<t /><p class="bodytext">Then in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought to me,<n id="1" /> I took the wine and gave it to the king. Previously<n id="2" /> I had not been depressed<n id="3" /> in the king&#8217;s presence.<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">I replied to the king, &#8220;O king, live forever! Why would I not appear dejected when the city with the graves of my ancestors<n id="1" /> lies desolate and its gates destroyed<n id="2" /> by fire?&#8221;

Then those in Judah said, &#8220;The strength of the laborers<n id="1" /> has failed! The debris is so great that we are unable to rebuild the wall.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">They replied, &#8220;We will return these things,<n id="1" /> and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.&#8221; Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials<n id="2" /> swear to do what had been promised.<n id="3" />

I gave myself to the work on this wall, without even purchasing<n id="1" /> a field. All my associates were gathered there for the work.p>

<p class="bodytext">So I sent messengers to them saying, &#8220;I am engaged in<n id="1" /> an important work, and I am unable to come down. Why should the work come to a halt when I leave it to come down to you?&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">I sent word back to him, &#8220;We are not engaged in these activities you are describing.<n id="1" /> All of this is a figment of your imagination.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">All of them were wanting<n id="1" /> to scare us, supposing, &#8220;Their hands will grow slack from the work, and it won&#8217;t get done.&#8221;p> <p class="bodytext">So now, strengthen my hands!<n id="2" />p>

<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;

<p class="bodytext">These are the ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer (although they were unable to certify<n id="1" /> their family connection<n id="2" /> or their ancestry,<n id="3" /> as to whether they were really from Israel):p>

The governor<n id="1" /> instructed them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest who could consult<n id="2" /> the Urim and Thummim.p>

You prolonged your kindness<n id="1" /> with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention,<n id="2" /> so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.<n id="3" />

for they had not met the Israelites with food<n id="1" /> and water, but instead had hired Balaam to curse them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into blessing.)

<p class="bodytext">I also discovered that the grain offerings for the Levites had not been provided, and that as a result the Levites and the singers who performed this work had all gone off to their fields.

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<n id="1" /> I was riding.

Then I said to them, &#8220;You see the problem that we have: Jerusalem is desolate and its gates are burned. Come on! Let&#8217;s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that this reproach will not continue.&#8221;

I said to them, &#8220;To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews<n id="1" /> who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen,<n id="2" /> so that we can then buy them back!&#8221; They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.p>

<p class="bodytext">From the day that I was appointed<n id="1" /> governor<n id="2" /> in the land of Judah, that is, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes &#8211; twelve years in all &#8211; neither I nor my relatives<n id="3" /> ate the food allotted to the governor.<n id="4" />

But the former governors who preceded me had burdened the people and had taken food and wine from them, in addition to<n id="1" /> forty shekels of silver. Their associates were also domineering over the people. But I did not behave in this way, due to my fear of God.

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;