THE

BOOK OF NEHEMIAH.

1 Or, history

3 Or, castle

THE 'words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. 1 1 Now it came to pass in the month Chislev, 2 See ch. ii. 1. 'in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, 2 he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The 3 remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven, and said, I beseech thee, O LORD, the 5 God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments: let thine 6 ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: yea, I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against 7 thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgements, which thou

8 commandedst thy servant Moses.

Remember,

I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye trespass, I will 9 scatter you abroad among the peoples: but if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to cause my name to 10 dwell there. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy I great power, and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. (Now I was cupbearer to the king.)

2 I

And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not 2 been beforetime sad in his presence. And the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very 3 sore afraid. And I said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates 4 thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? 5 So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build 6 it. And the king said unto me, (the queen also

1 Or, park

sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please 7 the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may let me pass through till I come unto Judah; and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the 8 king's 'forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I came to the governors beyond the 9 river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen. And when Sanballat 10 the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. So II I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men 12 with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night 13 by the valley gate, even toward the dragon's well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then 14 I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the 15 night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, 2 Or, deputies and so returned. And the rulers knew not 16

1

whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the 'rulers, nor to the rest Or, deputies 17 that did the work. Then said I unto them, Ye see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come and let us build up the wall of 18 Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also of the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened 19 their hands for the good work. But when

Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye 20 rebel against the king? Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

2 Or, The hundred

3 I Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananel. 2 And next unto him builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zaccur the son of Heb. him. 3 Imri. And the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and 4 the bars thereof. And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz. And next unto them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Baana. 5 And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but

1 Or, lords Or, Lord

2 Or, the gate of the old city or, of the old wall

3 Or, perfumers 4 Or, left

their nobles put not their necks to the work of their 'lord. And 'the old gate repaired Joiada 6 the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set the doors thereof, and the bolts thereof, and up the bars thereof. And next unto them repaired 7 Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, which appertained to the throne of the governor beyond the river. Next unto him repaired Uzziel the 8 son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths. And next unto him repaired Hananiah one of the 'apothecaries, and they 'fortified Jerusalem even unto the broad wall. And next unto them repaired Rephaiah 9 the son of Hur, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem. And next unto them repaired Je- 10 daiah the son of Harumaph, even over against his house. And next unto him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabneiah. Malchijah the 11 son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired another portion, and the tower of the furnaces. And next unto him repaired 12 Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters. The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabit- 13 ants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits of the wall unto the dung gate. And the dung gate repaired 14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and the bars thereof. And the fountain gate repaired Shal- 15 lun the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and the * In Is. viii. 6, bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of 'Shelah by the king's garden, even unto the stairs that

Shiloah.

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