Nehemiah picks up where Ezra left off. We are being told the story of how the Israelites returned to the Promised Land. Most of us are so privileged as to never have had to think about what this would be like. God is faithful. Even when it feels like all is lost, God can restore us. He restored them. Someday the Lord will restore all things.
Nehemiah 1
These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:
In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,
Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah. So I questioned them about the remnant of the Jews who had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
Then I said:
“O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion with those who love Him and keep His commandments,
let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites.
I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.
We have behaved corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that You gave Your servant Moses.
Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses when You said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations,
but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name.’
They are Your servants and Your people. You redeemed them by Your great power and mighty hand.
O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
(At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)
Nehemiah 2
Now 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,
so 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
and 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?”
“What is your request?” replied the king.
So I prayed to the God of heaven
and 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.”
Then 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.
I 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.
And 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.
Then 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.
But 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.
After I had arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days,
I 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.
So I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Well of the Serpent and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and the gates that had been destroyed by fire.
Then 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;
so I went up the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I headed back and reentered through the Valley Gate.
The 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.
Then 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.”
I 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.
But 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?”
So 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.”
Nehemiah 3
At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.
The men of Jericho built next to Eliashib, and Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.
The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.
Next to them, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, made repairs. Next to him, Meshullam son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs; and next to him, Zadok son of Baana made repairs as well.
Next to him, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
The Jeshanah Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.
Next to them, repairs were made by Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, and the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, who were under the authority of the governor of the region west of the Euphrates.
Next to them, Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs, and next to him, Hananiah son of the perfumer made repairs. They fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.
Next to them, Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, made repairs;
next to him, Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house; and next to him, Hattush son of Hashabneiah made repairs.
Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-moab repaired another section, as well as the Tower of the Ovens.
And next to them, Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of the other half-district of Jerusalem, made repairs, with the help of his daughters.
The Valley Gate was repaired by Hanun and the residents of Zanoah. They rebuilt it, installed its doors, bolts, and bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.
The Dung Gate was repaired by Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem. He rebuilt it and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.
The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofed it, and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah near the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that descend from the City of David.
Beyond him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of a half-district of Beth-zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Mighty.
Next to him, the Levites made repairs under Rehum son of Bani, and next to him, Hashabiah, ruler of a half-district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.
Next to him, their countrymen made repairs under Binnui son of Henadad, ruler of the other half-district of Keilah.
And next to him, Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the Ascent to the Armory, near the angle in the wall.
Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai diligently repaired another section, from the angle to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
Next to him, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the doorway of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house.
And next to him, the priests from the surrounding area made repairs.
Beyond them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house, and next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house.
After him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the angle and the corner,
and Palal son of Uzai made repairs opposite the angle and the tower that juts out from the upper palace of the king near the courtyard of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah son of Parosh
and the temple servants living on the hill of Ophel made repairs opposite the Water Gate toward the east and the tower that juts out.
And next to them, the Tekoites repaired another section, from a point opposite the great tower that juts out to the wall of Ophel.
Above the Horse Gate, each of the priests made repairs in front of his own house.
Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house, and next to him, Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the guard of the East Gate, made repairs.
Next to him, Hananiah son of Shelemiah, as well as Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. Next to them, Meshullam son of Berechiah made repairs opposite his own quarters.
Next to him, Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the upper room above the corner.
And between the upper room above the corner and the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.
Nehemiah 4
Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews
before 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?”
Then 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!”
Hear 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.
Do not cover up their iniquity or let their sin be blotted out from Your sight, for they have provoked the builders.
So we rebuilt the wall until all of it was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
When 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,
and all of them conspired to come and fight against Jerusalem and create a hindrance.
So we prayed to our God and posted a guard against them day and night.
Meanwhile, the people of Judah said:
“The strength of the laborer fails,
and there is so much rubble
that we will never be able
to rebuild the wall.”
And 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.”
At that time the Jews who lived nearby came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
So 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.
After 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.”
When 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.
And 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
who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other.
And each of the builders worked with his sword strapped at his side. But the trumpeter stayed beside me.
Then 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.
Wherever you hear the sound of the horn, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us!”
So we continued the work, while half of the men held spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.
At 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.”
So 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.
Nehemiah 5
About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.
Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”
Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.”
Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.
We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
When I heard their outcry and these complaints, I became extremely angry,
and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!”
So I called a large assembly against them
and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!”
But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.
So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies?
I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury.
Please restore to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have been assessing them.”
“We will restore it,” they replied, “and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.”
So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised.
I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of His house and possession every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!”
The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.
Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from his twentieth year until his thirty-second year (twelve years total), neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.
The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people, but I did not do this because of my fear of God.
Instead, I devoted myself to the construction of the wall, and all my servants were gathered there for the work; we did not acquire any land.
There were 150 Jews and officials at my table, besides the guests from the surrounding nations.
Each day one ox, six choice sheep, and some fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine was provided. But I did not demand the food allotted to the governor, because the burden on the people was so heavy.
Remember me favorably, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.
Nehemiah 6
When 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—
Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”
But they were planning to harm me.
So 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?”
Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave the same reply.
The fifth time, Sanballat sent me this same message by his young servant, who had in his hand an unsealed letter that read:
“It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—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,
and 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.”
Then I sent him this reply: “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”
For 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.
Later, 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 God
inside the temple.
Let us shut the temple doors
because they are coming to kill you—
by night they are coming to kill you!”
But 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!”
I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
He 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.
O 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.
So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul.
When 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.
Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came back to them.
For 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.
Moreover, these nobles kept reporting to me Tobiah’s good deeds, and they relayed my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
Nehemiah 7
When the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.
Then I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah the commander of the fortress, because he was a faithful man who feared God more than most.
And I told them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot. While the guards are on duty, keep the doors shut and securely fastened. And appoint the residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some at their own homes.”
Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt.
Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. I found the genealogical register of those who had first returned, and I found the following written in it:
These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,
accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah.
This is the count of the men of Israel:
the descendants of Parosh, 2,172;
the descendants of Shephatiah, 372;
the descendants of Arah, 652;
the descendants of Pahath-moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab), 2,818;
the descendants of Elam, 1,254;
the descendants of Zattu, 845;
the descendants of Zaccai, 760;
the descendants of Binnui, 648;
the descendants of Bebai, 628;
the descendants of Azgad, 2,322;
the descendants of Adonikam, 667;
the descendants of Bigvai, 2,067;
the descendants of Adin, 655;
the descendants of Ater (through Hezekiah), 98;
the descendants of Hashum, 328;
the descendants of Bezai, 324;
the descendants of Hariph, 112;
the descendants of Gibeon, 95;
the men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188;
the men of Anathoth, 128;
the men of Beth-azmaveth, 42;
the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;
the men of Ramah and Geba, 621;
the men of Michmash, 122;
the men of Bethel and Ai, 123;
the men of the other Nebo, 52;
the descendants of the other Elam, 1,254;
the descendants of Harim, 320;
the men of Jericho, 345;
the men of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721;
and the descendants of Senaah, 3,930.
The priests:
the descendants of Jedaiah (through the house of Jeshua), 973;
the descendants of Immer, 1,052;
the descendants of Pashhur, 1,247;
and the descendants of Harim, 1,017.
The Levites:
the descendants of Jeshua (through Kadmiel, through the line of Hodevah ), 74.
The singers:
the descendants of Asaph, 148.
The gatekeepers:
the descendants of Shallum,
the descendants of Ater,
the descendants of Talmon,
the descendants of Akkub,
the descendants of Hatita,
and the descendants of Shobai,
138 in all.
The temple servants:
the descendants of Ziha,
the descendants of Hasupha,
the descendants of Tabbaoth,
the descendants of Keros,
the descendants of Sia,
the descendants of Padon,
the descendants of Lebanah,
the descendants of Hagabah,
the descendants of Shalmai,
the descendants of Hanan,
the descendants of Giddel,
the descendants of Gahar,
the descendants of Reaiah,
the descendants of Rezin,
the descendants of Nekoda,
the descendants of Gazzam,
the descendants of Uzza,
the descendants of Paseah,
the descendants of Besai,
the descendants of Meunim,
the descendants of Nephushesim,
the descendants of Bakbuk,
the descendants of Hakupha,
the descendants of Harhur,
the descendants of Bazlith,
the descendants of Mehida,
the descendants of Harsha,
the descendants of Barkos,
the descendants of Sisera,
the descendants of Temah,
the descendants of Neziah,
and the descendants of Hatipha.
The descendants of the servants of Solomon:
the descendants of Sotai,
the descendants of Sophereth,
the descendants of Perida,
the descendants of Jaala,
the descendants of Darkon,
the descendants of Giddel,
the descendants of Shephatiah,
the descendants of Hattil,
the descendants of Pochereth-hazzebaim,
and the descendants of Amon.
The temple servants and descendants of the servants of Solomon numbered 392 in all.
The following came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but could not prove that their families were descended from Israel:
the descendants of Delaiah,
the descendants of Tobiah,
and the descendants of Nekoda,
642 in all.
And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah,
the descendants of Hakkoz,
and the descendants of Barzillai (who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name).
These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.
The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest to consult the Urim and Thummim.
The whole assembly numbered 42,360, in addition to their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 245 male and female singers.
They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.
Some of the heads of the families contributed to the project. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 bowls, and 530 priestly garments.
And some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury for the project 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver.
The rest of the people gave a total of 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priestly garments.
So the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with some of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns. And by the seventh month the Israelites had settled in their towns.
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