Chronological Plan

¹When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that no gap was left in it  — though at that time I had not installed the doors in the city gates  —

²Sanballat and Geshem sent me a message: “Come, let’s meet together in the villages of the Ono Valley.” They were planning to harm me.

³So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing important work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

⁴Four times they sent me the same proposal, and I gave them the same reply.

⁵Sanballat sent me this same message a fifth time by his aide, who had an open letter in his hand.

⁶In it was written: It is reported among the nations — and Geshem agrees — that you and the Jews plan to rebel. This is the reason you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king

⁷and have even set up the prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf: “There is a king in Judah.” These rumors will be heard by the king. So come, let’s confer together.

⁸Then I replied to him, “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”

⁹For they were all trying to intimidate us, saying, “They will drop their hands from the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, my God, strengthen my hands.

¹⁰I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was restricted to his house. He said: Let’s meet at the house of God, inside the temple. Let’s shut the temple doors because they’re coming to kill you. They’re coming to kill you tonight!

¹¹But I said, “Should a man like me run away? How can someone like me enter the temple and live? I will not go.”

¹²I realized that God had not sent him, because of the prophecy he spoke against me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

¹³He was hired, so that I would be intimidated, do as he suggested, sin, and get a bad reputation, in order that they could discredit me.

¹⁴My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat for what they have done, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the other prophets who wanted to intimidate me.

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

¹⁶When all our enemies heard this, all the surrounding nations were intimidated and lost their confidence, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.

¹⁷During those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.

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

¹⁹These nobles kept mentioning Tobiah’s good deeds to me, and they reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

¹When the wall had been rebuilt and I had the doors installed, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.

²Then I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah, commander of the fortress, because he was a faithful man who feared God more than most.

³I said to them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot, and let the doors be shut and securely fastened while the guards are on duty. Station the citizens of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some at their homes.”

⁴The city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and no houses had been built yet.

⁵Then my God put it into my mind to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be registered by genealogy. I found the genealogical record of those who came back first, and I found the following written in it:

⁶These are the people of the province who went up among the captive exiles deported by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Each of them returned to Jerusalem and Judah, to his own town.

⁷They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The number of the Israelite men included

⁸Parosh’s descendants — 2,172

⁹Shephatiah’s descendants — 372

¹⁰Arah’s descendants — 652

¹¹Pahath-moab’s descendants: Jeshua’s and Joab’s descendants — 2,818

¹²Elam’s descendants — 1,254

¹³Zattu’s descendants — 845

¹⁴Zaccai’s descendants — 760

¹⁵Binnui’s descendants — 648

¹⁶Bebai’s descendants — 628

¹⁷Azgad’s descendants — 2,322

¹⁸Adonikam’s descendants — 667

¹⁹Bigvai’s descendants — 2,067

²⁰Adin’s descendants — 655

²¹Ater’s descendants: of Hezekiah — 98

²²Hashum’s descendants — 328

²³Bezai’s descendants — 324

²⁴Hariph’s descendants — 112

²⁵Gibeon’s descendants — 95

²⁶Bethlehem’s and Netophah’s men — 188

²⁷Anathoth’s men — 128

²⁸Beth-azmaveth’s men — 42

²⁹Kiriath-jearim’s, Chephirah’s, and Beeroth’s men — 743

³⁰Ramah’s and Geba’s men — 621

³¹Michmas’s men — 122

³²Bethel’s and Ai’s men — 123

³³the other Nebo’s men — 52

³⁴the other Elam’s people — 1,254

³⁵Harim’s people — 320

³⁶Jericho’s people — 345

³⁷Lod’s, Hadid’s, and Ono’s people — 721

³⁸Senaah’s people — 3,930.

³⁹The priests included Jedaiah’s descendants of the house of Jeshua — 973

⁴⁰Immer’s descendants — 1,052

⁴¹Pashhur’s descendants — 1,247

⁴²Harim’s descendants — 1,017.

⁴³The Levites included Jeshua’s descendants: of Kadmiel Hodevah’s descendants — 74.

⁴⁴The singers included Asaph’s descendants — 148.

⁴⁵The gatekeepers included Shallum’s descendants, Ater’s descendants, Talmon’s descendants, Akkub’s descendants, Hatita’s descendants, Shobai’s descendants — 138.

⁴⁶The temple servants included Ziha’s descendants, Hasupha’s descendants, Tabbaoth’s descendants,

⁴⁷Keros’s descendants, Sia’s descendants, Padon’s descendants,

⁴⁸Lebanah’s descendants, Hagabah’s descendants, Shalmai’s descendants,

⁴⁹Hanan’s descendants, Giddel’s descendants, Gahar’s descendants,

⁵⁰Reaiah’s descendants, Rezin’s descendants, Nekoda’s descendants,

⁵¹Gazzam’s descendants, Uzza’s descendants, Paseah’s descendants,

⁵²Besai’s descendants, Meunim’s descendants, Nephishesim’s descendants,

⁵³Bakbuk’s descendants, Hakupha’s descendants, Harhur’s descendants,

⁵⁴Bazlith’s descendants, Mehida’s descendants, Harsha’s descendants,

⁵⁵Barkos’s descendants, Sisera’s descendants, Temah’s descendants,

⁵⁶Neziah’s descendants, Hatipha’s descendants.

⁵⁷The descendants of Solomon’s servants included Sotai’s descendants, Sophereth’s descendants, Perida’s descendants,

⁵⁸Jaala’s descendants, Darkon’s descendants, Giddel’s descendants,

⁵⁹Shephatiah’s descendants, Hattil’s descendants, Pochereth-hazzebaim’s descendants, Amon’s descendants.

⁶⁰All the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants — 392.

⁶¹The following are those who came from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but were unable to prove that their ancestral families and their lineage were Israelite:

⁶²Delaiah’s descendants, Tobiah’s descendants, and Nekoda’s descendants — 642

⁶³and from the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai — who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and who bore their name.

⁶⁴These searched for their entries in the genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were disqualified from the priesthood.

⁶⁵The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest who could consult the Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁶The whole combined assembly numbered — 42,360

⁶⁷not including their 7,337 male and female servants, as well as their 245 male and female singers.

⁶⁸They had 736 horses, 245 mules,

⁶⁹435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

⁷⁰Some of the family heads contributed to the project. The governor gave 1,000 gold coins, 50 bowls, and 530 priestly garments to the treasury.

⁷¹Some of the family heads gave 20,000 gold coins and 2,200 silver minas to the treasury for the project.

⁷²The rest of the people gave 20,000 gold coins, 2,000 silver minas, and 67 priestly garments.

⁷³The priests, Levites, gatekeepers, temple singers, some of the people, temple servants, and all Israel settled in their towns. When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,