The Daily Audio Bible

Nehemiah Prays for His People

1 These are the words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the king’s house in Susa, ² Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came. I asked them about the Jews who were still living and had gotten away from Babylon, and about Jerusalem. ³ They said to me, “The Jews who are left who have returned to the land from Babylon are in much trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

⁴ When I heard this, I sat down and cried and was filled with sorrow for days. I did not eat, and I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great God Who is honored with fear, Who keeps the agreement and loving-kindness for those who love Him and keep His Laws, ⁶ listen to me and let Your eyes be open. Hear the prayer of Your servant which I now pray to You day and night for the sons of Israel Your servants, telling the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You. I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷ We have sinned in our actions against You. We have not kept the Laws which You gave to Your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember what You told Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are not faithful, I will make you go different places in other nations. ⁹ But if you return to Me and keep My Laws and obey them, I will gather you and bring you to the place where I have chosen for My name to be. I will do this even if you have been spread out to the farthest part of the heavens.’ ¹⁰ They are Your servants and Your people whom You have made free by Your great power and strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, hear the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who are happy to fear Your name. Make Your servant do well today, and give him loving-pity in front of this man.”

Now I was the one who carried the cup for the king.

The King Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem

2 In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, wine was in front of him. And I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in front of him before. ² So the king said to me, “Why is your face so sad when you are not sick? It must be that you are sad in your heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³ I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies waste and its gates destroyed by fire?” ⁴ Then the king said to me, “What are you asking for?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your eyes, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves. Let me build it again.” ⁶ The king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time. ⁷ And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given to me for the leaders of the lands on the other side of the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah. ⁸ Send a letter with me for Asaph, the keeper of the king’s trees, that he may give me cut trees. These will be for making heavy wood pieces for the gates of the strong place by the house of God, and for the city wall, and for the house where I will stay.” And the king gave me what I asked for, because the good hand of my God was upon me.

⁹ Then I came to the leaders of the lands on the other side of the River and gave them the letters. Now the king had sent army captains and horsemen with me. ¹⁰ When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite workman heard about it, they were not pleased that someone had come to make things go well for the sons of Israel.

¹¹ I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. ¹² Then 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. There was no animal with me except the one I was sitting on. ¹³ I went out at night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon’s Well and to the Waste Gate. I looked at the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were destroyed by fire. ¹⁴ Then I went on to the Well Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no place for the animal I was on to pass. ¹⁵ So I went up in the night by the valley and looked at the wall. Then I went in through the Valley Gate again and returned. ¹⁶ The leaders did not know where I had gone or what I had done. And I had not yet told the Jews, the religious leaders, the rulers, the leaders, or the rest who did the work.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the problem we have. Jerusalem lies waste and its gates are destroyed by fire. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem again, that we may no longer be put to shame.” ¹⁸ I told them how the hand of my God had brought good to me, and the words that the king had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us get up and build.” So they put their hands to the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they made fun of us and hated us. They said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you turning against the king?” ²⁰ I answered them, “The God of heaven will make it go well for us. So we His servants will get up and build. But you have no share or right or anything to be remembered in Jerusalem.”

Work on the Wall

3 Then Eliashib the head religious leader and his brothers the religious leaders started to work and built the Sheep Gate. They set it apart as holy, and hung its doors. They set apart as holy the wall to the Tower of the Hundred, and to the Tower of Hananel. ² The men of Jericho built next to him. And Zaccur the son of Imri built next to them.

³ The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid the long wood pieces that hold up the gate and hung its doors with its iron pieces. ⁴ Next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, did the needed work. Next to him Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel, did the needed work. And next to him Zadok the son of Baana did the needed work. ⁵ Next to him the Tekoites did the needed work, but their rulers would not do the work they were told to do by their lords.

⁶ Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah did the needed work on the Old Gate. They laid its long wood pieces and hung its doors with its iron pieces. ⁷ Next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite did the needed work. They were the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, who were under the rule of the leader of the land on the other side of the River. ⁸ Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, who worked with gold, did the needed work. Next to him Hananiah, one of the men who made perfume, did the needed work. They made Jerusalem like new as far as the Wide Wall. ⁹ Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, the leader of half of Jerusalem, did the needed work. ¹⁰ Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph did the needed work beside his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah did the needed work. ¹¹ Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab did the needed work on another part and on the Tower of the Stoves. ¹² Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the leader of half of Jerusalem, did the needed work, he and his daughters. ¹³ Hanun and the people of Zanoah did the needed work on the Valley Gate. They built it and hung its doors with its iron pieces. And they built the wall to the Waste Gate, as far as 500 long steps. ¹⁴ Malchijah the son of Rechab, the leader of Beth-haccherem did the needed work on the Waste Gate. He built it and hung its doors with its iron pieces.

How a Husband and Wife Should Live

7 You asked me some questions in your letter. This is my answer. It is good if a man does not get married. ² But because of being tempted to sex sins, each man should get married and have his own wife. Each woman should get married and have her own husband. ³ The husband should please his wife as a husband. The wife should please her husband as a wife. ⁴ The wife is not the boss of her own body. It belongs to the husband. And in the same way, the husband is not the boss of his own body. It belongs to the wife.

⁵ Do not keep from each other that which belongs to each other in marriage unless you agree for awhile so you can use your time to pray. Then come together again or the devil will tempt you to do that which you know you should not do.

⁶ This is what I think. I am not saying you must do it. ⁷ I wish everyone were as I am, but each has his own gift from God. One has one gift. Another has another gift.

⁸ This is what I say to those who are not married and to women whose husbands have died. It is good if you do not get married. I am not married. ⁹ But if you are not able to keep from doing that which you know is wrong, get married. It is better to get married than to have such strong sex desires.

¹⁰ I have this to say to those who are married. These words are from the Lord. A wife should not leave her husband, ¹¹ but if she does leave him, she should not get married to another man. It would be better for her to go back to her husband. The husband should not divorce his wife. ¹² I have this to say. These words are not from the Lord. If a Christian husband has a wife who is not a Christian, and she wants to live with him, he must not divorce her. ¹³ If a Christian wife has a husband who is not a Christian, and he wants to live with her, she must not divorce him. ¹⁴ The husband who is not a Christian is set apart from the sin of the world because of his Christian wife. The wife who is not a Christian is set apart from the sin of the world because of her Christian husband. In this way, the lives of the children are not unclean because of sin, they are clean. ¹⁵ If the one who is not a Christian wants to leave, let that one go. The Christian husband or wife should not try to make the other one stay. God wants you to live in peace. ¹⁶ Christian wife, how do you know you will not help your husband to become a Christian? Or Christian husband, how do you know you will not help your wife to become a Christian?

Stay as You Were When God Chose You

¹⁷ Everyone should live the life the Lord gave to him. He should live as he was when he became a Christian. This is what I teach in all the churches. ¹⁸ If a man became a Christian after he had gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew, he should do nothing about it. If a man became a Christian before, he should not go through the religious act of becoming a Jew. ¹⁹ If it is done or not done, it means nothing. What is important is to obey God’s Word. ²⁰ Everyone should stay the same way he was when he became a Christian. ²¹ Were you a servant who was owned by someone when you became a Christian? Do not worry about it. But if you are able to become free, do that. ²² A servant who is owned by someone and who has become a Christian is the Lord’s free man. A free man who has become a Christian is a servant owned by Christ. ²³ He paid a great price for you when He bought you. Do not let yourselves become servants owned by men. ²⁴ Christian brothers, each one should stay as he was when he became a Christian.

¹⁹ How great is Your loving-kindness! You have stored it up for those who fear You. You show it to those who trust in You in front of the sons of men. ²⁰ You will hide them with You in secret from the sinful plans of men. You keep them in Your tent in secret from those who fight with tongues. ²¹ Honor and thanks be to the Lord. For He has shown His great loving-favor to me when I was in a city with armies all around. ²² In my fear I said, “You have closed Your eyes to me!” But You heard my cry for loving-kindness when I called to You.

²³ Love the Lord, all you who belong to Him! The Lord keeps the faithful safe. But He gives the proud their pay in full. ²⁴ Be strong. Be strong in heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

⁴ Eyes lifted high and a proud heart is sin and is the lamp of the sinful.