Nehemiah 2-6

Complete Jewish Bible

2 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of Artach’shashta the king, it happened that I took the wine and brought it to the king. Prior to then I had never appeared sad in his presence. ²The king asked, “Why do you look so sad? You’re not sick, so this must be some deep inner grief.” At this, I became very fearful, ³as I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why shouldn’t I look sad, when the city, the place where my ancestors’ tombs are, lies in ruins; and its gates are completely burned up?” ⁴The king asked me, “What is it that you want?” I prayed to the God of heaven, ⁵then said to the king, “If it pleases the king, if your servant has won your favor, send me to Y’hudah, to the city of my ancestors’ tombs, so that I can rebuild it.” ⁶With the queen sitting next to him, the king asked me, “How long is your trip going to take? When will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a time.

⁷I then said to the king, “If it pleases the king, have letters given to me for the governors of the territory beyond the [Euphrates] River, so that they will let me pass through until I reach Y’hudah; ⁸and also a letter for Asaf the supervisor of the royal forests, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress belonging to the house, for the city wall and for the house I will be occupying.” The king gave me these, according to the good hand of my God on me.

⁹I went to the governors of the territory beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. The king had sent with me an escort of army captains and cavalry. ¹⁰When Sanvalat the Horoni and Toviyah the servant, the ‘Amoni, heard about this, they were very displeased that someone had come to promote the welfare of the people of Isra’el.

¹¹So I reached Yerushalayim. After I had been there for three days, ¹²I got up during the night, I and a few men with me. I hadn’t told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Yerushalayim; and I didn’t take any animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. ¹³I went out by night through the Valley Gate, to the Dragon’s Well and the Dung Gate, and inspected the places where the walls of Yerushalayim were broken down and where its gates had been burned down. ¹⁴Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. ¹⁵So I went up the valley in the dark and went on inspecting the wall; then I turned back, entered through the Valley Gate and returned, ¹⁶without the officials’ knowing where I had gone or what I had done. Till then, I hadn’t said anything about this to the Judeans, cohanim, nobles, officials or anyone who would be responsible for the work.

¹⁷Afterwards, I said to them, “You see what a sad state we are in, how Yerushalayim lies in ruins, with it gates burned up. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Yerushalayim, so that we won’t continue in disgrace.” ¹⁸I also told them of the gracious hand of my God that had been on me, also what the king had said to me. They said, “Let’s start building at once,” and energetically set out to do this good work.

¹⁹When Sanvalat the Horoni, Toviyah the servant, the ‘Amoni, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they began mocking us and jeering, “What is this you are doing? Are you going to rebel against the king?” ²⁰But I answered them: “The God of heaven will enable us to succeed. Therefore we his servants will set about rebuilding. But you have no share, right or history to commemorate in Yerushalayim.”

3 Then Elyashiv the cohen hagadol set out with his fellow cohanim, and they rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set up its doors; they consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred and on to the Tower of Hanan’el. ²Next to him the men from Yericho built. Next to him Zakur the son of Imri built.

³The sons of Hasna’ah rebuilt the Fish Gate; they installed its timber framework and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars. ⁴Next to them M’remot the son of Uriyah, the son of Hakotz, made repairs. Next to them Meshulam the son of Berekhyah, the son of Mesheizav’el, made repairs. Next to them Tzadok the son of Ba‘ana made repairs. ⁵Next to them the men from T’koa made repairs; but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.

⁶Yoyada the son of Paseach and Meshulam the son of B’sodyah made repairs to the Old City Gate; they installed its timber framework and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars. ⁷Next to them M’latyah the Giv‘oni, Yadon the Meronoti and the men from Giv‘on and Mitzpah made repairs; they worked for the people associated with the governor of the territory beyond the [Euphrates] River. ⁸Next to them ‘Uzi’el the son of Harhayah, goldsmiths, made repairs.

Next to him Hananyah, one of the perfume-makers, made repairs; they renovated Yerushalayim as far as the Broad Wall. ⁹Next to them Refayah the son of Hur, leader of half the district of Yerushalayim, made repairs. ¹⁰Next to him Y’dayah the son of Harumaf made repairs opposite his own house. Next to him Hatush the son of Hashavn’yah made repairs. ¹¹Malkiyah the son of Harim and Hashuv the son of Pachat-Mo’av made repairs on another section and on the Tower of the Ovens. ¹²Next to him Shalum the son of HaLochesh, leader of half the district of Yerushalayim, he and his daughters, made repairs.

¹³Hanun and the people living in Zanoach repaired the Valley Gate; they rebuilt it and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars; and they rebuilt 1,500 feet of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.

¹⁴Malkiyah the son of Rechav, leader of the district of Beit-Hakerem, repaired the Dung Gate; he rebuilt it and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars.

¹⁵Shalun the son of Kol-Hozeh, leader of the district of Mitzpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he rebuilt it, covered it and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars; he also rebuilt the wall of the Pool of Shelach, by the royal garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the City of David. ¹⁶After him Nechemyah the son of Azbuk, leader of half the district of Beit-Tzur, made repairs from the place opposite the tombs of David as far as the artificial pool and the soldiers’ barracks. ¹⁷After him the L’vi’im made repairs: Rechum the son of Bani; next to him Hashavyah, leader of half the district of Ke‘ilah, made repairs for his district. ¹⁸After him their colleagues, Bavai the son of Henadad, leader of half the district of Ke‘ilah, made repairs. ¹⁹Next to him ‘Ezer the son of Yeshua, leader of Mitzpah, made repairs on another section, opposite the ascent to the armory at the Angle. ²⁰After him Barukh the son of Zakkai worked diligently making repairs on another section, from the Angle to the door of the house of Elyashiv the cohen hagadol. ²¹After him M’remot the son of Uriyah made repairs on another section, from the door of the house of Elyashiv to the end of the house of Elyashiv. ²²After him the cohanim from the plain made repairs. ²³After them Binyamin and Hashuv made repairs opposite their house. After them ‘Azaryah the son of Ma‘aseiyah, the son of ‘Ananyah, made repairs next to his house. ²⁴After him Binui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of ‘Azaryah to the Angle and to the Corner. ²⁵Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the Angle and the tower that projects out from the upper part of the royal palace near the Courtyard of the Guard.

After him P’dayah the son of Par‘osh made repairs ²⁶(since the temple servants were living in the ‘Ofel) as far as opposite the Water Gate to the east and the tower that projects out. ²⁷After him the men from T’koa repaired another section, opposite the great tower that projects out and on to the wall of the ‘Ofel.

²⁸Above the Horse Gate the cohanim made repairs, each one opposite his own house. ²⁹After them Tzadok the son of Immer made repairs opposite his house. After him Sh’ma‘yah the son of Sh’khanyah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs. ³⁰After him Hananyah the son of Shelemyah and Hanun the sixth son of Tzalaf made repairs on another section. After him Meshulam the son of Berekhyah made repairs opposite his own room.

³¹After him Malkiyah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Mustering Gate and on to the upper room at the corner. ³²Finally, between the upper room at the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.

³³^(4:1)But when Sanvalat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious. Greatly enraged, he ridiculed the Judeans; ³⁴^(4:2)before his kinsmen and the army of Shomron he said, “What are these pathetic Judeans doing? Are they going to rebuild anything they want? Are they going to sacrifice? Are they going to finish today? Are they going to recover useful stones from the piles of rubble, burned rubble at that?” ³⁵^(4:3)Toviyah the ‘Amoni was with him, and he said, “Whatever they’re building, why, if even a fox went up it, he’d knock their stone wall down!”

³⁶^(4:4)Our God, listen! We are being treated with contempt. Turn back their jeers on their own heads; give them over to be plundered in a land of exile. ³⁷^(4:5)Don’t cover their guilt, don’t let their sin be wiped out from before you; because they have insulted the builders to their face.

³⁸^(4:6)So we kept building the wall, which was soon joined together and completed to half its height all the way around; because the people worked with a will.

4 ⁽⁷⁾But when Sanvalat, Toviyah, the Arabs, the ‘Amonim and the Ashdodim heard that the repairs on the walls of Yerushalayim were going forward, and the breaks were being filled in, they became very angry. ²⁽⁸⁾All of them together plotted to come and fight against Yerushalayim and thus throw us into confusion. ³⁽⁹⁾However, we prayed to our God and, because of them, organized a watch against them day and night. ⁴⁽¹⁰⁾Y’hudah was saying, “The strength of the people who carry loads away is starting to fail, and there is so much rubble that we can’t build the wall.” ⁵⁽¹¹⁾Our enemies were saying, “They won’t know or see anything, until we have already infiltrated them and begun killing them and stopping the work.” ⁶⁽¹²⁾And even the Judeans living near them came and must have said to us ten times, “From every place you must come back to us.”

⁷⁽¹³⁾So in the lower parts of the space behind the wall, I stationed men according to their families, with their swords, spears and bows. ⁸⁽¹⁴⁾After inspecting them, I stood up and addressed the nobles, leaders and the rest of the people: “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember Adonai, who is great and fearful; and fight for your brothers, sons, daughters, wives and homes.” ⁹⁽¹⁵⁾When our enemies heard that the plot was known to us, and God had foiled their plans, we all returned to the wall, everyone to his work. ¹⁰⁽¹⁶⁾From then on, half of my men would do the work; and half of them held the spears, shields, bows and armor; while the leaders stood guard behind the entire house of Y’hudah, ¹¹⁽¹⁷⁾as they continued building the wall. Those who carried loads held their loads with one hand and carried a weapon in the other. ¹²⁽¹⁸⁾As for the construction-workers, each one had his sword sheathed at his side; that is how they built. The man to sound the alarm on the shofar stayed with me. ¹³⁽¹⁹⁾I said to the nobles, the leaders and the rest of the people, “This is a great work, and it is spread out; we are separated on the wall, one far from another. ¹⁴⁽²⁰⁾But wherever you are, when you hear the sound of the shofar, come to that place, to us. Our God will fight for us!”

¹⁵⁽²¹⁾So we kept doing the work. Half of them held spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. ¹⁶⁽²²⁾Also at that time I told the people, “Let everyone with a servant stay the night within Yerushalayim, so that at night they can be a guard for us, even as they work during the day.” ¹⁷⁽²³⁾I, my kinsmen, my servants and my bodyguards never took off our clothes, and everyone who went to get water took his weapon.

5 Then there arose a great outcry from the common people and their wives against their brothers the [wealthier] Judeans. ²Some of them said, “Counting our sons and daughters, there are a lot of us! Allow us to get grain for them, so that we can eat and stay alive.” ³There were also some who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, vineyards and homes in order to buy grain, because of the famine.” ⁴Yet others said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s taxes against our fields and vineyards. ⁵Now our flesh is no different from the flesh of our kinsmen, and our children are the same as their children; yet we are bringing our sons and daughters into bondage as slaves. Some of our daughters have gone into slavery already, and it’s beyond our power to do anything about it, because other men have our fields and vineyards.”

⁶When I heard their outcry and the reasons for it, I became very angry. ⁷I thought the matter over and then took issue with the nobles and rulers. I charged them, “You are lending against pledges, everyone to his brother”; and I summoned a great assembly to deal with them. ⁸I said to them, “We, to the limit of our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Judeans who sold themselves to the pagans. Now you are selling your own brothers, and we will have to buy them back!” They stayed silent; they couldn’t think of anything to say. ⁹I also said, “What you are doing is not good! You should be living in fear of our God, so that our pagan enemies won’t have grounds for deriding us. ¹⁰Moreover, my brothers and my servants, I too have loaned them money and grain. Please, let’s stop making it so burdensome to go into debt. ¹¹Please! Today! Give them back their fields, vineyards, olive groves and homes; also the hundred pieces of silver and the grain, wine and olive oil you demand from them as interest.”

¹²They answered, “We will give it back. We will require nothing from them. Yes, we will do it, just as you say.” Then I called the cohanim and took an oath from them that they would do as they had promised. ¹³Shaking out the fold in my garment, I said, “May God thus shake every man from his house and from his work who fails to live up to this promise — may he be shaken out like this and made empty.” The whole assembly said, “Amen!” and praised Adonai; and the people did as they had promised.

¹⁴Besides that, from the time I was appointed their governor in the land of Y’hudah, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of Artach’shashta the king — that is, for twelve years — neither I nor my colleagues drew on the governor’s living allowance. ¹⁵The earlier governors, before me, had burdened the people, taxing them more than one-and-a-half pounds of silver shekels for food and wine; and even their servants lorded it over the people. But I didn’t, because I feared God. ¹⁶Moreover, I put all my energy into working on this wall. We didn’t buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.

¹⁷There were 150 leaders and other Judeans who ate at my table, besides those who came to us from the surrounding nations. ¹⁸Every day one ox, six choice sheep, and fowl were prepared for me, and every ten days a supply of all kinds of wine. Yet in spite of all this, I never claimed the governor’s allowance, because the people were already bearing the heavy burden of their labor. ¹⁹My God, remember favorably everything I have done for this people!

6 When it was reported to Sanvalat, Toviyah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and that not a single gap was left in it — although up to that time I hadn’t yet set up the doors in the gateways — ²Sanvalat and Geshem sent me a message which said, “Come, let’s meet together in one of the villages of the Ono Valley.” But they were planning to do me harm; ³so I sent them messengers with this message: “I’m too busy with important work to come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you?” ⁴They kept sending this sort of message to me — four times — and I answered them the same way.

⁵The fifth time, with the same purpose, Sanvalat sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand, ⁶in which was written: “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says it too, that you and the Judeans are planning a revolt, that this is why you are rebuilding the wall, and that you intend to be their king,” and similar words; ⁷“moreover, that you have also appointed prophets to proclaim about you in Yerushalayim, ‘There is a king in Y’hudah!’ A report along these lines is now going to be made to the king. Come now, therefore, and let’s discuss this.” ⁸I sent him this answer; “Nothing like what you are saying is being done. You’re making it all up in your head.” ⁹They were all just trying to scare us, thinking, “This will sap their strength and keep them from working.” But now, [God,] increase my strength!

¹⁰One day, when I went to the house of Sh’ma‘yah the son of D’layah, the son of M’heitav’el, where he was confined, he said, “Let’s meet together in the house of God, inside the temple, and let’s shut the doors of the temple. For they are going to come and try to assassinate you; yes, they will come at night to kill you.” ¹¹I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Can a man like me go into the temple to save his life? I refuse to go in.” ¹²Then I realized that God had not sent him, that he was making this prophecy against me, and that Toviyah and Sanvalat had bribed him to say it. ¹³He had been hired to frighten me into following his suggestion and thus sin, so that they would have material for their unfavorable report about me and could taunt me with it. ¹⁴My God, remember Toviyah and Sanvalat according to their deeds, also the prophet No‘adyah and the other prophets trying to intimidate me.

¹⁵So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶When all our enemies heard about it and the surrounding nations became afraid, our enemies’ self-esteem fell severely; because they realized that this work had been accomplished by our God.

¹⁷During this same period of time, the nobles of Y’hudah sent many letters to Toviyah, and Toviyah kept sending them replies. ¹⁸For there were many in Y’hudah who had sworn allegiance to him, because he was the son-in-law of Sh’khanyah the son of Arach, and his son Y’hochanan had taken as his wife the daughter of Meshulam the son of Berekhyah. ¹⁹They would even praise his good deeds in my presence, and they passed on my words to him. And Toviyah kept sending letters to intimidate me.