Passage: Nehemiah 3, 4 (RSV)


Nehemiah 3


1Then Eli'ashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors; they consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hanan'el.
2And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.
3And the sons of Hassena'ah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
4And next to them Mer'emoth the son of Uri'ah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them Meshul'lam the son of Berechi'ah, son of Meshez'abel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Ba'ana repaired.
5And next to them the Teko'ites repaired; but their nobles did not put their necks to the work of their Lord.
6And Joi'ada the son of Pase'ah and Meshul'lam the son of Besodei'ah repaired the Old Gate; they laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
7And next to them repaired Melati'ah the Gib'eonite and Jadon the Mero'nothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, who were under the jurisdiction of the governor of the province Beyond the River.
8Next to them Uz'ziel the son of Harhai'ah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hanani'ah, one of the perfumers, repaired; and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.
9Next to them Rephai'ah the son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired.
10Next to them Jedai'ah the son of Haru'maph repaired opposite his house; and next to him Hattush the son of Hashabnei'ah repaired.
11Malchi'jah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pa'hath-mo'ab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens.
12Next to him Shallum the son of Hallo'hesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.
13Hanun and the inhabitants of Zano'ah repaired the Valley Gate; they rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.
14Malchi'jah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-hacche'rem, repaired the Dung Gate; he rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
15And Shallum the son of Colho'zeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars; and he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the City of David.
16After him Nehemi'ah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite the sepulchres of David, to the artificial pool, and to the house of the mighty men.
17After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani; next to him Hashabi'ah, ruler of half the district of Kei'lah, repaired for his district.
18After him their brethren repaired: Bav'vai the son of Hen'adad, ruler of half the district of Kei'lah;
19next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the Angle.
20After him Baruch the son of Zab'bai repaired another section from the Angle to the door of the house of Eli'ashib the high priest.
21After him Mer'emoth the son of Uri'ah, son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eli'ashib to the end of the house of Eli'ashib.
22After him the priests, the men of the Plain, repaired.
23After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azari'ah the son of Ma-asei'ah, son of Anani'ah repaired beside his own house.
24After him Bin'nui the son of Hen'adad repaired another section, from the house of Azari'ah to the Angle
25and to the corner. Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him Pedai'ah the son of Parosh
26and the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower.
27After him the Teko'ites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.
28Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house.
29After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemai'ah the son of Shecani'ah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired.
30After him Hanani'ah the son of Shelemi'ah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshul'lam the son of Berechi'ah repaired opposite his chamber.
31After him Malchi'jah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, and to the upper chamber of the corner.
32And between the upper chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.

Nehemiah 4


1Now when Sanbal'lat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he ridiculed the Jews.
2And he said in the presence of his brethren and of the army of Sama'ria, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? 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?"
3Tobi'ah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, "Yes, what they are building -- if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!
4Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn back their taunt upon their own heads, and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives.
5Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from thy sight; for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.
6So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height. For the people had a mind to work.
7But when Sanbal'lat and Tobi'ah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ash'dodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry;
8and they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.
9And we prayed to our God, and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.
10But Judah said, "The strength of the burden-bearers is failing, and there is much rubbish; we are not able to work on the wall."
11And our enemies said, "They will not know or see till we come into the midst of them and kill them and stop the work."
12When the Jews who lived by them came they said to us ten times, "From all the places where they live they will come up against us."
13So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14And I looked, and arose, and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes."
15When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.
16From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail; and the leaders stood behind all the house of Judah,
17who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were laden in such a way that each with one hand labored on the work and with the other held his weapon.
18And each of the builders had his sword girded at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
19And I said to the 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.
20In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us."
21So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn till the stars came out.
22I 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."
23So neither I nor my brethren nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon in his hand.



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