Nehemiah 1:11

1:11 Please, ¹  O Lord, listen attentively ²  to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect ³  to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me ⁴  in the presence of this man.”

Now ⁵  I was cupbearer for the king.

Nehemiah 2:6-7

2:6 Then the king, with his consort ⁶  sitting beside him, replied, “How long would your trip take, and when would you return?” Since the king was amenable to dispatching me, ⁷  I gave him a time. 2:7 I said to the king, “If the king is so inclined, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates ⁸  that will enable me to travel safely until I reach Judah,

Nehemiah 2:12

2:12 I got up during the night, along with a few men who were with me. But I did not tell anyone what my God was putting on my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no animals with me, except for the one ⁹  I was riding.

Nehemiah 5:7

5:7 I considered these things carefully ¹⁰  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ¹¹  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ¹²  from your own countrymen!” ¹³  Because of them I called for ¹⁴  a great public assembly.

Nehemiah 7:5

7:5 My God placed it on my heart to gather the leaders, ¹⁵  the officials, and the ordinary people so they could be enrolled on the basis of genealogy. I found the genealogical records ¹⁶  of those who had formerly returned. Here is what I found written in that record: ¹⁷ 

Nehemiah 9:10

9:10 You performed awesome signs ¹⁸  against Pharaoh, against his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that the Egyptians ¹⁹  had acted presumptuously ²⁰  against them. You made for yourself a name that is celebrated to this day.

Nehemiah 9:17

9:17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. ²¹  But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. ²²  You did not abandon them,

Nehemiah 9:22

9:22 “You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated them to every corner of the land. ²³  They inherited the land of King Sihon of Heshbon ²⁴  and the land of King Og of Bashan.

Nehemiah 9:24

9:24 Their descendants ²⁵  entered and possessed the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites who were the inhabitants of the land. You delivered them into their hand, together with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with as they pleased.

Nehemiah 9:29

9:29 And you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and did not obey your commandments. They sinned against your ordinances – those by which an individual, if he obeys them, ²⁶  will live. They boldly turned from you; ²⁷  they rebelled ²⁸  and did not obey.

Nehemiah 10:29

10:29 hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders ²⁹  and enter into a curse and an oath ³⁰  to adhere to ³¹  the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey ³²  carefully all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, ³³  along with his ordinances and his statutes.

Nehemiah 12:47

12:47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, all Israel was contributing the portions for the singers and gatekeepers, according to the daily need. ³⁴  They also set aside ³⁵  the portion for the Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.

Nehemiah 13:5

13:5 He made for himself a large storeroom where previously they had been keeping ³⁶  the grain offering, the incense, and the vessels, along with the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil as commanded for the Levites, the singers, the gate keepers, and the offering for the priests.

Nehemiah 13:26

13:26 Was it not because of things like these that King Solomon of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made ³⁷  him king over all Israel. But the foreign wives made even him sin!

[1:11]  ¹ tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).

[1:11]  ² tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

[1:11]  ³ tn Heb “fear.”

[1:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

[1:11]  ⁵ tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.

[2:6]  ⁶ tn Or “queen,” so most English versions (cf. HALOT 1415 s.v. שֵׁגַל); TEV “empress.”

[2:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “It was good before the king and he sent me.”

[2:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “across the river,” here and often elsewhere in the Book of Nehemiah.

[2:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the animal.”

[5:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

[5:7]  ²² tn Heb “nobles.”

[5:7]  ²³ tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (masha’) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (masha’ah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew MSS; however, the result is not entirely clear: “you are bearing a burden, a man with his brothers.”

[5:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[5:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I gave.”

[7:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “nobles”; NCV “important men.”

[7:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the book of genealogy.”

[7:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in it”; the referent (the genealogical record) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “signs and wonders.” This phrase is a hendiadys. The second noun functions adjectivally, while the first noun retains its full nominal sense: “awesome signs” or “miraculous signs.”

[9:10]  ³² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:10]  ³³ tn Or “arrogantly” (so NASB); NRSV “insolently.”

[9:17]  ³⁶ tc The present translation follows a few medieval Hebrew MSS and the LXX in reading בְּמִצְרָיִם (bÿmitsrayim, “in Egypt”; so also NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT) rather than the MT reading בְּמִרְיָם (bÿmiryam, “in their rebellion”).

[9:17]  ³⁷ tc The translation follows the Qere reading חֶסֶד (khesed, “loyal love”) rather than the Kethib reading וְחֶסֶד (vÿkhesed, “and loyal love”) of the MT.

[9:22]  ⁴¹ tn The words “of the land” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:22]  ⁴² tc Most Hebrew MSS read “the land of Sihon and the land of the king of Heshbon.” The present translation (along with NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV, NLT) follows the reading of one Hebrew MS, the LXX, and the Vulgate.

[9:24]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “the sons.”

[9:29]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “if a man keep.” See note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

[9:29]  ⁵² tn Heb “they gave a stubborn shoulder.”

[9:29]  ⁵³ tn Heb “they stiffened their neck.”

[10:29]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the nobles.”

[10:29]  ⁵⁷ tn The expression “a curse and an oath” may be a hendiadys, meaning “an oath with penalties.”

[10:29]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “to walk in.”

[10:29]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

[10:29]  ⁶⁰ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[12:47]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “a thing of a day in its day.”

[12:47]  ⁶² tn Heb “were sanctifying.”

[13:5]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “giving.”

[13:26]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “gave.”