4Judah was saying,
“The strength of the basket-carrier has failed,
And there is so much rubble;
We are not able ourselves
To rebuild the wall.’’
5And our foes were saying, Before they know or see it, we shall be in among them and kill them, and put a stop to the work.’’ 6When the Jews living near themb would arrive, they would tell us c-time and again-c d-… from all the places where … you shall come back to us. …’’-d 7I stationed, on the lower levels of the place, behind the walls, on the bare rock—I stationed the people by families with their swords, their lances, and their bows. 8Then I decided to exhort the nobles, the prefects, and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them! Think of the great and awesome Lord, and fight for your brothers, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes!’’
9When our enemies learned that it had become known to us, since God had thus frustrated their plan, we could all return to the wall, each to his work. 10From that day on, half my servants did work and half held lances and shields, bows and armor. And the officers stood behind the whole house of Judah 11who were rebuilding the wall. The basket-carriers were burdened, doing work with one hand while the other held a weapon. 12As for the builders, each had his sword girded at his side as he was building. The trumpeter stood beside me. 13I said to the nobles, the prefects, and the rest of the people, “There is much work and it is spread out; we are scattered over the wall, far from one another. 14When you hear a trumpet call, gather yourselves to me at that place; our God will fight for us!’’ 15And so we worked on, while half were holding lances, from the break of day until the stars appeared.
16I further said to the people at that time, “Let every man with his servant lodge in Jerusalem, that we may use the night to stand guard and the day to work.’’ 17Nor did I, my brothers, my servants, or the guards following me ever take off our clothes, e-[or] each his weapon, even at the water.-e
5 There was a great outcry by the common folk and their wives against their brother Jews. 2Some said, Our sons and daughters are numerous; we must get grain to eat in order that we may live!’’ 3Others said,We must pawn our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain to stave off hunger.’’ 4Yet others said, “We have borrowed money against our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s tax. 5Now a-we are as good as-a our brothers, and our children as good as theirs; yet here we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery—some of our daughters are already subjected—and we are powerless, while our fields and vineyards belong to others.’’
6It angered me very much to hear their outcry and these complaints. 7After pondering the matter carefully, I censured the nobles and the prefects, saying, Are you pressing claims on loans made to your brothers?’’ Then I raised a large crowd against them 8and said to them,We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations; will you now sell your brothers so that they must be sold [back] to us?’’ They kept silent, for they found nothing to answer. 9So I continued, What you are doing is not right. You ought to act in a God-fearing way so as not to give our enemies, the nations, room to reproach us. 10I, my brothers, and my servants also have claims of money and grain against them; let us now abandon those claims! 11Give back at once their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their homes, and [abandon] the claims for the hundred pieces of silver, the grain, the wine, and the oil that you have been pressing against them!’’ 12They replied,We shall give them back, and not demand anything of them; we shall do just as you say.’’ Summoning the priests, I put them under oath to keep this promise. 13I also shook out the bosom of my garment and said, So may God shake free of his household and property any man who fails to keep this promise; may he be thus shaken out and stripped.’’ All the assembled answered,Amen,’’ and praised the LORD.
The people kept this promise.
14Furthermore, from the day I was commissioned to be governor in the land of Judah—from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes until his thirty-second year, twelve years in all—neither I nor my brothers ever ate of the governor’s food allowance. 15The former governors who preceded me laid heavy burdens on the people, and took from them for bread and wine more thanb forty shekels of silver. Their servants also tyrannized over the people. But I, out of the fear of God, did not do so. 16I also supported the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there at the work. 17Although there were at my table, between Jews and prefects, one hundred and fifty men in all, beside those who came to us from surrounding nations; 18and although what was prepared for each day came to one ox, six select sheep, and fowl, all prepared for me, and at ten-day intervals all sorts of wine in abundance— yet I did not resort to the governor’s food allowance, for the [king’s] service lay heavily on the people.
19O my God, remember to my credit all that I have done for this people!
6 When word reached Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a breach remained in it—though at that time I had not yet set up doors in the gateways— 2Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, Come, let us get together in Kephirim in the Ono valley’’; they planned to do me harm. 3I sent them messengers, saying,I am engaged in a great work and cannot come down, for the work will stop if I leave it in order to come down to you.’’ 4They sent me the same message four times, and I gave them the same answer. 5Sanballat sent me the same message a fifth time by his servant, who had an open letter with him. 6Its text was: `Word has reached the nations, and Geshema too says that you and the Jews are planning to rebel—for which reason you are building the wall—and that you are to be their king. b-Such is the word.-b 7You have also set up prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim about you,There is a king in Judah!’ Word of these things will surely reach the king; so come, let us confer together.’’
8I sent back a message to him, saying, None of these things you mention has occurred; they are figments of your imagination’’—9for they all wished to intimidate us, thinking,They will desist from the work, and it will not get done.’’ Now strengthen my hands!
10Then I visited Shemaiah son of Delaiah son of Mehetabel when he was housebound, and he said,
“Let us meet in the House of God, inside the sanctuary,
And let us shut the doors of the sanctuary, for they are coming to kill you,
By night they are coming to kill you.’’
11I replied, “Will a man like me take flight? Besides, who such as I can go into the sanctuary and live? I will not go in.’’ 12Then I realized that it was not God who sent him, but that he uttered that prophecy about me— Tobiah and Sanballat having hired him—13because he was a hireling, that I might be intimidated and act thus and commit a sin, and so provide them a scandal with which to reproach me.
14“O my God, remember against Tobiah and Sanballat these deeds of theirs,c and against Noadiah the prophetess, and against the other prophets that they wished to intimidate me!’’
15The wall was finished on the twenty-fifth of Elul, after fifty-two days. 16When all our enemies heard it, all the nations round about us were intimidated, and fell very low in their own estimation; they realized that this work had been accomplished by the help of our God.
17Also in those days, the nobles of Judah kept up a brisk correspondence with Tobiah, and Tobiah with them. 18Many in Judah were his confederates, for he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. 19They would also speak well of him to me, and would divulge my affairs to him. Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
7 When the wall was rebuilt and I had set up the doors, tasks were assigned to the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites. 2I put Hanani my brother and Hananiah, the captain of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem, for he was a more trustworthy and God-fearing man than most. 3I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the heat of the day,a and b-before you leave your posts-b let the doors be closed and barred. And assign the inhabitants of Jerusalem to watches, each man to his watch, and each in front of his own house.’’
4The city was broad and large, the people in it were few, and houses were not yet built. 5My God put it into my mind to assemble the nobles, the prefects, and the people, in order to register
