Sep 27th Neh 6-7
Conspiracy
Against Nehemiah
6 Now it
happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies
heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no
breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the
gates), 2 that
Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the
villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm.
3 So I sent
messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that
I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to
you?”
4 But they
sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.
5 Then
Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter
in his hand. 6 In
it was written:
It is reported among the nations, and Geshem[a] says, that you
and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are
rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. 7 And you have also appointed
prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, “There is a
king in Judah!” Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come,
therefore, and let us consult together.
8 Then I sent to him, saying,
“No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own
heart.”
9 For they
all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will
be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.”
Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.
10 Afterward
I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel,
who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together
in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the
temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to
kill you.”
11 And I
said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I
who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” 12 Then I perceived that God
had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy
against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this reason he was hired,
that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they
might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach
me.
14 My God,
remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the
prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.
The Wall
Completed
15 So the
wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in
fifty-two days. 16 And it
happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the
nations around us saw these things, that they were very
disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by
our God.
17 Also in
those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the
letters of Tobiah came to them. 18 For many in Judah were
pledged to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah,
and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of
Berechiah. 19 Also they
reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent
letters to frighten me.
7 Then it
was, when the wall was built and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers,
the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, 2 that I gave the charge of
Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the leader of the citadel, for
he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.
3 And I
said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is
hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the
doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his
watch station and another in front of his own house.”
The
Captives Who Returned to Jerusalem
4 Now the city was large
and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the
houses were not rebuilt. 5 Then my God put it into my
heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people, that they might be
registered by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of those who
had come up in the first return, and found written in it:
6 These[b] are the
people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been
carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who
returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city.
7 Those who came with
Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani,
Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth,[c]Bigvai,
Nehum, and Baanah.
The
number of the men of the people of Israel: 8 the sons of Parosh, two
thousand one hundred and seventy-two;
9 the sons of Shephatiah,
three hundred and seventy-two;
10 the sons of Arah, six
hundred and fifty-two;
11 the sons of Pahath-Moab, of
the sons of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and eighteen;
12 the sons of Elam, one
thousand two hundred and fifty-four;
13 the sons of Zattu, eight
hundred and forty-five;
14 the sons of Zaccai, seven
hundred and sixty;
16 the sons of Bebai, six
hundred and twenty-eight;
17 the sons of Azgad, two
thousand three hundred and twenty-two;
18 the sons of Adonikam, six
hundred and sixty-seven;
19 the sons of Bigvai, two
thousand and sixty-seven;
20 the sons of Adin, six
hundred and fifty-five;
21 the sons of Ater of
Hezekiah, ninety-eight;
22 the sons of Hashum, three
hundred and twenty-eight;
23 the sons of Bezai, three
hundred and twenty-four;
26 the men of Bethlehem and
Netophah, one hundred and eighty-eight;
27 the men of Anathoth, one
hundred and twenty-eight;
29 the men of Kirjath Jearim,
Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three;
30 the men of Ramah and Geba,
six hundred and twenty-one;
31 the men of Michmas, one
hundred and twenty-two;
32 the men of Bethel and Ai,
one hundred and twenty-three;
33 the men of the other Nebo,
fifty-two;
34 the sons of the other Elam,
one thousand two hundred and fifty-four;
35 the sons of Harim, three
hundred and twenty;
36 the sons of Jericho, three
hundred and forty-five;
37 the sons of Lod, Hadid, and
Ono, seven hundred and twenty-one;
38 the sons of Senaah, three
thousand nine hundred and thirty.
39 The priests: the sons of
Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three;
40 the sons of Immer, one
thousand and fifty-two;
41 the sons of Pashhur, one
thousand two hundred and forty-seven;
42 the sons of Harim, one
thousand and seventeen.
43 The Levites: the sons of Jeshua,
of Kadmiel,
44 The singers: the sons of
Asaph, one hundred and forty-eight.
45 The gatekeepers: the sons
of Shallum,
the sons
of Ater,
the sons
of Talmon,
the sons
of Akkub,
the sons
of Hatita,
the sons
of Shobai, one hundred and thirty-eight.
46 The Nethinim: the sons of
Ziha,
the sons
of Hasupha,
the sons
of Tabbaoth,
47 the sons of Keros,
the sons
of Padon,
49 the sons of Hanan,
the sons
of Giddel,
the sons
of Gahar,
50 the sons of Reaiah,
the sons
of Rezin,
the sons
of Nekoda,
51 the sons of Gazzam,
the sons
of Uzza,
the sons
of Paseah,
52 the sons of Besai,
the sons
of Meunim,
53 the sons of Bakbuk,
the sons
of Hakupha,
the sons
of Harhur,
the sons
of Mehida,
the sons
of Harsha,
55 the sons of Barkos,
the sons
of Sisera,
the sons
of Tamah,
56 the sons of Neziah,
and the
sons of Hatipha.
57 The sons of Solomon’s
servants: the sons of Sotai,
the sons
of Sophereth,
58 the sons of Jaala,
the sons
of Darkon,
the sons
of Giddel,
59 the sons of Shephatiah,
the sons
of Hattil,
the sons
of Pochereth of Zebaim,
60 All the Nethinim, and the
sons of Solomon’s servants, were three hundred and ninety-two.
61 And these were the
ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addon,[q] and
Immer, but they could not identify their father’s house nor their lineage,
whether they were of Israel: 62 the sons of Delaiah,
the sons
of Tobiah,
the sons
of Nekoda, six hundred and forty-two;
63 and of the priests: the
sons of Habaiah,
the sons
of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and
was called by their name.
64 These sought their
listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but it
was not found; therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as
defiled. 65 And the
governor[s]said to
them that they should not eat of the most holy things till a priest could
consult with the Urim and Thummim.
66 Altogether the whole
assembly was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, 67 besides their male and
female servants, of whom there were seven thousand three
hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five men and women
singers. 68 Their
horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules two hundred and
forty-five, 69 their camels
four hundred and thirty-five, and donkeys six thousand seven hundred
and twenty.
70 And some of the heads of
the fathers’ houses gave to the work. The governor[t] gave
to the treasury one thousand gold drachmas, fifty basins, and five hundred and
thirty priestly garments. 71 Some of the heads of the
fathers’ houses gave to the treasury of the work twenty
thousand gold drachmas, and two thousand two hundred silver minas. 72 And that which the rest of
the people gave was twenty thousand gold drachmas, two
thousand silver minas, and sixty-seven priestly garments.
73 So the priests, the
Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the
Nethinim, and all Israel dwelt in their cities.
Ezra
Reads the Law
When the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in
their cities.
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