God

Let our leaders represent the whole community; and let all those in our cities who have married foreign women appear at prearranged times, accompanied by the elders and judges of each city; until our God's fierce anger over this has been turned away from us."

On hearing this answer, I sat down and wept; I mourned for several days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

I said, "Please, ADONAI! God of heaven! You great and fearsome God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot!

Let your ear now be attentive and your eyes be open, so that you will listen to the prayer of your servant, which I am praying before you these days, day and night, for the people of Isra'el your servants - even as I confess the sins of the people of Isra'el that we have committed against you. Yes, I and my father's house have sinned.

We have deeply offended you. We haven't observed the mitzvot, laws or rulings you ordered your servant Moshe.

Remember, please, the word you gave through your servant Moshe, 'If you break faith, I will scatter you among the peoples;

but if you return to me, observe my mitzvot and obey them, then, even if your scattered ones are in the most distant part of heaven, nevertheless, I will collect them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for bearing my name.'

Now these are your servants, your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and strong hand.

Adonai, please, let your ear now be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take joy in fearing your name: please let your servant succeed today and win this man's compassion"- for I was the king's personal attendant.

The king asked me, "What is it that you want?" I prayed to the God of heaven,

and also a letter for Asaf the supervisor of the royal forests, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress belonging to the house, for the city wall and for the house I will be occupying." The king gave me these, according to the good hand of my God on me.

I got up during the night, I and a few men with me. I hadn't told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Yerushalayim; and I didn't take any animal with me except the animal on which I was riding.

I also told them of the gracious hand of my God that had been on me, also what the king had said to me. They said, "Let's start building at once," and energetically set out to do this good work.

But I answered them: "The God of heaven will enable us to succeed. Therefore we his servants will set about rebuilding. But you have no share, right or history to commemorate in Yerushalayim."

Next to them the men from T'koa made repairs; but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.

Our God, listen! We are being treated with contempt. Turn back their jeers on their own heads; give them over to be plundered in a land of exile.

However, we prayed to our God and, because of them, organized a watch against them day and night.

After inspecting them, I stood up and addressed the nobles, leaders and the rest of the people: "Don't be afraid of them! Remember Adonai, who is great and fearful; and fight for your brothers, sons, daughters, wives and homes."

When our enemies heard that the plot was known to us, and God had foiled their plans, we all returned to the wall, everyone to his work.

But wherever you are, when you hear the sound of the shofar, come to that place, to us. Our God will fight for us!"

I also said, "What you are doing is not good! You should be living in fear of our God, so that our pagan enemies won't have grounds for deriding us.

Shaking out the fold in my garment, I said, "May God thus shake every man from his house and from his work who fails to live up to this promise - may he be shaken out like this and made empty." The whole assembly said, "Amen!" and praised ADONAI; and the people did as they had promised.

The earlier governors, before me, had burdened the people, taxing them more than one-and-a-half pounds of silver shekels for food and wine; and even their servants lorded it over the people. But I didn't, because I feared God.

My God, remember favorably everything I have done for this people!

They were all just trying to scare us, thinking, "This will sap their strength and keep them from working." But now, [God,] increase my strength!