Nehemiah Sent to Jerusalem

¹Now in the month of Nisan,in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence,

²so the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This could only be sadness of the heart.”I was overwhelmed with fear

³and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

⁴“What is your request?” replied the king.So I prayed to the God of heaven

⁵and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”

⁶Then the king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time.

⁷I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may letters be given to me for the governors west of the Euphrates,so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah.

⁸And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will occupy.”And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

⁹Then I went to the governors west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

¹⁰But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.

Nehemiah Inspects the Walls

¹¹After I had arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days,

¹²I set out at night with a few men. I did not tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal with me was the one on which I was riding.

¹³So I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Well of the Serpentand the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and the gates that had been destroyed by fire.

¹⁴Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to get through;

¹⁵so I went up the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I headed back and reentered through the Valley Gate.

¹⁶The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers.

¹⁷Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”

¹⁸I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me, and what the king had said to me.“Let us start rebuilding,” they replied, and they set their hands to this good work.

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

²⁰So I answered them and said, “The God of heaven is the One who will grant us success. We, His servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no portion, right, or claim in Jerusalem.”

The Work Ridiculed

¹Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews

²before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves?Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”

³Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

⁴Hear us, O God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn back upon their own heads, and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity.

⁵Do not cover up their iniquity or let their sin be blotted out from Your sight, for they have provoked the builders.

⁶So we rebuilt the wall until all of it was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

⁷When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,

⁸and all of them conspired to come and fight against Jerusalem and create a hindrance.

Discouragement Overcome

⁹So we prayed to our God and posted a guard against them day and night.

¹⁰Meanwhile, the people of Judah said:“The strength of the laborer fails,and there is so much rubblethat we will never be ableto rebuild the wall.”

¹¹And our enemies said, “Before they know or see a thing, we will come into their midst, kill them, and put an end to the work.”

¹²At that time the Jews who lived nearby came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”

¹³So I stationed men behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows.

¹⁴After I had made an inspection, I stood up 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 and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

¹⁵When our enemies heard that we were aware of their scheme and that God had frustrated it, each of us returned to his own work on the wall.

¹⁶And from that day on, half of my servants did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor.The officers stationed themselves behind all the people of Judah

¹⁷who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.

¹⁸And each of the builders worked with his sword strapped at his side. But the trumpeter stayed beside me.

¹⁹Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “The work is great and extensive, and we are spread out far from one another along the wall.

²⁰Wherever you hear the sound of the horn, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us!”

²¹So we continued the work, while half of the men held spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.

²²At that time I also said to the people, “Let every man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day.”

²³So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the guards with me changed out of our clothes; each carried his weapon, even to go for water.

Sanballat’s Conspiracy

¹When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates—

²Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villageson the plainof Ono.”But they were planning to harm me.

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

⁴Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave the same reply.

⁵The fifth time, Sanballat sent me this same message by his young servant, who had in his hand an unsealed letter

⁶that read:“It is reported among the nations—and Geshemagrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,

⁷and you have even appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf: ‘There is a king in Judah.’ Soon these rumors will reach the ears of the king. So come, let us confer together.”

⁸Then I sent him this reply: “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”

⁹For they were all trying to frighten us, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.”But now, my God,strengthen my hands.

¹⁰Later, I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said:“Let us meet at the house of Godinside the temple.Let us shut the temple doorsbecause they are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you!”

¹¹But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Should one like me go into the temple to save his own life? I will not go!”

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

¹³He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would sin by doing as he suggested, so they could give me a bad name in order to discredit me.

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

Completion of the Wall

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

¹⁶When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and disheartened, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.

¹⁷Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters kept coming 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.

¹⁹Moreover, these nobles kept reporting to me Tobiah’s good deeds, and they relayed my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

You Showed Favor to Your Land

¹You showed favor to Your land, O LORD;You restored Jacob from captivity.

²You forgave the iniquity of Your people;You covered all their sin.Selah

³You withheld all Your fury;You turned from Your burning anger.

⁴Restore us, O God of our salvation,and put away Your displeasure toward us.

⁵Will You be angry with us forever?Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?

⁶Will You not revive us again,that Your people may rejoice in You?

⁷Show us Your loving devotion, O LORD,and grant us Your salvation.

⁸I will listen to what God the LORD will say;for He will surely speak peace to His people and His saints;He will not let them return to folly.

⁹Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,that His glory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together;righteousness and peace have kissed.

¹¹Faithfulness sprouts from the earth,and righteousness looks down from heaven.

¹²The LORD will indeed provide what is good,and our land will yield its increase.

¹³Righteousness will go before Himto prepare the way for His steps.