<p class="bodytext">After him the priests worked, men of the nearby district.

<p class="bodytext">the men of Anathoth, 128;p>

<p class="bodytext">the men of the family<n id="1" /> of Azmaveth, 42;p>

<p class="bodytext">the men of Micmash, 122;p>

<p class="bodytext">the men of the other Nebo, 52;p>

<p class="bodytext">Above the Horse Gate the priests worked, each in front of his house.

<p class="bodytext">the men of Ramah and Geba, 621;p>

<p class="bodytext">the men of Bethel<n id="1" /> and Ai, 123;p>

The people gave their blessing on all the men who volunteered to settle in Jerusalem.p>

The builders to a man had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter<n id="1" /> remained with me.p>

<p class="bodytext">the men of Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah, and Beeroth, 743;p>

<p class="bodytext">And the rest of the Israelites, with the priests and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each on his own property.p>

<p class="bodytext">So I purified them of everything foreign, and I assigned specific<n id="1" /> duties to the priests and the Levites.

I<n id="1" /> said to them, &#8220;The gates of Jerusalem must not be opened in the early morning,<n id="2" /> until those who are standing guard close the doors and lock them.<n id="3" /> Position residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their guard stations and some near their homes.&#8221;

Hanani, who was one of my relatives,<n id="1" /> along with some of the men from Judah, came to me,<n id="2" /> and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem.<n id="3" />p>

Adjacent to them worked Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, who were men of Gibeon and Mizpah. These towns were under the jurisdiction<n id="1" /> of the governor of Trans-Euphrates.

At that time I instructed<n id="1" /> the people, &#8220;Let every man and his coworker spend the night in Jerusalem and let them be guards for us by night and workers by day.

We did not change clothes<n id="1" /> &#8211; not I, nor my relatives, nor my workers, nor the watchmen who were with me. Each had his weapon, even when getting a drink of water.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">There were 150 Jews and officials who dined with me routinely,<n id="1" /> in addition to those who came to us from the nations<n id="2" /> all around us.

<p class="bodytext">But I replied, &#8220;Should a man like me run away? Would someone like me flee to the temple in order to save his life?<n id="1" /> I will not go!&#8221;