Neh 2:12-3:16, 4:2, 6, 9-13, 17-23, 13:8-31, Psa 71:15-18 | ESV | STEP | Then I arose in the night , I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem . There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode .

12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. 13 I went out by night by ^athe Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to ^bthe Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem ^cthat were broken down ^dand its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I went on to ^ethe Fountain Gate and to ^fthe King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. 15 Then I went up in the night ^gby the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.

17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, ^hhow Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer ⁱsuffer derision.” 18 And I told them ^jof the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” ^kSo they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and ^lGeshem the Arab heard of it, ^mthey jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? ⁿAre you rebelling against the king?” 20 Then I replied to them, ^o“The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim ^{▼▼Or memorial} in Jerusalem.”

Nehemiah 3:1-16

Rebuilding the Wall

1 Then ^qEliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built ^rthe Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and ^sset its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the ^tTower of Hananel. 2 And next to him ^uthe men of Jericho built. And next to them ^{▼▼Hebrew him} Zaccur the son of Imri built.

3 The sons of Hassenaah built ^wthe Fish Gate. ^xThey laid its beams and ^yset its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 4 And next to them ^zMeremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them ^aaMeshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired. 5 And next to them ^abthe Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord. ^{▼▼Or lords}

6 Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah ^adrepaired the Gate of Yeshanah. ^{▼▼Or of the old city} ^afThey laid its beams and ^agset its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 7 And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, the seat of ^ahthe governor of the province Beyond the River. 8 Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as ^aithe Broad Wall. 9 Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, ^ajruler of half the district of ^{▼▼Or foreman of half the portion assigned to; also verses 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18} Jerusalem, repaired. 10 Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah repaired. 11 Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and ^althe Tower of the Ovens. 12 Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ^amruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.

13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired ^anthe Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and ^aoset its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} of the wall, as far as ^aqthe Dung Gate.

14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of ^arBeth-haccherem, repaired ^asthe Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and ^atset its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

15 And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired ^authe Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and ^avset its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of ^awthe Pool of Shelah of ^axthe king’s garden, as far as ^aythe stairs that go down from the city of David. 16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite ^azthe tombs of David, as far as ^bathe artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men.

Nehemiah 4:2

2 And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of ^bbSamaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? ^{▼▼Or Will they commit themselves to God?} Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”

Nehemiah 4:6

6 So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

Nehemiah 4:9-13

9 And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

10 In Judah it was said, ^{▼▼Hebrew Judah said} “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” 11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” 12 At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} 13 So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

Nehemiah 4:17-23

17 who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. 18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 19 And I said to ^bfthe nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. 20 In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. ^bgOur God will fight for us.”

21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. 22 I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” 23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; ^bheach kept his weapon at his right hand. ^{▼▼Probable reading; Hebrew each his weapon the water}

Nehemiah 13:8-31

8 And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. 9 Then I gave orders, and they ^bjcleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

10 I also found out that ^bkthe portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each ^blto his field. 11 ^bmSo I confronted the officials and said, ^bn“Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. 12 Then all Judah brought ^bothe tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 And ^bpI appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, ^bqfor they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. 14 ^brRemember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses ^bson the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, ^btwhich they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And ^buI warned them on the day when they sold food. 16 Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! 17 ^bvThen I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, ^bwprofaning the Sabbath day? 18 ^bxDid not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster ^{▼▼The Hebrew word can mean evil, harm, or disaster, depending on the context} on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

19 As soon as it ^bzbegan to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 ^caBut I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. 22 Then I commanded the Levites ^cbthat they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. ^ccRemember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.

23 In those days also I saw the Jews ^cdwho had married women ^ceof Ashdod, ^cfAmmon, and ^cgMoab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. 25 ^chAnd I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. ^ciAnd I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26 ^cjDid not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? ^ckAmong the many nations there was no king like him, and he was ^clbeloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. 27 Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and ^cmact treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”

28 And one of the sons of ^cnJehoiada, the son of ^coEliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of ^cpSanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. 29 ^cqRemember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood ^crand the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

30 ^csThus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31 and I provided ^ctfor the wood offering ^cuat appointed times, and for the firstfruits.

^cvRemember me, O my God, for good.

Psalms 71:15-18

15 My ^cwmouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for ^cxtheir number is past my knowledge.
16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So even to ^cyold age and gray hairs,
O God, ^czdo not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.