The men of Tekoa worked on the section adjacent to them, but their town leaders ¹  would not assist ²  with the work of their master. ³ 

Rephaiah son of Hur, head of a half-district of Jerusalem, worked on the section adjacent to them.

Shallum son of Hallohesh, head of a half-district of Jerusalem, worked on the section adjacent to him, assisted by his daughters. ¹ 

So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard to protect against them ¹  both day and night.

The builders to a man had their swords strapped to their sides while they were building. But the trumpeter ¹  remained with me.

Please remember me for good, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.

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. ¹ 

On the twenty-fourth day of this same month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust.

Those truly of Israelite descent ¹  separated from all the foreigners, ²  standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. ³ 

“You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the Red Sea. ¹ 

(10:1) ¹  “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant ²  in written form; ³  our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names ⁴  on the sealed document.”

and his colleagues ¹  who were exceptional men – 128. The officer over them was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim.

Shabbethai and Jozabad, leaders ¹  of the Levites, were in charge of the external work for the temple of God;

And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who together with his colleagues ¹  was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving.

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. ¹ 

Now one of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. So I banished him from my sight.

Please remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priesthood, ¹  and the Levites.

I said to the king, “If the king is so inclined, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates ¹  that will enable me to travel safely until I reach Judah,

But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this, ¹  they derided us and expressed contempt toward us. They said, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a member of the goldsmiths’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. Hananiah, a member of the perfumers’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. They plastered ¹  the city wall of Jerusalem ²  as far as the Broad Wall.