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Chapter 1
These are the memoirs of Nehemias, son of Helchias. One day in the month of Casleu, the year, the twentieth of Artaxerxes, in the royal city of Susa, I was visited by a kinsman of mine, Hanani, who brought with him certain travellers just come from Juda. So I asked them how it went with Jerusalem, and with the Jews still left there, survivors of the exiles who returned. Survivors there are, said they, in various parts of the province, left over from the days of the exile. But they are in great distress, and count for nothing; Jerusalem is but broken walls and charred gates. For a long time after hearing this news I kept my house, all tears and lament; I fasted, and sought audience with the God of heaven in prayer.
Mercy, I cried, you God of heaven, the strong, the great, the terrible! You who ever keep your gracious promises to the souls that love you, and are true to your commandments! Let your ears be attentive, your eyes watching still; listen to the prayer I offer you now, your servant, interceding day and night for my fellow-servants, the men of Israel. Listen to the confession I make of our sins; they, the men of Israel, have sinned, I and my father's race have sinned; led away by false aims, we have neglected decree and observance and award of yours, enjoined on your servant Moses. But do not forget that this servant of yours, Moses, had a promise of you too. Far and wide though you should scatter us among the nations, when we disobeyed you, yet if we came back to you, if we kept your bidding in mind and performed it, then would you reunite us, though the furthest corner of earth were our place of banishment, and bring us home to that city which is the chosen shrine of your name. Are they not your own servants, your own people, won for you by your great deeds, by your constraining power? Let not your ears be deaf, Lord, I beseech you, to your servant's prayer, to the prayer of all these servants of yours who love to hold your name in reverence. Speed your servant well this day, and win for him the pity of a human heart.
It was of the king I spoke; I was the royal cup-bearer.
Chapter 2
It was the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes reign. The king sat at his wine, and as I took it up to hand it to him, I stood there sad of mien in the royal presence. Why, what mean these pale looks? he asked. Ill I know you are not; this can be nothing else than some sorrow gnawing at your heart. At this, I was in an extreme of fear; and, wishing the king long life, I answered, Little wonder if my looks are sad, when the city where my father lies buried is but a wilderness, and its gates blackened with fire. What would you have of me? the king asked. And I, first praying to the God of heaven, made answer thus, Did I but stand so high in the royal favour, my request would be that you would send me to Judaea, to this city where my father lies buried, and give me leave to rebuild it. No question had the king to ask, or his consort that was there beside him, but how long my journey would last? When did I think to return? So the king was content to let me go, and it was for me to name the time of my absence. Then I said, May it please the king's grace to entrust me with letters for the governors of the country beyond Euphrates, bidding them see me safe on my way to Judaea; a letter, moreover, to Asaph, the ranger of the royal forest, bidding him supply me with timber for coping the gates of the temple palace and the city walls, and roofing my own house besides. All this, by God's favour, the king granted me.
So I made my way to the governors beyond Euphrates, with royal letters to give them, and a royal escort of captains and horsemen. Sick and sorry men were Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the Slave, one of the breed of Ammon, to hear of any visitor that had Israel's welfare at heart. Then I went on to Jerusalem, and waited three days before telling anyone what purpose God had put into my heart, to bring me there. When I stirred abroad, it was at dead of night, with only a few men to attend me, and none mounted but myself. At dead of night, I went out by the Valley Gate, past the Dragon's Well, and on to the Scavengers' Gate, and all the way I found the wall of Jerusalem lying in ruins, and its gates blackened with fire. The next gate I came to was that of the Well, and beyond that was the royal aqueduct; here the beast I was mounted on could find no way to pass. So, at midnight, I passed along the ravine and examined the wall, returning home again by the Valley Gate; none of the rulers knew whither I had gone, or on what errand; I had not opened my mind yet to the Jewish folk, priest or noble or ruler or any other whom the task concerned. But now I called upon them to witness the sore strait we had been brought to, Jerusalem a wilderness, the gates blackened with fire; Come, I said, let us build Jerusalem walls, and endure contempt no longer! Then I told them what favour God had shewn me, what speech I had had with the king's grace; Up, I cried, to the task! And with the good news, courage came back to them.
When word came to Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the Slave, that was of Ammon's breed, and Gosem the Arabian, all was mockery and disdain; Here are fine doings! they said. Are you for rebelling against the king's majesty? But I had my answer ready for them: The Master we serve is the God of heaven; he will be our helper. Leave us to set about our task of building; for you there is no right of possession, no privilege, no citizenship here at Jerusalem.
Chapter 3
Up rose the high priest Eliasib, and his priestly brethren with him, and rebuilt the Shepherds' Gate; handselled it, and set up its doors, handselled the work all the way to Hundred-cubit Tower, all the way to the Tower of Hananeel. Next to him toiled, on this side, the men of Jericho; toiled, on that side, Zachur the son of Amri. The Fishmongers' Gate was restored by the sons of Asnaa, coping and doors, bolts and bars; then came Marimuth, son of Urias, son of Accus, then Mosollam, son of Barachias, son of Mesezebel; then Sadoc, son of Baana; then the folk of Thecue, though never a shoulder did their chieftains put to the Lord's work. The Old Gate was restored by Joiada son of Phasea and Mosollam son of Besodia, coping and doors, bolts and bars; then came Meltias of Gabaon and Jadon the Meronathite, (and the) men of Gabaon and Maspha, but they were working for the governor of the country beyond Euphrates; then Eziel son of Araia, of the gold-merchants, then Ananias, of the apothecaries; these let out Jerusalem as far as the wall round the open square. Then came Raphaia, son of Hur, that was in charge of a whole district of the city; then Jedaia, son of Haromaph, for the part abutting on his own house; then Hattus, son of Hasebonias. Half of that district of the city, with the Furnace Tower, was restored by Melchias, son of Herem and, next to him, Hasub of the clan of Phahath-Moab; next him again came Sellum son of Alohes, that had half one of the districts of Jerusalem in his charge, and his daughters with him. The Valley Gate was restored by Hanun and the men of Zanoe, coping and doors, bolts and bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall besides, right up to the Scavengers' Gate. This was restored, bolt and bar and door, by Melchias son of Rechab, that had charge of the Bethacharam district; and the Gate of the Well by Sellum son of Cholhoza, chief of the Maspha district; coping and door and bolt and bar he finished it, built the wall, too, of Siloe pool right up to the royal garden, and to the steps that lead down from David's Keep.
Nehemias son of Azboc, that had half the district of Bethsur in his charge, restored as far as David's tomb, and the artificial pool, and the House of the Heroes. Then came the Levites ... Rehum son of Benni; then Hesebias, along that part of the Ceila district which was in his charge; then their brethren ... Bavai son of Enadad, who had charge of the rest of the Ceila district...
Then came a second length of wall restored by Azer son of Josue, that was chieftain at Maspha, where the steps go up by the great bastion; another second length by Baruch son of Zachai, from the bastion up to the door of the house where the high priest Eliasib lived; and another by Merimuth son of Urias son of Accus, from the door all along the side of the house. Then came some of the priests, men that dwelt in the plains of Jordan, then Benjamin and Hasub for the part opposite their house, then Azarias, son of Maasias, son of Ananias, for the part opposite his. Then Bennui son of Enadad built a second length, from the house of Ananias to the corner where the wall turns; then came Phalel, son of Ozi, for the part by the corner itself and the high tower of the royal palace that looks out on the prison yard; then Phadaia, son of Pharos, and the Nathinaeans (who) lived in the Ophel quarter, for the part by the eastern watergate, and the jutting tower. Then the men of Thecue built a second length on the other side, from the great jutting tower to the temple wall. All the way up from the Stable Gate the priests restored, each along the front of his own house. Then came Sadoc the son of Emmer, opposite his own house, then Semaia son of Sechenias, that had charge of the eastern gate; then Hanania, son of Selemias, then Hanun, the sixth son of Seleph, a second length, then Mosollam son of Barachias, opposite his store-room, then Melchias, of the goldsmiths, past where the Nathinaeans and the chapmen lived, opposite the Judgement Gate, right up to the room in the wall corner. And from the room in the wall corner back to the Shepherds' Gate, the restoration was done by the goldsmiths and by the merchants.
Chapter 4
Great was the rage of Sanaballat when news reached him that we were rebuilding the walls, and cruel were the taunts he uttered against the Jews in his anger. There among his kinsmen, there before a throng of Samaritan folk, he taunted us: What are they about, these starveling Jews? Do they think we Gentiles will let them have their way? Or do they think to handsel their work at dawn and have it finished by nightfall? From those charred ashes can they make stones to build with? Let them build, said his gossip, Tobias the Ammonite; come a fox by, he will leap over all the stones they can put together.
Mark it well, Lord God, how they turn us into a laughing-stock; on their own heads let the mockery recoil; exile and ignominy be their own lot! Do not hide away their guilt; imperishable in your presence be the record of the wrong they did, in flouting such a design as this!
Meanwhile we did not cease building, and now we had completed the whole circuit of the wall up to half its full height, so eagerly did the people set about their task. And when this news came, that the breach in Jerusalem walls was healing, and the gaps were being filled, great was the indignation of Sanaballat and Tobias, of Arab, Ammonite and Philistine alike; and now, making common cause, they would attack Jerusalem and throw all into confusion. But still we asked help of our God, and set watchmen on the walls, day and night, to defeat their purpose. Already the so Jews were complaining that they had no strength left for carrying burdens, that the ground was choked with rubble; our task would never be finished; and now our enemies thought to steal upon us unawares, and put an end to it by taking our lives. On ten several occasions Jews that lived near them came back to us from different parts with the same news; and at last I must array a force, armed with sword and lance and bow, behind the wall round its whole circuit. That provision made, I set about encouraging them, nobles and chiefs and common folk alike; Fear no assault, I told them; bethink you how great, how fearsome the Lord is, and fight well each for his own kindred, for son and daughter and wife, for house and home. And so, when word came to our enemies that we had been forewarned, God threw all their plot into confusion.
Back we went to our several posts at the wall; and thenceforward the warriors among us were divided into two companies; one of these remained at work, while behind them, under the clan chiefs of Juda, the rest stood arrayed for battle, with lance and shield, bow and breastplate. And even while they were at work, built they or loaded or carried loads, it was one hand to work with, and one closing still on a javelin; nor was there ever a workman but must build with his sword girt at his side. And the men that blew the trumpets were close beside me; I had warned nobles and chiefs and common folk, Here is a task for many to do; spread wide apart, we are sundered far here on the wall and there; rally, all of you, to any point where you hear the trumpet sound, and our God will be our speed. We officers too must take our share in the work, only half of us standing by with our spears, from dawn till the stars rise. And to the common folk I said, Each of you, and his manservant with him, must lodge here in Jerusalem itself, taking turn and turn about, day and night. As for myself, and my clansmen and servants, and the men of my bodyguard, we never took our garments off all the while, save when we stripped for washing.
Chapter 5
And now there was a great outcry of the common sort, men and women, against their richer neighbours, that were Jews too. Poor folk, who had sons and a daughters in great number, had bethought themselves of bartering these for the corn they must have if they would live; some, in the great scarcity, had been ready to pledge lands, vineyards and house in return for corn; some had offered vineyard or lands for a pledge when they would borrow money to pay the royal tribute. And now they complained, These men are our brothers; of one race, they and we, of one race, their sons and ours; and here are we, with some of our daughters bondwomen already, giving up sons and daughters to slavery still, and no hope of ransoming them; here are lands and vineyards of ours given over to the enjoyment of others!
Great was my anger when I heard such cause of complaint was theirs. I took deep thought over it, and then taxed nobles and rulers with their fault; would they play the usurer with their own brethren? Summoning a great assembly of the citizens to confront them, I reminded them that we in Babylon had been at pains to ransom our Jewish brethren who were enslaved to the heathen; must we now ransom them anew, from masters of their own flesh and blood? At this, there was silence; nothing could they find to say. Here are sorry doings, I told them. Have you no fear of God's vengeance, of the reproach this will earn from our heathen neighbours? You are not the only creditors; I myself, my kinsmen and my servants have been lending money and corn on all sides. Come, let us conspire to forgo our rights, let us all remit the debt due to us; and do you restore, here and now, lands, vineyards, olive-yards and houses; restore, too, the interest charge you claim of a hundredth, for money and corn, wine and oil alike. Restore it we will, they answered, and make no further claim; your bidding shall be done. Thereupon I summoned the priests, and would have this undertaking secured by an oath. I shook the dust, too, from the folds of my lap, and cried out: God give no gentler handling than this to the man who plays me false; sweep away house and lands, and leave him a beggar! Amen, answered the whole assembly, and gave praise to God. And loyally the agreement was kept.
For twelve years, ever since Artaxerxes gave me my commission in Juda (that is, from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of his reign) my kinsmen and I refused to take the allowance which was granted to the governors. My predecessors, by accepting corn, wine, and money, at the rate of forty sicles a day, had been a burden to the people, who suffered also from the exactions of their servants. Not so I, God's fear preventing me; instead of buying lands, my care was to help build the wall, and there was no servant of mine but took his place among the workmen. A hundred and fifty Jews, (the rulers, and those) who came in to help us from the country round about, fed at my expense; every day an ox and six fat rams, and fowls besides, were dressed for me, and every tenth day brought a fresh supply of various wines; yet for this and much else I would take no allowance as governor in return; to such straits had the men of Juda been brought. Not unremembered, Lord, not unrewarded, be these services done to your people.
Chapter 6
And now news reached Sanaballat and Tobias and the Arabian, Gosem, and the rest of our enemies, that I had finished building the wall, and never a gap was left in it; although in truth I had not yet been able to set up doors in the gateways. Thereupon Sanaballat and Gosem sent a message proposing that I should meet them in some unfortified town on the plains of Ono, and there make a treaty; it was their design to do me some mischief. But I bade my own messengers answer, It is a hard task I must perform here; I am not for the plain. There would be folk standing idle here, while I came down to meet you. Four times they sent word to the same purpose, and ever had the same answer from me; and once more Sanaballat repeated it, but this time the servant who brought it had a letter in his hand. And this was the tenour of it: The Gentiles will have it, and Gosem says the tale is true, that you and the Jews are rebuilding the walls because you are plotting rebellion. It is said that you would be king yourself, and to that end have put forward prophets to preach you up in Jerusalem, and announce that Juda has a king. All this will reach the ears of Artaxerxes; come hither you must, and we will devise measures between us. But I sent word back, There is no truth in the tale; it is of your own imagining.
It was but a conspiracy to frighten us; their thought was we would cease building, and bide our time; but I pressed on the harder. I went once to visit Semaias, son of Dalaias, son of Metabeel; he was then keeping his house. Nay, said he, let us go to the temple and there hold converse, there in the heart of the temple, behind shut doors. They are coming to murder you; this very night they are coming to murder you. What, I answered, I take flight? I am not the man to save my life by skulking in God's house. The temple is not for me. And well I knew that his was no errand from God, though he spoke to me as one inspired to prophesy. It was Tobias and Sanaballat that had him in their pay; they had bribed him, hoping that through terror I would commit a fault, and they would have ill tales to spread about me. Not unremembered, Lord, be all this that I suffered on account of Tobias and Sanaballat; of the prophet Noadia, too, and all those prophets that would have daunted me!
The wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul; it had taken fifty-two days a-building. And when this reached the ears of our enemies, fear overtook all the nations round about us; their stature fell in their own eyes, and they doubted no longer that it was God who had inspired the enterprise.
Tobias, at this time, was exchanging letters with many of the Jewish nobles; he had married the daughter of Sechenias, son of Area, and wedded his son Johanan to the daughter of Mosollam, son of Barachias, and so had a great following in Judaea. Still they sang his praises to me, still sent him news of all I did; this very Tobias who was writing letters to fill me with alarm.
Chapter 7
When the wall was finished, and I had set up the gates, I made a register of the doorkeepers; of the singers, too, and the Levites. Then I entrusted the defence of the city to my kinsman Hanani, and to Hananias, who was controller of the temple palace at Jerusalem, and eminent, as it seemed to me, in honour and piety; these I made answerable for seeing to it that the gates should never be opened till the sun was up. At nightfall, the gates must be bolted and barred in their presence. And such citizens of Jerusalem as had houses facing the wall must take their turn at keeping watch.
Far and wide the city stretched, and its citizens were few and far between; the houses in it had not yet been repaired. But I, God putting such a resolve into my heart, mustered them all, nobles, rulers and common citizens alike, to make a register of them. I found the old register, with the names of those who first returned from exile, and their numbers, it proved, were as follows.
These were the numbers in which they came back to Jerusalem, and to the various cities of Juda, these exiles that had been taken to Babylon by the Chaldaean king Nabuchodonosor, and afterwards returned home. Their leaders were Zorobabel, Josue, Nehemias, Azarias, Raamias, Nahamani, Mardochaeus, Belsam, Mespharath, Begoai, Nahum and Baana. These were the numbers the various clans of Israel provided: Pharos, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two, Saphatia, three hundred. and seventy-two, Area, six hundred and fifty-two, Phahath-Moab... Josue-Joab, two thousand eight hundred and eighteen, Aelam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four, Zethua, eight hundred and forty-five, Zachai, seven hundred and sixty, Bannui, six hundred and forty-eight, Bebai, six hundred and twenty-eight, Azgad, two thousand three hundred and twenty-two, Adonicam, six hundred and sixty-seven, Beguai, two thousand and sixty-seven, Adin, six hundred and fifty-five, Ater, coming from Hesecias, ninety-eight, Hasem, three hundred and twenty-eight, Besai, three hundred and twenty-four, Hareph, a hundred and twelve.
And the various townships provided: Gabaon, ninety-five, Bethlehem and Netupha, a hundred and eighty-eight, Anathoth, a hundred and twenty-eight, Bethazmoth, forty-two, Cariathiarim, Cephira and Beroth, seven hundred and forty-three, Rama and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one, Machmas, a hundred and twenty-two, Bethel and Hai, a hundred and twenty-three, (the other) Nebo fifty-two, (the other Aelam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four), Harem, three hundred and twenty, Jericho, three hundred and forty-five, Lod, Hadid and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-one, Senaa, three thousand nine hundred and thirty...
And the various priestly clans provided: Idaia, in the line of Josue, nine hundred and seventy-three, Emmer, a thousand and fifty-two, Phashur, a thousand two hundred and forty-seven, Arem, a thousand and seventeen. Levites there were, named after Josue and Cedmihel, that came down from Oduias, seventy-four; singers, after Asaph, a hundred and forty-eight; doorkeepers, after Sellum, Ater, Telmon, Accub, Hatita and Sobai, a hundred and thirty-eight.
The Nathinaeans included the sons of Soha, Hasupha, Tebbaoth, Ceros, Siaa, Phadon, Lebana, Hagaba, Selmai, Hanan, Geddel, Gaher, Raaia, Rasin, Necoda, Gezem, Aza, Phasea, Besai, Munim, Nephussim, Bacbuc, Hacupha, Harhur, Besloth, Mahida, Harsa, Bercos, Sisara, Thema, Nasia, and Hatipha, Solomon's servants, Sothai, Sophereth, Pharida, Jahala, Darcon, Jeddel, Saphatia, Hatil, Phochereth, son of Sabaim, son of Amon; these Nathinaeans, including those descended from the servants of Solomon, amounted to three hundred and ninety-two in all.
Some of those who came back from Thelmela, Thelharsa, Cherub, Addon and Emmer could not prove whence their ancestors came or whether they were of Israelite stock; they were descendants of Dalaia, Tobia and Necoda, amounting to six hundred and forty-two. Such, too, among the priests were the sons of Habia, of Accos, and of that Berzellai who married a daughter of Berzellai the Galaadite and took his name; they could find no written record of their ancestry, and were expelled from the priesthood; they might not partake of the food reserved for the priests, the governor told them, until there should be a high priest that bore the touchstones of wisdom and truth.
The whole number, taken together, amounted to forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, not counting the men and women servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven, with two hundred and forty-five men and maids that were singers. They had with them seven hundred and thirty-six horses, two hundred and forty-five mules, four hundred and thirty-five camels, six thousand seven hundred and twenty asses.
(End of the register. The narrative of Nehemias continues.)
... Some of the chief families made contributions to help the enterprise. The governor handed over to the treasury a thousand gold pieces, fifty bowls, and five hundred and thirty tunics for the priests; the heads of clans, twenty thousand gold pieces, and two thousand two hundred silver pieces, the rest of the people, twenty thousand gold pieces, two thousand silver pieces, and sixty-seven tunics for the priests. And now priests and Levites, singers and door-keepers (and the rest of the people) and the Nathinaeans and all Israel were back in the cities that were their homes.
Chapter 8
When the seventh month had come after the return of the Israelites to their cities, the whole people gathered, like one man, in the open space before the Water-gate; and there they would have the scribe Esdras go and fetch the book in which the law of Moses, the Lord's prescription to Israel, was written down. So there and then, on the first day of the seventh month, the priest Esdras fetched out the book, in the presence of a great throng of men and women, with such children as were old enough to understand it. And there in the open space before the Water-gate he proclaimed the law, before men and women and such younger folk as could take it in, from daybreak to noon, and all listened attentively while the reading went on. A wooden pulpit had been erected to carry the sound better, and at this the scribe Esdras stood; with him were Mathathias, Semeia, Ania, Uria, Helcia and Maasia on his right, Phadaia, Misael, Melchia, Hasum, Hasbadana, Zacharia and Mosollam on his left. Esdras was plainly seen, as he opened the book, by all the people underneath. When he had opened it, all rose; and when he blessed the name of the Lord, the great God, all lifted their hands and answered, Amen, amen; and with that they bowed down and worshipped with their faces close to the ground. Then the Levites came forward, Josue, Bani, Serebia, Jamin, Accub, Sebthai, Odia, Maasia, Celita, Azarias, Jozabed, Hanan and Phalaia; these enjoined silence on the people, as they stood there in their places for the reading of the law. And they read out the book of the law, clear and plain to give the sense of it, so that all could understand the reading. And now the governor, Nehemias, with Esdras, priest and scribe, and these Levites who interpreted to the people what was read, must needs remind them that it was a feast-day set apart to the Lord; there must be no lamenting and weeping; already the whole multitude were in tears, as they listened to the words of the law. Go home, so said Nehemias, and regale yourselves with rich meat and honeyed wine, sharing your good things with those who have none. There must be no sadness on this day, the Lord's feast-day. To rejoice in the Lord, there lies our strength. The Levites, too, called for silence everywhere; Peace there, no lamenting, they said, this is a day of rejoicing. So all the throng dispersed, to eat and drink and share their good things with glad hearts, the message of the law made plain to them.
Next day, all the clan chiefs and priests and Levites thronged about the scribe Esciras, to hear him interpret the law's meaning. And there they found it set down, as the Lord's injunction through Moses, that the sons of Israel, at the feast of the seventh month, should make their dwelling in tents. They were to proclaim it far and wide at Jerusalem and in all their cities, Go out to the mountain-side, and bring in boughs of olive, or of some favourite tree, branches of myrtle and palm, leafy boughs, to make arbours, as the law prescribes. So the men of Juda went out, and brought green boughs home; arbours they made everywhere, in their own dwellings and fore-courts, in the courts of the Lord's house, and in the open spaces before the Water-gate and the Gate of Ephraim. Thus the whole body of those who had come back from exile made arbours and lodged in them; since the days of Josue son of Nun the rite had fallen into abeyance, and now there was great rejoicing. Day after day while the feast continued Esdras read out the book of God's law to them. So for seven days they kept high festival, and on the eighth there was a gathering of the whole people, held with due solemnity.
Chapter 9
Then, on the twenty-fourth day of this same month, the men of Israel met together, fasting, and with sackcloth about them, and sprinkled with dust, and the whole breed of Israel severed itself from all contact with alien folk. They met to confess their sins, and all the guilt their fathers had brought on them. The day was divided into four parts; first they would stand in their places, while the terms of the Divine law were read to them, then they would make confession, and offer worship to the Lord their God. It was for the Levites to mount upon the pulpit, Josue, Bath, Cedmihel, Sabania, Bonni, Sarebias (Bani), and Chanani, and cry out in a loud voice to the Lord their God.
... This was the prayer offered by the Levites, Josue, Cedmihel, Bonni, Hasebnia, Serebia, Odaia, Sebnia and Phathahia. Up, friends, and bless the Lord your God, as blessed he must be from the beginning to the end of time! Blessed be your glorious name, Lord, that is beyond all blessing, and all praise! Heaven is of your fashioning, and the heaven of heavens, and all the hosts that dwell there, earth and sea, and all that earth and sea hold; to all these you give the life they have; none so high in heaven but must pay you worship. It was you, Lord God, that did make choice of Abram, and beckon him away from Chaldaea, from the City of Fire. And now you would call him Abraham; a loyal servant you did find a him, and did make a covenant with him, promising that his race should inherit the lands of Chanaanite and Hethite, Amorrhite and Pherezite, Jebusite and Gergesite. That promise, in your faithfulness, you did make good. You had an eye for the affliction our fathers suffered in Egypt, an ear for their cry of distress at the Red Sea; the pride of Pharao and Pharao's court and all his people had not passed unregarded; there were portents, and marvels, and your name won renown, as it has won renown this day.
You did part the waters at their coming, so that they crossed the sea dryshod, did hurl their pursuers into the depths of it, so that they sank like a stone beneath the rushing waves. you yourself did lead your people on their journey, hidden by day in a pillar of cloud, by night in a pillar of fire, to light the path they must tread. There, on mount Sinai, you did keep tryst with them; your voice came from heaven to teach them your just decrees, your abiding law with all its observances, all its wholesome bidding. There you did reveal to them how your sabbath should be kept holy; law and observance and award you, through Moses, did hand down to them. When they were hungry, you did give them bread from heaven; when they were thirsty, you did bring water out of the rock; and for the goal of their journey did beckon them on to take possession of this same land, which you had sworn to give them.
But now our fathers sinned through pride in their turn; spurned the yoke, and would not listen to your commandments. No memory of the wondrous protection you had given them could win their obedience; they would spurn the yoke, and take their own defiant path, the path that led back to slavery. But you, a God so indulgent, so kind, so merciful, so patient, so pitying, would not abandon them; not even when they made a molten calf, and hailed it very blasphemously as the God that had rescued them from Egypt; still in your great mercy you would not cast them off in the desert. Never lacked they by day the pillar of cloud that led them, never by night the pillar of fire that shone upon their path; still your gracious spirit gave its warnings, still you would not refuse manna to feed them, water to quench their thirst. All those forty years in the desert you did feed them, and nothing did they lack; never a garment threadbare, never a foot sore with travel.
Whole kingdoms, whole nations you did subdue before them, to allot them lands of their own; nothing Sehon possessed, that reigned at Hesebon, or Og, that was king in Basan, but should be theirs. By now, you had given increase to their race till they were countless as the stars in heaven; it was the fathers you had first bidden to invade the land and take possession of it, but it was their sons that reached the goal. At their coming, you did crush the pride of the Chanaanites that dwelt here, kings and people alike were a prey for the conqueror, left at his mercy. So it was that our fathers gained cities well fortified, lands well tilled; houses full of all they needed, wells other men had dug for them, vineyard and olive-yard and orchard already planted. Now they might eat their fill, glut their appetites with all the good things your mercy had bestowed.
Then it was they defied your anger, your worship forsaken, your laws forgotten, and slew the prophets that adjured them to come back to you. And you, in return for such foul impieties, did give their enemies the mastery. over them, till they fell into sore distress. But when, in their misery, they cried out to you, you, in heaven, did not refuse them audience; ever you would send, of your great mercy, a champion to bring them rescue. Still the days of peace saw them defying your will, until you must needs put them at their enemies' mercy; still their repentant cries reached your hearing, and won them merciful deliverance. And you, all the while, were pleading with them to return to your allegiance, while they, too proud to heed your bidding, transgressed the commandments that bring man life; always the unwilling shoulder, the stubborn neck, the deaf ear. Through long years your patience lasted, and you were content to warn them through inspiration given to your prophets; then at last, when these went unheard, you did give your people up into the hands of the Gentiles. And even so, in your clemency, you would not make an end of us; even now you have not abandoned us, so pitying, so merciful a God you are.
To you, then we turn, who are our God, to you, the great, the strong, the terrible God, who do not forget your covenant, or the mercy you have promised. Do not think scorn of all the misery that has come upon us, king and prince, priest and prophet, in our fathers' time and since, from the day when the king of Assyria became our enemy. The fault was never yours, if all this has overtaken us; yours the faithfulness, ours the unnatural rebellion. King and prince and priest together, our fathers have neglected your law; the decrees you had enjoined, the warning you gave, went alike unheeded. The royal majesty, the blessings showered on them, the wide domains you did subdue at their onslaught, were not enough to win obedience from them, or recall them from their rebellious ways. Here are we, this day, living as slaves; here are the wide lands, the rich lands you gave to our fathers, to till and to enjoy, and we are living on them in slavery. The harvests ripen for alien kings, our masters now in punishment of our guilt; our bodies, our beasts are theirs, to treat as they will, and oppression is all about us. In such a plight we turn to you, binding ourselves by a covenant; that covenant we here record in writing, rulers and Levites and priests have set their names to it.
Chapter 10
At the head of those who signed this covenant was the governor, Nehemias the son of Hachelai; then came Sedecias, Saraias, Azarias, Jeremias, Pheshur, Amarias, Melchias, Hattus, Sebenia, Melluch, Harem, Merimuth, Obdias, Daniel, Genthon, Baruch, Mosollam, Abia, Miamin, Maazia, Belgai and Semeia, all priests. Then the Levites, Josue son of Azanias, Bennui of Henadad's clan, Cedmihel, Sebenia, Odaia, Celita, Phalaia, Hanan, Micha, Rohob, Hasebia, Zachur, Serebia, Sabania, Odaia, Bani and Baninu. Then the clan chiefs of Pharos, Phahath-Moab, Aelam, Zethu, Bani, Bonni, Azgad, Bebai, Adonia, Begoai, Adin, Ater, Hezecia, Azur, Odaia, Hasum, Besai, Hareph, Anathoth, Nebai, Megphias, Mosollam, Hazir, Mesizabel, Sadoc, Jeddua, Pheltia, Hanan, Anaia, Osee, Hanania, Hasub, Alohes, Phalea, Sobec, Rehum, Hasebna, Maasia, Echaia, Hanan, Anan, Melluch, Haran and Baana. The oath was taken by the whole people, priests, Levites, door-keepers, singers, Nathinaeans and the rest, all who had broken off their contact with the Gentiles to keep the law of God. Wives as well as husbands took it; sons and daughters, too, where these were of age to understand its import. Their leaders did but go bail for the rest; all alike entered into a sworn undertaking that they would obey God's law, given through his servant Moses. Never a decree or award or observance the Lord our God had enjoined but they would keep it sacred and live by it.
Never shall our children mate with the children of Gentile parents, or theirs with ours. Never shall Gentile wares, exposed on sabbath or feast-day, furnish our needs. Every seventh year the land shall lie fallow, and all debts shall be remitted. We impose upon ourselves a tax, of one third of a sicle yearly, for our God's temple; for the loaves that must be set out, and the continual offering, the burnt-sacrifice on sabbath and new moon and feast-day, welcome-offering and offering for fault that win Israel mercy, and all the needs of our God's house. For the provision of wood, we have cast lots between priests, Levites and the people at large so that each clan must take its turn, season and season about, bringing in logs to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as the law of Moses enjoins. Year by year, too, we will bring to the Lord's house the first-fruits of all that our lands or fruit-trees yield; due offering shall be made there of all our first-born, man or beast, ox or sheep, as the law bids, before the priests that minister there in the Lord's house; food and drink, the fruit of all our trees, our grapes and our olives, shall be taxed by the priests that have charge of our God's treasury. Our lands shall be tithed, too, for the Levites; in all our cities the Levites themselves shall collect a tithe from all our crops. A priest of Aaron's line shall accompany the Levites when they make the collection, and the Levites themselves shall contribute a tithe of their tithe to the house of our God, to the treasury where his wealth is stored. To that treasury all alike must contribute, Levites and people out of their corn and wine and oil; that house must have its furniture of worship, priest and singer, doorkeeper and ministrant. It is the house of the Lord our God; shall we leave it forsaken?
Chapter 11
The rulers must needs have their dwelling in Jerusalem; the common folk had their residence assigned by lot, every tenth man going to live in the holy city, while the other nine remained in the country parts; whoever offered of his own free will to be a Jerusalem-dweller earned the blessings of his fellow-citizens. And these were the leading men of the colony that lived at Jerusalem, leaving the rest, the people at large, the priests, the Levites, the Nathinaeans, and the line of Solomon's servants, to occupy the country parts, each in the cities allotted to them. In Jerusalem, the population was mixed, men of Juda and men of Benjamin living side by side.
The chief men of Juda were Athaias, descended through Aziam, Zacharias, Amarias and Saphatias from Malaleel..., and for the line of Phares, Maasia, descended through Baruch, Cholhoza, Hazia, Adaia, Joiarib and Zacharias from Silonitess; altogether, there were four hundred and sixty-eight fighting men at Jerusalem that came down from Phares. The chief men of Benjamin were Sellum, descended through Mosollam, Joed, Phadaia, Colaia, Masia and Ethael from Isaia, and next to him Gebbai... Sallai... nine hundred and twenty-eight in all. All these were under the charge of Joel son of Zechri; Judas son of Senua was next in command of the city.
Among the leading priests were Idaias son of Joiarib, Jachin, and Saraia, the temple prefect, that came down through Helcias, Mosollam, Sadoc and Meraioth from Achitob; their clansmen, engaged in the service of the temple, amounted to eight hundred and twenty-two. Also Adaia, that came down through Jeroham, Phelelia, Amsi, Zacharias and Pheshur. from Melchias, with two hundred and forty-two heads of families, his clansmen. Also Amassai, descended through Azreel, Ahazi and Mosollamoth from Emmer, with the clansmen of his line, a hundred and twenty-eight, valiant men all. And these were in charge of Zabdiel; his fathers, too, were valiant men before him.
The Levite chiefs were Semeia, descended through Hasub, Azaricam and Hasabia from Boni, and Sabathai and Jozabed, these were in charge of the work the Levites did beyond the temple precincts; Mathania, descended through Micha and Zebedei from Asaph, led the music of praise and thanksgiving and prayer, with his kinsman Becbecia to aid him, and Abda, descended through Samuais and Galal from Idithun. There were two hundred and eighty-four of these Levites in the city; and door-keepers besides, Accub and Telmon, with a hundred and seventy-two clansmen of theirs who shared their watch at the gates. The rest of Israel, priests and Levites included, had their homes in the various cities of Juda, but the Nathinaeans, with Siaha and Gaspha over them, all lived together in the Ophel quarter. The Levites at Jerusalem were in charge of Azzi, that came down through Bani, Hasabias and Mathanias from Michas. He was of the clan of Asaph, that were musicians in the service of the temple by royal command, taking their turns, day in, day out, with the chant. The king's representative in all that concerned the citizens was Phathahia, son of Mesezebel, of Zara's clan, that was son to Juda.
All over the countryside the men of Juda had their homes, at Cariatharbe, Dibon and Cabseel, with their daughter townships, at Jesue, Molada, Bethphaleth, Hasersual, Bersabee and its neighbourhood, Siceleg, Mochona and its neighbourhood, Remmon, Saraa, Jerimuth, Zanoa and Odollam and the towns near them, Lachis and its district, Azeca, too, and its neighbourhood. Their territory stretched all the way from Bersabee in the south to the valley of Ennom. The Benjamites, with Geba for their capital, were spread about at Mechmas, Hai, Bethel and its daughter townships, Anathoth, Nob, Anania, Asor, Rama, Gethaim, Hadid, Seboim, Neballat, Lod and Ono, down in the Valley of the Craftsmen. And the precincts of the Levites were spread over Juda and Benjamin alike.
Chapter 12
Here is a list of the priests and Levites who came back from exile with Zorobabel, Salathiel's son, and Josue. Saraia, Jeremias, Esdras, Amaria, Melluch, Hattus, Sebenias, Rheum, Merimuth, Addo, Genthon, Abia, Miamin, Madia, Belga, Semeia, Joiarib, (Joiada), Sellum, Amoc, Helcias and Idaia were the chief priests who had the preeminence among their brethren in Josue's time. The chief Levites were Jesua, Bennui, Cedmihel, Sarebia, Juda and Mathanias, who, with their clansmen, had charge of the music; also Becbecia and Hanoi, whose clansmen had various other offices assigned to them. The high priesthood so passed from Josue through Joacim, Eliasib, Joiada and Jonathan to Jeddoa. In Joacim's time the clan of Saraia was represented by Maraia, that of Jeremias by Hanania, and the other twenty by Mosollam Johanan, Jonathan, Joseph, Edna, Helci, Zacharia, Mosollam, Zechri, Phelti (who represented both Miamin and Madia), Sammua, Jonathan, Mathanai, Azzi, Celai, Heber, Hasebia and Nathanael. There was a list made, at the time when Darius was king of Persia, of all who had been heads of the Levitical and priestly clans in the days of Eliasib, Joiada, Johanan and Jeddoa. In the book of Annals, the Levite chiefs are only entered down to the days of Eliasib's grandson Jonathan.
... The duties of the Levite chiefs were thus divided; Hasebia, Serebia, Josue, (Bennui), Cechnihel and their clansmen took their turn in due order at singing of praise and giving of thanks, as David bade, that was God's servant; Mathania, Becbecia, Obedia, Mosollam, Telmon and Accub must keep the gates and the courts before the gates. These held office in the days of Joacim, son of Josue son of Josedec, when Nehemias was governor and Esdras was priest and scribe.
At the time when the wall of Jerusalem was dedicated, the Levites, from all their scattered homes, were summoned up to Jerusalem; theirs to interpret the joy and thanksgiving which this dedication brought, with song and cymbals, with harp and zither. From the lowlands about Jerusalem they came, these makers of music, from the townships of Nethuphati, from their residence at Galgal, from Geba and Azmaveth, and wherever there were colonies of singers at a distance from Jerusalem itself. Priests and Levites rid themselves of all defilement, then did as much for the people, and for the walls and gates themselves.
And I, Nehemias, would have the chief men of Juda mount on the wall, and two choirs of singers to escort them with chants of praise. One choir went along the wall to the right, in the direction of the Scavengers' Gate, with Osaias and half the chiefs of Juda behind it; then Azarias, Esdras and Mosollam; then (half) the men of Juda and Benjamin; then Semeia and Jeremias; then some of the priests with trumpets, led by Zacharias, that came down through Jonathan, Semeia, Mathanias, Michaias and Zechur from Asaph himself; the others were Semeia, Azareel, Malalai, Galalai, Maai, Nathanael, Judas and Hanani. So they went, and with them went the music planned by God's servant David, and the scribe Esdras marched at their head. When they reached the Gate of the Well, an upward climb confronted them; up the steps of David's Keep they went, and up the slope that passes David's palace, till they reached the Water-gate in the east wall.
The second choir, with the same chant of praise, marched in the other direction, I myself and half the people accompanying it; climbed the wall and the Furnace Tower, and so went on where the wall was broadest, past the Gate of Ephraim, and the old gate, and the Fishmongers' Gate, and the Tower of Hananeel and the Tower of Emath, and on to the Shepherds' Gate. At last they reached the Watch-tower Gate, and came to a halt there. Then the two choirs stood together at God's house giving praise. I, too, and the chiefs who were with me had priests with trumpets for our escort, Eliachim, Maasia, Miamin, Michea, Elioenai, Zacharia and Hanania; also Maasia, Semeia, Eleazar, Azzi, Johanan, Melchia, Aelam and Ezer. Loud sang the singers, and loud sang Jezraia at their head. Great was the slaughtering of victims that day, and greatly they rejoiced, women and children with the rest, at the signal mercy the Lord had shewn them; such a cry of triumph went up from Jerusalem as was heard far away.
At this time they appointed certain priests and Levites to take charge of the treasury, and receive offering and first-fruit and tithe from the city chiefs, in honour and gratitude; so well content were the men of Juda with the ministrations of priest and Levite both. And ever they kept true to the old observances, God honoured, defilement cleansed away, singers and porters fulfilling the duties which David, and David's son Solomon, enjoined upon them. Ever since David's time and Asaph's there had been masters of the choir to give praise and thanks; and now, in the times of Zorobabel and of Nehemias, men assigned a daily portion both to choristers and to door-keepers; Israel honoured Levi with gifts, and Levi Aaron.
Chapter 13
And now a new discovery came to light, while the law of Moses was being read out to the people. It was found set down there, that no Ammonite or Moabite might be admitted to the Lord's assembly. And this was a disability they had incurred for all time, by refusing to provide food and drink, when Israel came by; it was they, too, that hired Balaam to curse Israel, only our God transformed that curse into a blessing. No sooner was this injunction made known, than the Israelites began to rid themselves of all contact with alien folk.
Till now, it had been otherwise; here was the high priest Eliasib, that had the treasury of our God's temple in his keeping, a close friend of Tobias; and so Tobias had one of the great store-rooms put at his disposal. (It was the room where at one time they used to store up the bloodless offerings, and the incense, and certain ornaments, and the tithe or corn, wine and oil, given to Levite, singer and door-keeper, and the first-fruits that belonged to the priests.) All this had happened while I was away from Jerusalem. During the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes' reign I went to court, and it was only at the end of the year that I had leave to return. When I was back at Jerusalem, and learned what harm had come of Eliasib's love for Tobias that he would give him a store-house in the very temple of God, I cried shame on him; out went all Tobias' furniture from the treasury, and I gave orders besides that the treasure-rooms should be cleansed, and put back the furniture of God's house there, the offerings, too, and the incense.
And now I learned that the Levites were not having their portions granted them; Levite and singer and all the ministrants had gone back to their homes in the country-side. So I attacked the rulers, asking them whether the house of God was to be left deserted; and I brought the Levites back, and reinstalled them; from all over Juda, tithe of corn and wine and oil flowed into their store-houses once more; and we gave the charge of these store-houses to men whose honour we could trust, the priest Selemias, the scribe Sadoc, the Levite Phadaia, and Hanan, son of Zachur, son of Mathanias. My God, let not this go unremembered; do not blot out the record of the service I have done to your temple, my God, and to your ceremonies.
Even now I found Jewish folk treading out their wine-presses and carrying burdens on the sabbath day. On the sabbath day they would load their asses with wineskins, or grapes, or figs, or some other freight, and bring them to Jerusalem for sale. These I warned that they must find some other day for selling their wares; but there were still traders from Tyre in the city itself, importing fish and all manner of goods, who sold them to their Jewish neighbours on the sabbath, there in Jerusalem. So I took my complaint to the Jewish rulers; Here are fine doings of yours, I said, that profane the sabbath day! All these late afflictions that God brought on us and on our city were a punishment for such disobedience as this; would you crown Israel's guilt by breaking the sabbath? When the sabbath came, and the traffic of the market-place had died away, and the gates were shut, I gave orders that they should not be opened till the sabbath was over; I set a guard there, too, of my own men, to make sure that no load came in that day. That week and the next, the merchants waited beyond Jerusalem walls and did all their trading there; but that would not serve; I warned them not to loiter about the walls, and threatened to use force if they did the like again; so there was no more trafficking on the sabbath. Meanwhile, I bade the Levites rid themselves of defilement and keep watch over the gates, for the better hallowing of the sabbath day. For this too, my God, let me not go unremembered; as you are rich in mercy, grant me pardon still.
Even now I found men of Juda that had married wives from Azotus, or Ammon, or Moab, with children that spoke half in the Philistine dialect, not like true Jews; they would use the speech first of one race and then of another. I remonstrated with such men, and called down a curse on them; with some I came to blows, and plucked the hair from their heads. Then I made them take an oath in God's name; there should be no more alien sons-in-law, or daughters-in-law, or wives. Why, I said, was not this king Solomon's undoing? Here was a man that had not his like on earth, the favourite of his God, that gave him all Israel for his kingdom; yet such a man alien women could bend to sinful ways. Here is heinous rebellion, and great despite done to our God, if we take wives of another race, as Solomon did. Eliasib himself, the high priest, had a grandson, one of the sons of Joiada, that had married a daughter of Sanaballat the Horonite; of his company I soon rid myself. Not unremembered, Lord my God, be their profanation of the priesthood, unworthy sons of Aaron and of Levi both.
Thus it was mine to rid Israel of the alien-born, to marshal priests and Levites for their due service, to plan the offering of wood at appointed times, and of the first-fruits. Not unremembered, my God, be all this, not unrewarded.