Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile!

I recognized the fact that God had not sent him, for he had spoken the prophecy against me as a hired agent of Tobiah and Sanballat.

Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat in light of these actions of theirs – also Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who were trying to scare me!

Then the Levites – Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani – stood on the steps and called out loudly to the LORD their God.

We accept responsibility for fulfilling the commands to give one third of a shekel each year for the work of the temple of our God,

Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, supervisor in the temple of God,

and his colleagues – Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani – with musical instruments of David the man of God. (Ezra the scribe led them.)

They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, according to the commandment of David and his son Solomon.

For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanks to God.

for they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but instead had hired Balaam to curse them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into blessing.)

But prior to this time, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been appointed over the storerooms of the temple of our God.

So I registered a complaint with the leaders, asking “Why is the temple of God neglected?” Then I gathered them and reassigned them to their positions.

I also provided for the wood offering at the appointed times and also for the first fruits. Please remember me for good, O my God.

I am a laughingstock to my friends, I, who called on God and whom he answered – a righteous and blameless man is a laughingstock!

“Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness, from the Almighty to do evil.

Rise up, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Yes, you will strike all my enemies on the jaw; you will break the teeth of the wicked.

May the evil deeds of the wicked come to an end! But make the innocent secure, O righteous God, you who examine inner thoughts and motives!

For the music director; by David. Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.” They sin and commit evil deeds; none of them does what is right.

The Lord looks down from heaven at the human race, to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks God.

For the music director; a psalm of David. May the Lord answer you when you are in trouble; may the God of Jacob make you secure!