On the second day of the month the family leaders ¹  met with ²  Ezra the scribe, together with all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to consider the words of the law.

So I came to Jerusalem. ¹  When I had been there for three days,

Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. ¹ 

the men of Bethel ¹  and Ai, 123;

Some of the descendants of ¹  Benjamin settled in Geba, ²  Micmash, Aija, Bethel ³  and its villages,

The king responded, ¹  “What is it you are seeking?” Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven

I passed on to the Gate of the Well and the King’s Pool, where there was not enough room for my animal to pass with me.

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

“But they – our ancestors ¹  – behaved presumptuously; they rebelled ²  and did not obey your commandments.

You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess.

However, due to your abundant mercy you did not do away with them altogether; you did not abandon them. For you are a merciful and compassionate God.

and said to the king, “If the king is so inclined ¹  and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.”

When I had made an inspection, ¹  I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, ²  and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!” ³ 

It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, ¹  God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work.

Then I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel. He was confined to his home. ¹  He said, “Let’s set up a time to meet in the house of God, within the temple. Let’s close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. It will surely be at night that they will come to kill you.”

Then I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, and I presented to them the letters from the king. The king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.

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

Do not cover their iniquity, and do not wipe out their sin from before them. For they have bitterly offended ¹  the builders! ² 

Our adversaries also boasted, ¹  “Before they are aware or anticipate ²  anything, we will come in among them and kill them, and we will bring this work to a halt!”

But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Would someone like me flee to the temple in order to save his life? ¹  I will not go!”