Jerusalem

And we journey from the river Ahava, on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God hath been upon us, and He delivereth us from the hand of the enemy and the lier in wait by the way;

and we come in to Jerusalem, and dwell there three days.

for servants we are , and in our servitude our God hath not forsaken us, and stretcheth out unto us kindness before the kings of Persia, to give to us a quickening to lift up the house of our God, and to cause its wastes to cease, and to give to us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

And they cause a voice to pass over into Judah and Jerusalem, to all sons of the removal, to be gathered to Jerusalem,

And gathered are all the men of Judah and Benjamin to Jerusalem by the third day, it is the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sit in the broad place of the house of God, trembling on account of the matter and of the showers.

and come in doth Hanani, one of my brethren, he and men of Judah, and I ask them concerning the Jews, the escaped part that have been left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem;

and they say to me, `Those left, who have been left of the captivity there in the province, are in great evil, and in reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burnt with fire.'

And I come in unto Jerusalem, and I am there three days,

and I rise by night, I and a few men with me, and have not declared to a man what my God is giving unto my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding.

And I go out through the gate of the valley by night, and unto the front of the fountain of the dragon, and unto the gate of the dunghill, and I am measuring about the walls of Jerusalem, that are broken down, and its gates consumed with fire.

and I say unto them, `Ye are seeing the evil that we are in, in that Jerusalem is waste, and its gates have been burnt with fire; come and we build the wall of Jerusalem, and we are not any more a reproach.'

And I return them word, and say to them, `The God of the heavens--He doth give prosperity to us, and we His servants rise and have built; and to you there is no portion, and right, and memorial in Jerusalem.'

By his hand hath Uzziel son of Harhaiah of the refiners strengthened; and by his hand hath Hananiah son of one of the compounders strengthened; and they leave Jerusalem unto the broad wall.

And by their hand hath Rephaiah son of Hur, head of the half of the district of Jerusalem, strengthened.

And by his hand hath Shallum son of Halohesh, head of the half of the district of Jerusalem, strengthened, he and his daughters.

And it cometh to pass, when Sanballat hath heard, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, that lengthening hath gone up to the walls of Jerusalem, that the breeches have begun to be stopped, then it is very displeasing to them,

and they conspire, all of them together, to come in to fight against Jerusalem, and to do to it injury.

Also, at that time I said to the people, `Let each with his servant lodge in the midst of Jerusalem, and they have been to us by night a guard, and by day for the work:'

And also, prophets thou hast appointed to call for thee in Jerusalem, saying, A king is in Judah, and now it is heard by the king according to these words; and now come, and we take counsel together.'

and I charge Hanani my brother, and Hananiah head of the palace, concerning Jerusalem--for he is as a man of truth, and fearing God above many--

and I say to them, `Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened till the heat of the sun, and while they are standing by let them shut the doors, and fasten, and appoint guards of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each in his guard, and each over-against his house.'

These are sons of the province, those coming up of the captives of the removal that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed--and they turn back to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his city--

and that they proclaim and cause to pass over all their cities, (and in Jerusalem,) saying, `Go ye out to the mount, and bring leaves of the olive, and leaves of the oil tree, and leaves of the myrtle, and leaves of the palms, and leaves of thick trees, to make booths as it is written.'

And the heads of the people dwell in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people have caused to fall lots to bring in one out of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts in the cities,

and the people give a blessing to all the men who are offering themselves willingly to dwell in Jerusalem.