1:4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, 1 crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
3:6 Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah worked on the Jeshanah Gate. 2 They laid its beams and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
3:14 Malkijah son of Recab, head of the district of Beth Hakkerem, worked on the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
3:17 After him the Levites worked – Rehum son of Bani and 3 after him Hashabiah, head of half the district of Keilah, for his district.
4:6 So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. 5 The people were enthusiastic in their work. 6
4:11 Our adversaries also boasted, 7 “Before they are aware or anticipate 8 anything, we will come in among them and kill them, and we will bring this work to a halt!”
4:15 It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, 9 God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work.
5:9 Then I 11 said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! 12 Should you not conduct yourselves 13 in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?
Please remember me for good, O my God.
1 tn Heb “sat down.” Context suggests that this was a rather sudden action, resulting from the emotional shock of the unpleasant news, so “abruptly” has been supplied in the present translation.
2 tn Or “the Old Gate” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT).
3 tc The translation reads וְעַל (vÿ’al, “and unto”) with several medieval Hebrew
4 tc The translation reads אַחֲרָיו (’akharayv, “after him”) with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
5 tn Heb “up to its half.”
6 tn Heb “the people had a heart to work.”
6 tn Heb “said.”
7 tn Heb “see.”
7 tn Heb “it was known to us.”
8 tn Heb “the one blowing the shophar.”
9 tc The translation reads with the Qere and the ancient versions וָאוֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the MT Kethib, וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).
10 tn Heb “not good.” The statement “The thing…is not good” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression which emphasizes the intended point (“The thing…is wrong!”) by negating its opposite.
11 tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”
10 tn Heb “my words.”
11 tn Or “to intimidate” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
11 tn Heb “they were desecrated.”
12 tn Heb “to the eyes.”
13 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the book) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn The words “I also provided for” are not included in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.