Nehemiah, starting at chapter 1
{1:1} The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in
the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the
palace, {1:2} that Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and certain
men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had
escaped, who were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
{1:3} They said to me, The remnant who are left of the captivity there
in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of
Jerusalem also is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.
{1:4} It happened, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept,
and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of
heaven, {1:5} and said, I beg you, Yahweh, the God of heaven, the
great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with
those who love him and keep his commandments: {1:6} Let your ear now
be attentive, and your eyes open, that you may listen to the prayer of
your servant, which I pray before you at this time, day and night, for
the children of Israel your servants while I confess the sins of the
children of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Yes, I and my
father's house have sinned: {1:7} we have dealt very corruptly against
you, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the
ordinances, which you commanded your servant Moses. {1:8} Remember, I
beg you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If
you trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples: {1:9} but
if you return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your
outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather
them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen,
to cause my name to dwell there. {1:10} Now these are your servants
and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power, and by
your strong hand. {1:11} Lord, I beg you, let your ear be attentive
now to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants,
who delight to fear your name; and please prosper your servant this
day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I was cup
bearer to the king.
{2:1} It happened in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of
Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the
wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been [before] sad in his
presence. {2:2} The king said to me, Why is your face sad, seeing you
are not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was
very sore afraid. {2:3} I said to the king, Let the king live forever:
why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers'
tombs, lies waste, and its gates are consumed with fire? {2:4} Then
the king said to me, For what do you make request? So I prayed to the
God of heaven. {2:5} I said to the king, If it please the king, and if
your servant have found favor in your sight, that you would send me to
Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may build it. {2:6}
The king said to me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long
shall your journey be? and when will you return? So it pleased the
king to send me; and I set him a time. {2:7} Moreover I said to the
king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors
beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to
Judah; {2:8} and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest,
that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle
which appertains to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for
the house that I shall enter into. The king granted me, according to
the good hand of my God on me. {2:9} Then I came to the governors
beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had
sent with me captains of the army and horsemen. {2:10} When Sanballat
the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it
grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare
of the children of Israel. {2:11} So I came to Jerusalem, and was
there three days. {2:12} I arose in the night, I and some few men with
me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for
Jerusalem; neither was there any animal with me, except the animal
that I rode on. {2:13} I went out by night by the valley gate, even
toward the jackal's well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls
of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates were consumed with
fire. {2:14} Then I went on to the spring gate and to the king's pool:
but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.
{2:15} Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall;
and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.
{2:16} The rulers didn't know where I went, or what I did; neither had
I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles,
nor to the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work. {2:17} Then said
I to them, You see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lies
waste, and its gates are burned with fire: come, and let us build up
the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. {2:18} I told
them of the hand of my God which was good on me, as also of the king's
words that he had spoken to me. They said, Let us rise up and build.
So they strengthened their hands for the good [work]. {2:19} But when
Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and
Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us, and despised us, and
said, What is this thing that you do? will you rebel against the king?
{2:20} Then answered I them, and said to them, The God of heaven, he
will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but
you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
{3:1} Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the
priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up
its doors; even to the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, to the
tower of Hananel. {3:2} Next to him built the men of Jericho. Next to
them built Zaccur the son of Imri. {3:3} The fish gate did the sons of
Hassenaah build; they laid its beams, and set up its doors, its bolts,
and its bars. {3:4} Next to them repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah,
the son of Hakkoz. Next to them repaired Meshullam the son of
Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel. Next to them repaired Zadok the son
of Baana. {3:5} Next to them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles
didn't put their necks to the work of their lord. {3:6} The old gate
repaired Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah;
they laid its beams, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its
bars. {3:7} Next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon
the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, [that appertained]
to the throne of the governor beyond the River. {3:8} Next to him
repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths. Next to him repaired
Hananiah one of the perfumers, and they fortified Jerusalem even to
the broad wall. {3:9} Next to them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur,
the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem. {3:10} Next to them
repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, over against his house. Next to
him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabneiah. {3:11} Malchijah the son
of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired another portion,
and the tower of the furnaces. {3:12} Next to him repaired Shallum the
son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and
his daughters. {3:13} The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the
inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up its doors, its bolts,
and its bars, and one thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate.
{3:14} The dung gate repaired Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler
of the district of Beth Haccherem; he built it, and set up its doors,
its bolts, and its bars. {3:15} The spring gate repaired Shallun the
son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah; he built it, and
covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and the
wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden, even to the stairs
that go down from the city of David. {3:16} After him repaired
Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth Zur,
to the place over against the tombs of David, and to the pool that was
made, and to the house of the mighty men. {3:17} After him repaired
the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him repaired Hashabiah,
the ruler of half the district of Keilah, for his district. {3:18}
After him repaired their brothers, Bavvai the son of Henadad, the
ruler of half the district of Keilah. {3:19} Next to him repaired Ezer
the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another portion, over against
the ascent to the armory at the turning [of the wall]. {3:20} After
him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from
the turning [of the wall] to the door of the house of Eliashib the
high priest. {3:21} After him repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah the
son of Hakkoz another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib
even to the end of the house of Eliashib. {3:22} After him repaired
the priests, the men of the Plain. {3:23} After them repaired Benjamin
and Hasshub over against their house. After them repaired Azariah the
son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah beside his own house. {3:24} After
him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another portion, from the house
of Azariah to the turning [of the wall], and to the corner. {3:25}
Palal the son of Uzai [repaired] over against the turning [of the
wall], and the tower that stands out from the upper house of the king,
which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of
Parosh [repaired]. {3:26} (Now the Nethinim lived in Ophel, to the
place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that
stands out.) {3:27} After him the Tekoites repaired another portion,
over against the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of
Ophel. {3:28} Above the horse gate repaired the priests, everyone over
against his own house. {3:29} After them repaired Zadok the son of
Immer over against his own house. After him repaired Shemaiah the son
of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate. {3:30} After him repaired
Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph,
another portion. After him repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah
over against his chamber. {3:31} After him repaired Malchijah one of
the goldsmiths to the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants,
over against the gate of Hammiphkad, and to the ascent of the corner.
{3:32} Between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate repaired
the goldsmiths and the merchants.
________________________________________________________________________
The World English Bible is dedicated to the Public Domain by the
translators and editors. It is not copyrighted. "World English Bible"
and the World English Bible logo are a trademarks of Rainbow Missions,
Inc. They may only be used to identify this translation of the Holy
Bible as published by Rainbow Missions, Inc., and faithful copies and
quotations. "Faithful copies" include copies converted to other formats
(i. e. HTML, PDF, etc.) or typeset differently, without altering the
text of the Scriptures. Use of the markings of direct quotes of Jesus
Christ for different rendition (i. e. red text) is optional. Comments
and typo reports are welcome at http://eBible.org/cgi-bin/comment.cgi.
Please see http://WEBible.org/ for updates, revision status, free
downloads, and printed edition purchase information.
___
To cancel this free email subscription, please send
email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
unsubscribe bible
in the body of the message OR use the form at http://ebible.org/subscribe.htm
