S7Bicssed be tho LORD, tho God of our fathers, who hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, ^ to beautify the house of tho LORD which is in Jerusalem; *8and hath extended mercy unto me before tho king, and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD my God upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me. Q Now these are the heads of their u fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Arta- xerxes the king. 20f thesonsofPhine- has, Gershom.; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hat- tush. 30f the sons of Shecaniah: of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were reckoned by gene- alogy of the males a hundred and fifty. 40f the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoc- nai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males, "Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males. 6And of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males. 7And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males. 8And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him fourscore males. 90f the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males. 10And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and threescore males. uAnd of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty arxd eight males. 12And of the sons of Azgad. Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred and ten males. 13And of the sons of Adonikam, that were tho last; and these are their names, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah: and with them threescore males. wAnd of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur: and with him seventy males. 15And I gathered them together to the- river that runneth to Ahava; and EZRA there we encamped three daysj^ and I viewed the people, and the priests and found there npne of the sons of Leyi. 16Then sent I for Eliezer, foi Ariel, for Shernaiah, and for Elnathan and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, anc for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joianb and for Elnathan, teachers, 17Anc I gave them commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should say un- to Iddo [and] his brother, who were set over the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God. 18And according to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the ,son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen; 19and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty; 20and of the Neth- inim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Leyites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim; all of them were mentioned by name. 21Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might hum- ble ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a straight way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our sub- stance. 22For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way; because we had spoken unto the king, saying: 'The hand of our God is upon all them that seek Him, for good; but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him ' ^So we fasted and besought our God for this; and He was entreated of us. 24Then I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, besides Shere- biah, Hashabiah, and ton of their brethren with them, 28and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, an< the vessels, even the offering for th house of our God, which the king, an< his counsellors, and his princes, an< all Israel there present, had offered 25I even weighed into their ^hand si- hundred and fifty talents of silver t ant silver vessels a hundred talents; o gold a hundred talents; 27and twenty bowls of gold, of a thousand darics and two vessels of fine bright brass precious as gold. 28And I said untc them: 'Ye are holy unto the LORD and the vessels are holy; and the silyei and the gold are a freewill-offering unto the LORD, the God of youi fathers. 29Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers7 houses of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.' 30So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.
31Then wo departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of ;he enemy and lier-in-wait by the way. 32And we came to Jerusalem, and alxxle there three days. **And on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our rod into the hand of Meranoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehaa; and with them was Jozabad the son of eshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levitea; wthe whole by number and by weight; and ail the weight was written at that time.
^The children of the captivity, that were come out of exile, onered burot- >ffering$ unto the God of Israel, twelve EZRA bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering; all this was a burnt-offering unto the LORD. 36And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's satraps, and to the governors beyond the River; and they furthered the people and the house of God. Q Now when these things were done, the princes drew near unto me, saying: 'The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebu- sites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorit'es. 2For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons; so that the holy seed have mingled them- selves with the peoples of the lands; yea, the hand of the princes and rulers "hath been first in this faithless- ness/ 3And when I*heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down appalled. 4Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithless- ness of them of the captivity; and I sat appalled until the evening offering. 6And at the evening offering I arose up from my fasting, even with my garment and my mantle rent; and I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hinds unto the LOED my God; «andlsaid: ' 0 my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness is grown up unto the heavens. 7Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to spoil- ing, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. 8And now for a little moment grace hath been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage 9For we are bond- men; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a fence in Judah and in Jerusalem, 10And now, 0 our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken Thy commandments, llwhich Thou hast commanded by Thy servants the prophets, saying: The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, wherewith they have filled it from one end to another in their filthiness 12Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity for ever; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. 18And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that Thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such a remnant, 14shall we again break Thy commandments, and make marriages with the peoples that do these abominations? wouldest not Thou be angry with us till Thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to EZRA 150 LORD, the God of Israel Thou art righteous; for we are left a remnant that is escaped, as it is this day; behold, we are before Thee in our guiltiness; for none can stand before Thee because of this/ 1 A Now while Ezra prayed, anc v made confession, weeping anc casting himself down before the house of God, there was gathered together unto him out of Israel a very great con- gregation of men and women and chil- dren; for the people wept very sore. 2And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one pi the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra: ' We have broken faith with our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing. sNow therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of the LOUD, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. 4Arise; for the matter belongeth unto thee, and we are with thee; be of good courage, and do it/ JThen arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israelite swear that they would do according to this word. So they swore. 6Then Ezra rose up from be- fore the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water; for he mourned because of the faith- lessness of them of the captivity. 7And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem; 8and that whosoever came not within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of the captivity.
*Then all the men of Judah and Ben* jamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within the three days; it was the ninth month, on the twen- tieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain. 10And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them: 'Ye have broken faith, and have married foreign wom- en, to increase the guilt of Israel llNow therefore make confession unto the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do His pleasure; and separate your- selves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women/ I3Then all the congregation answered and said, with a loud voice: * As thou hast said, so it is for us to do. "But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand with- out, neither is thiara work of one clay or two; for we have greatly tmnsgre&sed in this matter 14Let now our princes of all the congregation stand, and let all them that are in our cities that1 have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them thfc elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our 3od be turned from us, a« touching this matter/ 160nly Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Pikvah stood up against thin matter; and Meshullam and KhaMxtthai the Levite helped them. I$And the chil- dren of the captivity did so. And 3zra the priest, with certain heads of athors7 nouses, after their father*** houses, and ail of them by their names, were separated; and they eat down in the -first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
NEHEMIAH 14 they were finished with all the men that had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.
18And among the sons of the priests there were found that had married foreign women, namely: of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19And they gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, [they offered] a ram of the flock for their guilt. 20And of the sons of Immer Hanani and Zebadiah. 2lAnd of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and-Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and TJzziah. 422And of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Joza- bad, and Elasah. ^And of the Le- vites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah— the same is Kelita — Petha- hiah, Judah, and Eliezer. 24And of the singers: Eliashib; and of the porters: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri, 25And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Mal- chijah, and Benaiah. 26And of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah. 27And of the sons of Zat- tu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaiuah,.and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza. 28And of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai. 29And of the sons of Bam* Meshullam, Mal- luch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth. 80And of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezal- el, and Binnui, and Manasseh. 31And of the sons of Harim: ^Eliezer, Isshi- jah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon; 32Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah. 330f the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mat- tattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei. 340f the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel; 86Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhu; 86Va- niah, Meremoth, Eliashib; ^Matta- niah, Mattenai, and Jaasai; 38and Bani, andBmnui, Shimei; 39and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah; 40Maclina- debai, Shashai, Sharai; 4lAzarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah; 42Shallum, Am- ariah, Joseph. ^Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jad- dai, and Joel, Benaiah. "All these had taken foreign wives; and some of them had wives by whom they had children.
NEHEMIAH.
1 THB words of Nehemiah the son of x Hacaliah, Now it came to pass in the month Ohislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in 'Shushan the castle, 2that Hanani, one of my brethren, came out of Judah, he and certain men; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, that were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. *And they said unto me- •The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.' 4And it camo to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven, 6and said: 'I beseech Thee, 0 LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awful God, that keepeth cove- nant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments; 6let Thine ear now be attentive, and Thine eyes open, that Thou mayest hearken unto the prayer of Thy serv- ant, which I pray t before Thee at this time, day and night, for the chil- dren of Israel Thy servants, while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against Thee; yea, I and my father's house have sinned, *We have dealt very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept, the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which Thou didst command Thy servant Moses. 8Remember, I beseech Thee, the word that Thou didst command Thy servant Moses, saying: If ye deal treacherously, I will scatter you Abroad among the peoples; 9but if ye return unto Me, and keep My com- mandments and do them, though your dispersed were in the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to cause My name to dwell there. 10Now those are Thy servants and Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed by Thy &reat power, and by Thy strong hand.
U0 Lord, I beseech Thee, let now Thine ear be attentive to the prayer of Thy servant, and to the prayer of Thy servants, who delight to fear Thy imme; and prosper, I pray Thee, Thy .servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man/ Now I was cupbearer to the king. O And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. 2And the king said unto me 'Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is noth- ing else but sorrow of heart.' Then I was very sore afraid. 3And I said unto the king: 'Let the king live for ever, why should not my counte- nance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?' ^hen the king said unto me: 'For what dost thou make re- quest?' So I prayed to the God of heaven. 6And I said unto the king: 'If it please the king, and if thy serv- ant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.' 6And the king said unto me, the queen also sitting by him: 'For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return?' So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 7Moreover I said unto the king: 'If it please the king, let letters be g£ven me to the governors beyond the fiver, that they may let me pass through till I come unto Judah; 8and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's park, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into/ And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Then I came to the governors be- yond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen. 10And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved NEHEMIAH them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. nSo I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. 12And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. 13And I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the dragon's well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusa- lem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. 14Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool; but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. "Then went I up in the night in the valley, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and en- tered by the valley gate, and so re- turned. 16And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
17Then said I unto them: 'Ye see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire; come and lotus buildup the wall of Jerusa- lem, that we be no more a reproach.' 1KAnd I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon mo; as also of i he king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said: c Let us rise up and build.' So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah tho servant, the Ammonite, and Gewshem the Arabian, heard, it. they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and saic}: 'What is this thing tthat ye do? will yo rebel against tho king?' *°Then answered I thorn, and said!
unto them: 'The God of heaven, H will prosper us; therefore we Hi servants will arise and build; but y have no portion, nor right, nor memo rial, in Jerusalem/ O Then Eliashib the high pries rose up with his brethren tb priests, and they builded the shec] gate; they sanctified it, and set up th< doors of it; even unto the tower o Hammeah they sanctified it, unto,th< tower of Hananel. 2And next unt( him builded the men of Jericho. * Anc next to them builded Zaccur the son o Imri. 3And the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and the bars t thereof. 4And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz. And next untc thorn repaired Meshullam the son oi Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, Aiid next unto them repaired Zadok tne son of Baana. 8And next untc them the Tekoites repaired; and theii nobles put not their necks to the work of their lord. 6And the gate of the old city repaired Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son' of Besodciah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the bolts thereof, and the bars thereof. 7And next unto them repaired Mela- tiah the Giboonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, for them that apper- tained to the throne of the governor beyond the River. 8Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths. And next unto him ro- paired Hanania,h one of tho perfumers, a,nd they restored Jerusalem even unto the broad wall. fiAnd next unto thorn repaired Rophaiah tho son of Hur, the ruler of half tho district of Jerusalem. 10And next unto thorn NEHEMIAH repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, even over against his house. And next unto him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabneiah. llMalchijah the i6on of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab, repaired another por- tion, and the tower of the furnaces. l2And next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler oi half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters. 13The valley gate re- paired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and the bars thereof, and a thousand cubits of the wall unto the dung gate 14And the dung gate repaired Mal- chijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth-cherem; he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and the bars thereof. 15And the fountain gate repaired Shal- lun the S9n of Col-hozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden, even unto the stairs that go down from the city of David. 16After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, and unto the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty men. 17After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next unto him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, for Ins district. 18After him repaired their brethren, Bawai the son of Honadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah. 19And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another portion, over against the ascent to the armoury at the Turning. 20Aftcr him Baruch the son