Nehemiah 6-8

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition

Intrigues of Enemies Foiled

6 Now when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had built the wall and that there was no gap left in it (though up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), ² Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, ‘Come and let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.’ But they intended to do me harm. ³ So I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you?’ ⁴ They sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. ⁵ In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. ⁶ In it was written, ‘It is reported among the nations—and Geshem^[a] also says it—that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall; and according to this report you wish to become their king. ⁷ You have also set up prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, “There is a king in Judah!” And now it will be reported to the king according to these words. So come, therefore, and let us confer together.’ ⁸ Then I sent to him, saying, ‘No such things as you say have been done; you are inventing them out of your own mind’ ⁹ —for they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, ‘Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.’ But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

¹⁰ One day when I went into the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house, he said, ‘Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, tonight they are coming to kill you.’ ¹¹ But I said, ‘Should a man like me run away? Would a man like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!’ ¹² Then I perceived and saw that God had not sent him at all, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. ¹³ He was hired for this purpose, to intimidate me and make me sin by acting in this way, and so they could give me a bad name, in order to taunt me. ¹⁴ Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

The Wall Completed

¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶ And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid^[b] and fell greatly in their own esteem; for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. ¹⁷ Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. ¹⁸ For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. ¹⁹ Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence, and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

7 Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, ² I gave my brother Hanani charge over Jerusalem, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel—for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many. ³ And I said to them, ‘The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot; while the gatekeepers^[c] are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their watch-posts, and others before their own houses.’ ⁴ The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few and no houses had been built.

Lists of the Returned Exiles

⁵ Then my God put it into my mind to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people, to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who were the first to come back, and I found the following written in it:

⁶ These are the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried into exile; they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town. ⁷ They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.

The number of the Israelite people: ⁸ the descendants of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two. ⁹ Of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two. ¹⁰ Of Arah, six hundred and fifty-two. ¹¹ Of Pahath-moab, namely the descendants of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and eighteen. ¹² Of Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four. ¹³ Of Zattu, eight hundred and forty-five. ¹⁴ Of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty. ¹⁵ Of Binnui, six hundred and forty-eight. ¹⁶ Of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-eight. ¹⁷ Of Azgad, two thousand three hundred and twenty-two. ¹⁸ Of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-seven. ¹⁹ Of Bigvai, two thousand and sixty-seven. ²⁰ Of Adin, six hundred and fifty-five. ²¹ Of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, ninety-eight. ²² Of Hashum, three hundred and twenty-eight. ²³ Of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-four. ²⁴ Of Hariph, one hundred and twelve. ²⁵ Of Gibeon, ninety-five. ²⁶ The people of Bethlehem and Netophah, one hundred and eighty-eight. ²⁷ Of Anathoth, one hundred and twenty-eight. ²⁸ Of Beth-azmaveth, forty-two. ²⁹ Of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three. ³⁰ Of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one. ³¹ Of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two. ³² Of Bethel and Ai, one hundred and twenty-three. ³³ Of the other Nebo, fifty-two. ³⁴ The descendants of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four. ³⁵ Of Harim, three hundred and twenty. ³⁶ Of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five. ³⁷ Of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-one. ³⁸ Of Senaah, three thousand nine hundred and thirty.

³⁹ The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three. ⁴⁰ Of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two. ⁴¹ Of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven. ⁴² Of Harim, one thousand and seventeen.

⁴³ The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the descendants of Hodevah, seventy-four. ⁴⁴ The singers: the descendants of Asaph, one hundred and forty-eight. ⁴⁵ The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, of Ater, of Talmon, of Akkub, of Hatita, of Shobai, one hundred and thirty-eight.

⁴⁶ The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, of Hasupha, of Tabbaoth, ⁴⁷ of Keros, of Sia, of Padon, ⁴⁸ of Lebana, of Hagaba, of Shalmai, ⁴⁹ of Hanan, of Giddel, of Gahar, ⁵⁰ of Reaiah, of Rezin, of Nekoda, ⁵¹ of Gazzam, of Uzza, of Paseah, ⁵² of Besai, of Meunim, of Nephushesim, ⁵³ of Bakbuk, of Hakupha, of Harhur, ⁵⁴ of Bazlith, of Mehida, of Harsha, ⁵⁵ of Barkos, of Sisera, of Temah, ⁵⁶ of Neziah, of Hatipha.

⁵⁷ The descendants of Solomon’s servants: of Sotai, of Sophereth, of Perida, ⁵⁸ of Jaala, of Darkon, of Giddel, ⁵⁹ of Shephatiah, of Hattil, of Pochereth-hazzebaim, of Amon.

⁶⁰ All the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants were three hundred and ninety-two.

⁶¹ The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove their ancestral houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: ⁶² the descendants of Delaiah, of Tobiah, of Nekoda, six hundred and forty-two. ⁶³ Also, of the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, of Hakkoz, of Barzillai (who had married one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name). ⁶⁴ These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean; ⁶⁵ the governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until a priest with Urim and Thummim should come.

⁶⁶ The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, ⁶⁷ besides their male and female slaves, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five singers, male and female. ⁶⁸ They had seven hundred and thirty-six horses, two hundred and forty-five mules,^{[d] 69} four hundred and thirty-five camels, and six thousand seven hundred and twenty donkeys.

⁷⁰ Now some of the heads of ancestral houses contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury one thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, and five hundred and thirty priestly robes. ⁷¹ And some of the heads of ancestral houses gave into the building fund twenty thousand darics of gold and two thousand two hundred minas of silver. ⁷² And what the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold, two thousand minas of silver, and sixty-seven priestly robes.

⁷³ So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel settled in their towns.

Ezra Summons the People to Obey the Law

When the seventh month came—the people of Israel being settled in their towns— 8 ¹ all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. ² Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. ³ He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. ⁴ The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. ⁵ And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. ⁶ Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen’, lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites,^[e] helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places. ⁸ So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

⁹ And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. ¹⁰ Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ ¹¹ So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, ‘Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.’ ¹² And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

The Festival of Booths Celebrated

¹³ On the second day the heads of ancestral houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to the scribe Ezra in order to study the words of the law. ¹⁴ And they found it written in the law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the people of Israel should live in booths^[f] during the festival of the seventh month, ¹⁵ and that they should publish and proclaim in all their towns and in Jerusalem as follows, ‘Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths,^[g] as it is written.’ ¹⁶ So the people went out and brought them, and made booths^[h] for themselves, each on the roofs of their houses, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷ And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths^[i] and lived in them; for from the days of Jeshua son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. ¹⁸ And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the book of the law of God. They kept the festival for seven days; and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance.