Nehemiah 7:4-6

7:4 Now the city was spread out ¹  and large, and there were not a lot of people in it. ²  At that time houses had not been rebuilt. 7:5 My God placed it on my heart to gather the leaders, ³  the officials, and the ordinary people so they could be enrolled on the basis of genealogy. I found the genealogical records ⁴  of those who had formerly returned. Here is what I found written in that record: ⁵ 

7:6 These are the people ⁶  of the province who returned ⁷  from the captivity of the exiles, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile. ⁸  They returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his own city.

¹ tn Heb “wide of two hands.”

² tn Heb “the people were few in its midst.”

³ tn Heb “nobles”; NCV “important men.”

⁴ tn Heb “the book of genealogy.”

⁵ tn Heb “in it”; the referent (the genealogical record) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “the sons of”; KJV, ASV “the children of”; NAB “the inhabitants of.”

⁶ tn Heb “who were going up.”

⁷ tc One medieval Hebrew manuscript has “to Babylon.” Cf. Ezra 2:1.