the people of Gibeon and of Mizpah, who were ruled by the governor of the province Beyond the River.

⁸ Uzziel, Harhaiah’s son, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs next to them; and Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs next to him. They restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. ⁹ Next to them Rephaiah, Hur’s son, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. ¹⁰ Next to them Jedaiah, Harumaph’s son, made repairs opposite his house, and Hattush, Hashabneiah’s son, made repairs next to him.

¹¹ Malchijah, Harim’s son, and Hasshub, Pahath-moab’s son, repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. ¹² Next to them Shallum, Hallohesh’s son, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, along with his daughters.

¹³ Hanun and the people of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate; they built it and set up its doors, bolts, and bars. They also repaired fifteen hundred feet of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.

¹⁴ Malchiah, Rechab’s son, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set up its doors, bolts, and bars.

¹⁵ And Shallum, Col-hozeh’s son, ruler of the Mizpah district, repaired the Spring Gate. He rebuilt and covered it, and set up its doors, bolts, and bars. He also built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the King’s Garden, as far as the stairs that go down from David’s City.

¹⁶ After him, Nehemiah, Azbuk’s son, ruler of half the Beth-zur district, repaired from the point opposite David’s tombs as far as the artificial pool and the Warriors’ House. ¹⁷ After him, the Levites made repairs: Rehum, Bani’s son, and next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. ¹⁸ After him, their relatives made repairs: Binnui,^[l] Henadad’s son, ruler of half the district of Keilah.

¹⁹ Next to him, Ezer, Jeshua’s son, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the Angle. ²⁰ After him, Baruch, Zabbai’s son, thoroughly repaired another section from the Angle to the door of the house of the high priest Eliashib. ²¹ After him, Meremoth, Uriah’s son and Hakkoz’s grandson, repaired another section from the door to the back of Eliashib’s house.

²² After him, the priests from the surrounding area made repairs. ²³ After them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them, Azariah, Maaseiah’s son and Ananiah’s grandson, repaired beside his house. ²⁴ After him, Binnui, Henadad’s son, repaired another section from the house of Azariah to the Angle and to the corner. ²⁵ Palal, Uzai’s son, repaired^[m] from the point opposite the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him, Pedaiah, Parosh’s son, ²⁶ and the temple servants living on Ophel made repairs^[n] up to the point opposite the Water Gate to the east and the projecting tower. ²⁷ After them, the people of Tekoa repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel. ²⁸ From the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each one opposite his own house.

²⁹ After them, Zadok, Immer’s son, made repairs opposite his own house. After him, Shemaiah, Shecaniah’s son, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs. ³⁰ After him, Hananiah, Shelemiah’s son, and Hanun, Zalaph’s sixth son, repaired another section. After them, Meshullam, Berechiah’s son, made repairs opposite his own room.

³¹ After him, Malchiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Parade Gate,^[o] and as far as the upper room at the corner. ³² And between the upper room of the corner and the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.