Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra went up to Jerusalem; Ezra was the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,

²son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub,

³son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth,

⁴son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki,

⁵son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest.

⁶So this Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.

⁷Some of the sons of Israel and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.

⁸And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

⁹For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him.

¹⁰For Ezra had firmly resolved to study the Law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

¹¹Now this is the copy of the letter which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in the words of the commandments of the LORD and His statutes to Israel:

¹²“Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. And now

¹³I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.

¹⁴Since you are sent on the part of the king and his seven advisers to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God which is in your hand,

¹⁵and to bring the silver and gold, which the king and his advisers have voluntarily given to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,

¹⁶with all the silver and gold which you find in the entire province of Babylon, along with the voluntary offering of the people and of the priests, who offered willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem;

¹⁷with this money, therefore, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

¹⁸And whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God.

¹⁹Also the utensils which are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem.

²⁰And the rest of the needs of the house of your God, for which it may be incumbent upon you to provide, provide for them from the royal treasury.

²¹“I myself, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently,

²²up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred kors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of anointing oil, and salt as needed.

²³Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, it shall be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons.

²⁴We also inform you that it is not allowed to impose tax, tribute, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges so that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the Euphrates River, that is, all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them.

²⁶And whoever does not comply with the Law of your God and the law of the king, judgment is to be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment, or for confiscation of property or for imprisonment.”

²⁷Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to glorify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem,

²⁸and has extended favor to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty officials. So I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD my God that was upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

¹Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households and the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes:

²of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush;

³of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him 150 males who were in the genealogical list;

⁴of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and two hundred males with him;

⁵of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel and three hundred males with him;

⁶and of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan and fifty males with him;

⁷and of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and seventy males with him;

⁸and of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael and eighty males with him;

⁹of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel and 218 males with him;

¹⁰and of the sons of Bani, Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah and 160 males with him;

¹¹and of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai and twenty-eight males with him;

¹²and of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 males with him;

¹³and of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, these being their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and sixty males with them;

¹⁴and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and seventy males with them.

¹⁵Now I assembled them at the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days; and when I paid close attention to the people and the priests, I did not find any Levites there.

¹⁶So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, teachers.

¹⁷And I sent them to Iddo the leading man at the place called Casiphia; and I told them what to say to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that is, to bring ministers to us for the house of our God.

¹⁸And as the good hand of our God was upon us, they brought us a man of insight from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, eighteen men;

¹⁹and Hashabiah and Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, twenty men;

²⁰and 220 of the temple servants, whom David and the officials had provided for the service of the Levites, all of them designated by name.

²¹Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, to humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.

²²For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who abandon Him.”

²³So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our pleading.

²⁴Then I selected twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers;

²⁵and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the utensils, the offering for the house of our God which the king, his counselors, his officials, and all Israel who were present there had contributed.

²⁶So I weighed into their hands 650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth a hundred talents, and a hundred gold talents,

²⁷and twenty gold bowls worth a thousand darics, and two utensils of fine shiny bronze, precious as gold.

²⁸Then I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD, and the utensils are holy; and the silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to the LORD God of your fathers.

²⁹Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the leading priests, the Levites, and the leaders of the fathers’ households of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.”

³⁰So the priests and the Levites accepted the weight of silver and gold and the utensils, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

³¹Then we journeyed from the river Ahava on the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He rescued us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the road.

³²So we came to Jerusalem and remained there for three days.

³³And on the fourth day the silver, the gold, and the utensils were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui.

³⁴A notation was made for everything by number and weight, and all the weight was recorded at that time.

³⁵The exiles who had come from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve male goats for a sin offering, all as a burnt offering to the LORD.

³⁶Then they delivered the king’s edicts to the king’s satraps and the governors in the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, and they supported the people and the house of God.

¹Now when these things had been completed, the officials approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, as to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

²For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the officials and the leaders have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness.”

³When I heard about this matter, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled out some of the hair from my head and my beard, and sat down appalled.

⁴Then everyone who was frightened by the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering.

⁵But at the evening offering I stood up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I bowed down on my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God;

⁶and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongful deeds have risen above our heads, and our guilt has grown even to the heavens.

⁷Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our wrongful deeds we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to open shame, as it is this day.

⁸But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, so that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage.

⁹For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not abandoned us, but has extended favor to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to erect the house of our God, to restore its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰“And now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have abandoned Your commandments,

¹¹which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and with their impurity.

¹²So now do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or their prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’

¹³And after everything that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have spared us by inflicting less than our wrongdoing deserves, and have given us such an escaped remnant as this,

¹⁴shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there would be no remnant nor any who would escape?

¹⁵LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this.”

¹Now while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women, and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept greatly.

²Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.

³So now let’s make a covenant with our God to send away all the wives and their children, following the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the Law.

⁴Arise! For this matter is your responsibility, but we will be with you; be courageous and act.”

⁵Then Ezra stood and made the leading priests, the Levites, and all Israel take an oath that they would do according to this proposal; so they took the oath.

⁶Then Ezra rose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. Although he went there, he did not eat bread nor drink water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

⁷So they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they were to assemble at Jerusalem,

⁸and that whoever did not come within three days, in accordance with the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his property would be forfeited, and he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

⁹So all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sat in the public square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and the heavy rain.

¹⁰Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives, adding to the guilt of Israel.

¹¹Now therefore, make confession to the LORD God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”

¹²Then all the assembly replied with a loud voice, “It is our duty to do exactly as you have said!

¹³However, there are many people, it is the rainy season, and we are not able to stand in the open. Nor can the task be done in one or two days, because we have done a great wrong in this matter.

¹⁴Please let our leaders represent all the assembly and have all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each city, until the fierce anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us.”

¹⁵Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, with Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supporting them.

¹⁶But the exiles did so. And Ezra the priest selected men who were the heads of fathers’ households for each of their father’s households, all of them by name. So they convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter.

¹⁷And they finished investigating all the men who had married foreign wives by the first day of the first month.

¹⁸Now among the sons of the priests who had married foreign wives were found of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

¹⁹They pledged to send away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.

²⁰Of the sons of Immer, there were Hanani and Zebadiah;

²¹and of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah;

²²and of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

²³Of the Levites there were Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

²⁴Of the singers there was Eliashib; and of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

²⁵Of Israel, of the sons of Parosh there were Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah;

²⁶and of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah;

²⁷and of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza;

²⁸and of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai;

²⁹and of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch and Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth;

³⁰and of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh;

³¹and of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

³²Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah;

³³of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei;

³⁴of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel,

³⁵Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,

³⁶Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

³⁷Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu,

³⁸Bani, Binnui, Shimei,

³⁹Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,

⁴⁰Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

⁴¹Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,

⁴²Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.

⁴³Of the sons of Nebo there were Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.

⁴⁴All of these men had married foreign wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

¹The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol,

²that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem.

³And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.”

⁴Now when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

⁵I said, “Please, LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments:

⁶let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; I and my father’s house have sinned.

⁷We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.

⁸Remember, please, the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples;

⁹but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to have My name dwell.’

¹⁰They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

¹¹Please, Lord, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and please make Your servant successful today and grant him mercy before this man.” Now I was the cupbearer to the king.

¹And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.

²So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid.

³And I said to the king, “May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the site of my fathers’ tombs, is desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?”

⁴Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.

⁵Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”

⁶Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time.

⁷And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, so that they will allow me to pass through until I come to Judah,

⁸and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which is by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.

⁹Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.

¹⁰And when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

¹¹So I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days.

¹²And I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem, and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding.

¹³So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Spring and on to the Dung Gate, and I was inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which had been consumed by fire.

¹⁴Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass.

¹⁵So I was going up at night by the ravine and inspecting the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned.

¹⁶However, the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who were doing the work.

¹⁷Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”

¹⁸And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let’s arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.

¹⁹But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

²⁰So I answered them and said to them, “The God of heaven will make us successful; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no part, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”

¹Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and installed its doors. They consecrated the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel.

²And next to him the men of Jericho built, and next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.

³Now the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and installed its doors with its bolts and bars.

⁴Next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz made repairs. And next to him Meshullam the son of Berechiah the son of Meshezabel made repairs. And next to him Zadok the son of Baana also made repairs.

⁵Moreover, next to him the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not support the work of their masters.

⁶Now Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Ancient Gate; they laid its beams and installed its doors with its bolts and its bars.

⁷Next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, also made repairs for the official seat of the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River.

⁸Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah of the goldsmiths made repairs. And next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.

⁹And next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.

¹⁰Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs.

¹¹Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of Furnaces.

¹²Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the official of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.

¹³Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it and installed its doors with its bolts and its bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall to the Dung Gate.

¹⁴And Malchijah the son of Rechab, the official of the district of Beth-haccherem repaired the Dung Gate. He built it and installed its doors with its bolts and its bars.

¹⁵Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, the official of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He built it, made a roof for it, and installed its doors with its bolts and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah at the king’s garden as far as the steps that descend from the city of David.

¹⁶After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, official of half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs as far as a point opposite the tombs of David, and as far as the artificial pool and the house of the mighty men.

¹⁷After him the Levites carried out repairs under Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, the official of half the district of Keilah, carried out repairs for his district.

¹⁸After him their brothers carried out repairs under Bavvai the son of Henadad, official of the other half of the district of Keilah.

¹⁹And next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, the official of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the ascent of the armory at the Angle.

²⁰After him Baruch the son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the Angle to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

²¹After him Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another section, from the doorway of Eliashib’s house even as far as the end of his house.

²²And after him the priests, the men of the vicinity, carried out repairs.

²³After them Benjamin and Hasshub carried out repairs in front of their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, carried out repairs beside his house.

²⁴After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah as far as the Angle and as far as the corner.

²⁵Palal the son of Uzai made repairs in front of the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king, which is by the courtyard of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs.

²⁶Now the temple servants living in Ophel made repairs as far as the front of the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower.

²⁷After them the Tekoites repaired another section in front of the great projecting tower and as far as the wall of Ophel.

²⁸Above the Horse Gate the priests carried out repairs, each in front of his house.

²⁹After them Zadok the son of Immer carried out repairs in front of his house. And after him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, carried out repairs.

³⁰After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah carried out repairs in front of his own quarters.

³¹After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, carried out repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, in front of the Inspection Gate and as far as the upper room of the corner.

³²And between the upper room of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants carried out repairs.

¹Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry, and he mocked the Jews.

²And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy people of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore the temple for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of rubble, even the burned ones?”

³Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox were to jump on it, it would break their stone wall down!”

⁴Hear, O our God, how we are an object of contempt! Return their taunting on their own heads, and turn them into plunder in a land of captivity.

⁵Do not forgive their guilt and do not let their sin be wiped out before You, for they have demoralized the builders.

⁶So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

⁷Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry.

⁸So all of them conspired together to come to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.

⁹But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.

¹⁰And so in Judah it was said: “The strength of the burden bearers is failing, Yet there is much rubble; And we ourselves are unable To rebuild the wall.”

¹¹And our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.”

¹²When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,”

¹³then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows.

¹⁴When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

¹⁵Now when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.

¹⁶And from that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them kept hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah.

¹⁷Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens carried with one hand doing the work, and the other keeping hold of a weapon.

¹⁸As for the builders, each wore his sword strapped to his waist as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.

¹⁹And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another.

²⁰At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

²¹So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared.

²²At that time I also said to the people, “Each man with his servant shall spend the night within Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.”

²³So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me—none of us removed our clothes; each took his weapon even to the water.

¹Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.

²For there were those who said, “We, our sons, and our daughters are many; therefore let’s get grain so that we may eat and live.”

³And there were others who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses so that we might get grain because of the famine.”

⁴There also were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards.

⁵And now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

⁶Then I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words.

⁷So I thought it over and contended with the nobles and the leading people, and said to them, “You are lending at interest, each to his brother!” Therefore, I held a great assembly against them.

⁸And I said to them, “We, according to our ability, have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations; now would you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us?” Then they were silent and could not find a word to say.

⁹So I said, “The thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the taunting of the nations, our enemies?

¹⁰And likewise I, my brothers, and my servants are lending them money and grain. Please, let’s do without this interest.

¹¹Please, give back to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, as well as the hundredth part of the money and of the grain, the new wine, and the oil that you are charging as interest from them.”

¹²Then they said, “We will give it back and will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you say.” So I called the priests and made them take an oath to act in accordance with this promise.

¹³I also shook out the front of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every person from his house and from his possessions who does not keep this promise; just so may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” And they praised the LORD. Then the people acted in accordance with this promise.

¹⁴Furthermore, since the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s food allowance.

¹⁵But the previous governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of my fear of God.

¹⁶I also applied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.

¹⁷Moreover, there were at my table 150 Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us.

¹⁸Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six choice sheep; also birds were prepared for me, and every ten days all sorts of wine were provided in abundance. Yet for all this I did not request the governor’s food allowance, because the forced labor was heavy on this people.

¹⁹Remember me, my God, for good, in return for all that I have done for this people.

¹Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach was left in it, although at that time I had not installed the doors in the gates,

²Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let’s meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they were plotting to harm me.

³So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and am unable to come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”

⁴Then they sent messages to me four times worded in this way, and I answered them with the same wording.

⁵Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way a fifth time with an open letter in his hand.

⁶In it was written: “It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; for that reason you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports.

⁷You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let’s consult together.”

⁸Then I sent a message to him saying, “Nothing like these things that you are saying has been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind.”

⁹For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, “They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.” But now, God, strengthen my hands.

¹⁰When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, “Let’s meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let’s close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.”

¹¹But I said, “Should a man like me flee? And who is there like me who would go into the temple to save his own life? I will not go in.”

¹²Then I realized that God certainly had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

¹³He was hired for this reason, that I would become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could taunt me.

¹⁴Remember, my God, Tobiah and Sanballat in accordance with these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets, who were trying to frighten me.

¹⁵So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.

¹⁶When all our enemies heard about it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they realized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

¹⁷Also in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.

¹⁸For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

¹⁹Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence, and were reporting my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.

¹Now when the wall was rebuilt and I had installed the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites were appointed,

²then I put Hanani my brother, and Hananiah the commander of the citadel, in charge of Jerusalem, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.

³Then I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot, and while they are standing guard, the gatekeepers are to keep the doors shut and bolted. Also appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each at his post, and each in front of his own house.”

⁴Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few and the houses were not built.

⁵Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the other people to be enrolled by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up first, in which I found the following record:

⁶These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken into exile, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city,

⁷who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The number of men of the people of Israel:

⁸the sons of Parosh, 2,172;

⁹the sons of Shephatiah, 372;

¹⁰the sons of Arah, 652;

¹¹the sons of Pahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818;

¹²the sons of Elam, 1,254;

¹³the sons of Zattu, 845;

¹⁴the sons of Zaccai, 760;

¹⁵the sons of Binnui, 648;

¹⁶the sons of Bebai, 628;

¹⁷the sons of Azgad, 2,322;

¹⁸the sons of Adonikam, 667;

¹⁹the sons of Bigvai, 2,067;

²⁰the sons of Adin, 655;

²¹the sons of Ater, of Hezekiah, 98;

²²the sons of Hashum, 328;

²³the sons of Bezai, 324;

²⁴the sons of Hariph, 112;

²⁵the sons of Gibeon, 95;

²⁶the men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188;

²⁷the men of Anathoth, 128;

²⁸the men of Beth-azmaveth, 42;

²⁹the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;

³⁰the men of Ramah and Geba, 621;

³¹the men of Michmas, 122;

³²the men of Bethel and Ai, 123;

³³the men of the other Nebo, 52;

³⁴the sons of the other Elam, 1,254;

³⁵the sons of Harim, 320;

³⁶the men of Jericho, 345;

³⁷the sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721;

³⁸the sons of Senaah, 3,930.

³⁹The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973;

⁴⁰the sons of Immer, 1,052;

⁴¹the sons of Pashhur, 1,247;

⁴²the sons of Harim, 1,017.

⁴³The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodevah, 74.

⁴⁴The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148.

⁴⁵The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138.

⁴⁶The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth,

⁴⁷the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon,

⁴⁸the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Shalmai,

⁴⁹the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar,

⁵⁰the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda,

⁵¹the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah,

⁵²the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephushesim,

⁵³the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur,

⁵⁴the sons of Bazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha,

⁵⁵the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah,

⁵⁶the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.

⁵⁷The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida,

⁵⁸the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,

⁵⁹the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Amon.

⁶⁰All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants totaled 392.

⁶¹These were the ones who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer; but they could not provide evidence for their fathers’ households or their descendants, whether they were of Israel:

⁶²the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642.

⁶³And of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and was named after them.

⁶⁴These searched among their ancestral registration, but it could not be located; therefore they were considered unclean and disqualified from the priesthood.

⁶⁵And the governor said to them that they were not to eat from the most holy things until a priest arose with Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁶The whole assembly together totaled 42,360,

⁶⁷besides their male slaves and their female slaves, of whom there were 7,337; and they had 245 male and female singers.

⁶⁸Their horses were 736; their mules, 245;

⁶⁹their camels, 435; their donkeys, 6,720.

⁷⁰Some of the heads of fathers’ households gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury a thousand gold drachmas, fifty basins, and 530 priests’ garments.

⁷¹And some of the heads of fathers’ households gave to the treasury for the work twenty thousand gold drachmas and 2,200 silver minas.

⁷²What the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand gold drachmas, two thousand silver minas, and sixty-seven priests’ garments.

⁷³Now the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel lived in their cities. And when the seventh month came, the sons of Israel were in their cities.

¹And all the people gathered as one person at the public square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel.

²Then Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month.

³And he read from it before the public square which was in front of the Water Gate, from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

⁴Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left.

⁵Then Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.

⁶Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” with the raising of their hands; then they kneeled down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

⁷Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites explained the Law to the people while the people remained in their place.

⁸They read from the book, from the Law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.

⁹Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Law.

¹⁰Then he said to them, “Go, eat the festival foods, drink the sweet drinks, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your refuge.”

¹¹So the Levites silenced all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.”

¹²Then all the people went away to eat, drink, to send portions, and to celebrate a great feast, because they understood the words which had been made known to them.

¹³Then on the second day the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe so that they might gain insight into the words of the Law.

¹⁴And they found written in the Law how the LORD had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel were to live in booths during the feast of the seventh month.

¹⁵And that they were to proclaim and circulate a proclamation in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hills, and bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of other trees with thick branches, to make booths, as it is written.”

¹⁶So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courtyards and in the courtyards of the house of God, and in the public square at the Water Gate, and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim.

¹⁷The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths. Indeed, the sons of Israel had not done so since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was very great rejoicing.

¹⁸He read from the Book of the Law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a festive assembly in accordance with the ordinance.

¹Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them.

²The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the wrongdoings of their fathers.

³While they stood in their place, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God.

⁴Now on the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried out with a loud voice to the LORD their God.

⁵Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, “Arise, bless the LORD your God forever and ever! May Your glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise!

⁶You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their lights, The earth and everything that is on it, The seas and everything that is in them. You give life to all of them, And the heavenly lights bow down before You.

⁷You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees, And gave him the name Abraham.

⁸You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite— To give it to his descendants. And You have fulfilled Your promise, Because You are righteous.

⁹“You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And heard their cry by the Red Sea.

¹⁰Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that they acted arrogantly toward them, And You made a name for Yourself as it is this day.

¹¹You divided the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And You hurled their pursuers into the depths, Like a stone into raging waters.

¹²And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they were to go.

¹³Then You came down on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven; You gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.

¹⁴So You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, And gave them commandments, statutes, and law, Through Your servant Moses.

¹⁵You provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You brought out water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You told them to enter in order to take possession of The land which You swore to give them.

¹⁶“But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.

¹⁷They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in mercy; And You did not abandon them.

¹⁸Even when they made for themselves A calf of cast metal And said, ‘This is your god Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great blasphemies,

¹⁹You, in Your great compassion, Did not abandon them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, To guide them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.

²⁰Instead, You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.

²¹Indeed, for forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not lacking; Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell up.

²²You also gave them kingdoms and peoples, And allotted them to them as a boundary. They took possession of the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon And the land of Og the king of Bashan.

²³You made their sons as numerous as the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

²⁴So their sons entered and took possession of the land. And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, And You handed them over to them, with their kings and the peoples of the land, To do with them as they desired.

²⁵They captured fortified cities and a fertile land. They took possession of houses full of every good thing, Carved out cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and put on fat, And lived luxuriously in Your great goodness.

²⁶“But they became rebellious and revolted against You, And threw Your Law behind their backs And killed Your prophets who had admonished them In order to bring them back to You, And they committed great blasphemies.

²⁷Therefore You handed them over to their enemies who oppressed them, But when they cried out to You in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion You gave them people who saved them from the hand of their enemies.

²⁸But as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before You; Therefore You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them. When they cried out again to You, You heard from heaven, And many times You rescued them according to Your compassion,

²⁹And admonished them in order to turn them back to Your Law. Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, Which, if a person follows them, then he will live by them. And they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.

³⁰However, You remained patient with them for many years, And admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not listen. Therefore You handed them over to the peoples of the lands.

³¹Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or abandon them, For You are a gracious and compassionate God.

³²“Now then, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps His covenant and faithfulness, Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You, Which has happened to us, our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and to all Your people, From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.

³³However, You are righteous in everything that has happened to us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.

³⁴For our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your Law Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them.

³⁵But they, in their own kingdom, With Your great goodness which You gave them, With the broad and rich land which You placed before them, Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.

³⁶Behold, we are slaves today, And as for the land which You gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its bounty, Behold, we are slaves on it.

³⁷And its abundant produce is for the kings Whom You have set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies And over our cattle as they please, So we are in great distress.

³⁸“Now because of all this We are making an agreement in writing; And on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites, and our priests.”