Nehemiah 2-3
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 2
Appointment by the King. 1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, since the wine was my responsibility, I took the wine and gave it to the king. Inasmuch as I had never before showed any sign of sadness in his presence,[a] 2 the king asked me: “Why do you look so depressed? You clearly are not ill. This is the result of your sadness of heart.”
Despite the fact that I was greatly fearful, 3 I said to the king: “May your majesty live forever! How can I possibly fail to be depressed when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 The king then said to me: “What do you wish to request of me?”
Having first prayed to the God of heaven,[b] 5 I said to the king: “If your majesty approves and your servant has found favor with you, I beg you to send me to Judah, to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I can rebuild it.” 6 Then the king—with the queen sitting beside him—said to me: “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” Once I had given the king a specific date that was acceptable to him, he approved my request.
7 Then I said to the king: “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of West-of-Euphrates with orders to grant me safe passage until I arrive in Judah. 8 I also request that you give me a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, directing that he give me timber for the gates of the citadel adjoining the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the residence I will occupy.” The king granted what I requested, for the gracious hand of my God was upon me.
9 When I came to the governors of West-of-Euphrates, I presented the king’s letters to them. The king had also sent an escort of army officers and cavalry to accompany me. 10 However, when Sanballat[c] the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the Israelites.
11 Nehemiah Inspects the Wall.[d]When I arrived in Jerusalem, I rested there for three days. 12 Then I set out by night with just a few other men. I revealed to no one what my God had inspired me to do for Jerusalem, and I took no animal with me other than the one I was riding.
13 I went forth by night through the Valley Gate toward the Dragon Spring as far as the Dung Gate, and I observed how the walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins with its gates destroyed by fire. 14 I then passed over to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no room there for the animal I was riding to continue.
15 Therefore, I went up by way of the valley in the dark, examining the wall until I once again reached the Valley Gate and re-entered the city. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had been doing. I had not as yet disclosed anything to the Jews, neither to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the magistrates, nor to any of the other persons who were to be involved in the work.[e]
17 Rebuilding Jerusalem’s Walls. Then I said to them: “You now can realize the difficulty we face. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Therefore, we must rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be looked upon as a disgrace.” 18 Then I told them how God had been so extremely gracious to me, and I also revealed the encouragement that the king had given me. They replied: “Let us begin the rebuilding at once,” and they undertook their work vigorously.
19 However when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite slave, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they ridiculed and mocked us, saying: “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 20 In turn I gave them this answer: “The God of heaven will grant us success, and we his servants intend to start the rebuilding immediately. But as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right in Jerusalem.”
Chapter 3
List of Builders.[f] 1 Eliashib the high priest then set to work with his fellow priests and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They laid its beams and put the doors in place, after which they consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel. 2 The men of Jericho worked next to Eliashib, and Zaccur, the son of Imri, built next to them.
3 The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 4 Meremoth, the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, carried out the necessary repairs next to them. Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel, was next to him, followed by Zadok, son of Baana.
5 Next to Zadok the Tekoites carried out the necessary repairs, although their nobles refused to demean themselves by helping their masters. 6 Joiada, the son of Paseah, and Meshullam, the son of Besodeiah, repaired the Old Gate, laying its beams and setting up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
7 At their side were Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, and the men of Gibeon and Mizpah who did the repairs under the jurisdiction of the governor of West-of-Euphrates. 8 Next to them the repair work was carried out by Uzziel, the son of Harhaiah, a member of the goldsmiths’ guild, and at his side was Hananiah, a member of the perfumers’ guild. They renovated the wall of Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall of the public square.
9 Next to them the repairs were carried out by Rephaiah, the son of Hur, who was the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem. 10 At his side was Jedaiah, the son of Harumaph, who made the repairs opposite his own house. Next to him the repairs were carried out by Hattush, the son of Hashabneiah.
11 Malchijah, the son of Harim, and Hasshub, the son of Pahath-moab, repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. 12 Next to them, Shallum, the son of Hallohesh and ruler of the other half of the district of Jerusalem, carried out repairs with the help of his daughters.[g]
13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and put its doors, its bolts, and its bars in place, and they also repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate. 14 The Dung Gate itself was repaired by Malchijah, the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem; he rebuilt it and put the doors in place with their bolts and bars.
15 The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallum, the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah; he rebuilt it, placed a roof over it, and put its doors in place with their bolts and their bars. He also built the wall of the Pool of Shelah that adjoined the king’s garden, as far as the steps descending from the City of David. 16 After him, Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, made the repairs from a point opposite the tomb of David as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Heroes.
17 After him, repairs were carried out by the Levites under the direction of Rehum, the son of Bani. Next to him, Hashabiah, the leader of half the district of Keilah, carried out the repairs for his own district. 18 After him, their kinsmen took charge of the repairs, headed by Binnui, the son of Henadad, leader of half the district of Keilah.
19 Next to him was Ezer, the son of Jeshua, leader of Mizpah, who repaired the adjoining section opposite the ascent to the armory at the Angle. 20 After him, Baruch, the son of Zabbai, repaired another section from the Angle to the door of the house of the high priest Eliashib.
21 After him, Meremoth, the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house. 22 After him, repairs were carried out by the priests who lived in the district.
23 After them, Benjamin and Hasshub carried out the repairs opposite their house, and after them Azariah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, did the repairs beside his own house. 24 After him, Binnui, the son of Henadad, repaired the adjoining sector from the house of Azariah to the Angle and the Corner.
25 After him, Palal, the son of Uzai, carried out repairs in front of the Angle and the tower projecting from the Upper Palace of the king to the court of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah, the son of Parosh, carried out the repairs 26 to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower. 27 After him the Tekoites repaired the adjoining section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.
28 Above the Horse Gate the priests carried out repairs, each one opposite his own house.[h] 29 After them, Zadok, the son of Immer, carried out the repairs opposite his own house, and after him Shemaiah, the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, did the necessary repairs.
30 After him, Hananiah, the son of Shelamiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired a second section. After him, Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, made the necessary repairs opposite his living quarters. 31 After him, Malchijah, a goldsmith, made the needed repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants opposite the Inspection Gate and as far as the upper room at the Corner. 32 And between the upper room at the Corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants carried out all the needed repairs.
33 Opposition from Judah’s Foes. When Sanballat was informed that we were rebuilding the wall, his anger was aroused, and he was greatly enraged. He ridiculed the Jews, 34 and in the presence of his companions and the army of Samaria he said: “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore what has been damaged beyond repair? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they be able to complete their work in a single day? Will they manage to refurbish the stones that have been damaged and reduced to ashes?” 35 And Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside Sanballat, added: “If a fox were to climb on top of the stone wall they are building, it would crumble before them.”
36 Then we prayed: “Listen to us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back upon their own heads. Let them become objects of contempt in a land of captivity. 37 Do not pardon their wickedness or allow their sins to be blotted out from your sight, for they have insulted the builders to their face.”
38 Meanwhile we continued to rebuild the wall, which was soon completed all the way around up to half its height, while the people put their hearts into their work.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 2:1 Sadness in his presence: it was not considered wise to appear depressed before the king—no one in mourning clothes could even be in his presence. The king’s questioning of Nehemiah about his appearance was a dangerous thing.
- Nehemiah 2:4 On many occasions in this short Book, we read that Nehemiah invoked God’s assistance before speaking or acting. This shows his trust in God that was the fruit of his ongoing intimate relationship with him.
- Nehemiah 2:10 Sanballat: the governor of Samaria, called the “Horonite” from the city of Horonaim in the land of Moab (see Isa 15:5). Tobiah was in all probability a member of a family (the Tobiads) who in the third century B.C. would flourish in the region of the Ammonites.
- Nehemiah 2:11 Poets who experienced the disaster have preserved for us their deeply felt and horrified memory of the mass of stones and ruins that made the site of Jerusalem such a sad place (Pss 74; 79; Lam 1; 2; 5).
- Nehemiah 2:16 Nehemiah shows great wisdom by inspecting the walls at night and not sharing his mission with anyone until he was prepared to take action. He realized that opening the idea to others would cause controversy among the Jews and lose time that could be used better in completion of the task of rebuilding.
- Nehemiah 3:1 It was necessary in a city as large as Jerusalem to have many gates for both military and trade reasons.
- Nehemiah 3:12 All the people of Jerusalem were involved in rebuilding the city walls, notwithstanding the women (i.e., Shallum’s daughters).
- Nehemiah 3:28 Nehemiah’s plan was masterful in that everyone willing and able could participate. Here we read that each priest worked on the portion opposite their house ensuring good work being done without traveling a distance.
