"*** NEHEMIAH 01 ***" 
"Nehemiah in Babylonia enquires about the exiles in Jerusalem The words of Nehemiah : In the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes , while I dwelt in the city of Susa in Persia , one of my brothers Hanani returned from Judah . I questioned"
"him about the Jewish exiles who had returned and also about Jerusalem . The walls of Jerusalem still broken down He said to me , The exiles back in Judah are having great difficulties and are ashamed , for the walls of Jerusalem are still broken downand its gates have been destroyed by fire . Nehemiah weeps, fasts and prays When I heard these words I sat down and wept , and for some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven . Then I prayed , O Jehovah , great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of lovewith those who obey his commandments , hear the prayer of your"
"servant . We have acted wickedly toward you in the past and have not obeyed the commandments you gave your servant Moses . 6Yet you have said, If you return to me and obey my commandments, then even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there I will gather you andbring you back. Therefore O Lord , give your servant success by granting him favour in the presenceof King Artaxerxes . Nehemiah a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes Now I was cupbearer to the king , and some weeks later I took wine into him . I had not been sad in his presence before , so he said to me"
", Why does your face look so sad? This can only be sorrow of heart . Nehemiah asks the king for permission to rebuild Jerusalem I was very much afraid , but I said to the king, O king , live forever , why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers lie buried is in ruins and its gates have beendestroyed by fire? The king said to me , What is it you want? I prayed in my heart to God and answered , If it pleases the king , let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers lie buried that I may rebuild it . The king enquired of me , and the queen was sitting beside him , How"
"long will this take? The king appoints Nehemiah governor of Judah So I gave the king a time for my returnand it pleased him to send me . I also said to him , If it pleases the king , may I have a letter to the governor of Trans- Euphrates to ensure a safe passage , and to the keeper of the king s forests in Judah that I may obtain timber for the gates and for the city wall and for the house I will occupy . The king granted my requests and appointed me governor of Judah . He also provided army officers and cavalry for protection on my journey . Nehemiah would have served in the palace such"
"as this one of King Sennacherib. Nehemiah departs for Jerusalem So we journeyed to Jerusalem , but I went first to Sanballat the governor of Trans-Euphrates in Samaria and gave him the king s letter . Sanballat the governor in Samaria is displeased with Nehemiah Sanballat and Tobiah the Ammonite , one of his officials , were greatly displeased that someone had come to assist the Jews rebuildJerusalem . Nehemiah inspects the walls of Jerusalem by night I continued my journey and arrived at Jerusalem . After resting for three days I set out with a few men by night to inspect the walls of the"
"city which had been broken down , and the gates which had been destroyed by fire . There were no mounts with us except the one I was riding . I went out through the Valley Gate . I had not yet told anyone what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem . I rode toward the Fountain Gate but there was not enough room for my mount to pass through , so I rode up the outside valley instead , examining the wall as I went . 23Finally I turned back and again re-entered the city through the Valley Gate . Nehemiah inspires the Jews to rebuild the wall Then I said to the leaders of the people and"
"to the priests , Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer beashamed . I also told them of the gracious hand of God upon me and what the king had agreed todo. They replied , Let us start rebuilding . So we began the good work." 
"*** NEHEMIAH 02 ***" 
"Samaritan officials mock the Jews When Sanballat the governor , Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab heard of it , they mocked us and said , What is this you are doing? Are you planning to rebel against the king? I answered them saying , The God of heaven will give us success for we are his servants , but you have no share in"
"Jerusalem . The task of rebuilding is divided among the people of Judah Nehemiah divided up the work and assigned each gate , and sections of the wall to the families living in Jerusalem . He included Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests , and also all the families who came toJerusalem from the districts of Judah to help with the work . The gates of Jerusalem rebuilt The exiles rebuilt all the gates of Jerusalem and the Temple fortress area in the City ofDavid .  5They repaired the Sheep Gate , the Fish Gate , the Old Gate , the Valley Gate , the Dung Gate , the Fountain Gate ,"
"the Horse Gate and the East Gate , putting in place all the doors , bolts , bars and roofs . They also began rebuilding the wall of the city, and the wall of the Pool of Siloam by the Kings Garden , as far as the steps going down from the City of David . The Samaritan officials ridicule their efforts When Sanballat the governor of Trans- Euphrates heard we had begun rebuilding the wall he was enraged , and ridiculed us to his officials and the army of Samaria . 8He said to them , What are those feeble Jews doing? Do they really think they can restore their wall? How can they recover enough"
"stones from those heaps of burned rubble? Tobiah who was at his side said , This wall they are rebuilding , if a fox climbed up on it he would break it down . Nehemiah curses the Samaritan officials Hear us O God , for we are despised . Turn The people work with all their heart We worked on the wall and soon it was half completed , for the people worked with all their heart . Their enemies plot to kill them When Sanballat and our other enemies heard that the repairs were proceeding well and that the gaps were closing , they plotted together to kill us . They said , Before they see us we shall"
"be among them and will kill them . We will put a stop to this work . Guards posted But we prayed to our God and posted guards day and night to meet this threat . I also stationed men at the exposed places to protecttheir families with swords , spears and bows . Some of the Jews begin to murmur During this time some of our own people began to murmur saying The strength of the stone bearers is giving out and Too much of the stone is only rubble , how can we complete the wall? Nehemiah inspires the people But I said to the people , Fear not . Remember Jehovah who is great and awesome . Fight for"
"your families and your homes . Half the work force guard the other half From that day on , half of my men did the work while the other half stood guard . And each of the workers wore his sword at his sideas he worked , and those who carried stone held a weapon in one hand . Nehemiah sets up a warning system Then I said to the people , The work is extensive and spread out , and we are widely separated from each other along the wall . Therefore if you hear the sound of the trumpet , gather to it and our God will fight for us . The man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me . All the men to"
"remain at night in Jerusalem for guard duty I also said to the people , Have every man remain in Jerusalem at night and take turns to guard the city . Work continues from dawn until dark So we continued the work from first light of dawn until the stars came out in the evening . Neither I nor my men removed our clothing except for washing." 
"*** NEHEMIAH 03 ***" 
"Outcry by the poor Jews over oppression by the Jewish nobles and officials Now about this time there arose an outcry among the poorer people against their Jewish brothers saying , We are having to mortgage our fields , our vineyards and"
"our homes to borrow money at interest from our countrymen to buy grain during this famine , and to pay the kings tax . 2Already some of us have had to sell our daughters into slavery . 3We are becoming powerless because our property belongs toothers . Nehemiah forbids the charging of interest and taking security When I heard this outcry and these charges , I was angry and pondered them in my mind . Then I called an assembly to deal with the matter . I accused the nobles and officials and said to them , Why are you charging interest and taking property as security from your owncountrymen? You"
"are selling your own brothers . They were silent for they could find nothing to say . Nehemiah uses his own kindness to the poor as an example So I continued and said , What you are doing is not right . I and my brothers and my men are also lending money and grain to the poor, but we are not charging interest nor taking their property . The nobles ordered to return the property of the poor and the interest Now return to them their fields , vineyards , olive groves and houses immediately , and also the interest you are charging them , the hundredth part of the money , grain , new wine and oil"
"each month .  9The nobles and officials replied , We will do as you say . Then in the presence of the priests I made them swear an oath to do as they had promised . I then shook out the folds of my robe and said, In this way may God shake every man out of his house and possessions who does notkeep his oath . From the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes when I was appointed governor of Judah , until his thirty-second year , neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor and hisofficials . But the governors who had preceded me had placed a tax burden on the people and paid"
"themselves 40 shekels of silver daily in addition to their food and wine . The officials also lorded it over the people , but out of reverence for God I did not act likethat, instead I devoted myself to the rebuilding of the wall and did not acquire any land . Nehemiah feeds 150 people daily Furthermore , 150 people ate at my table daily, as well as those who came to visit us from the surrounding nations . 16Each day I provided one ox and six choice sheep andpoultry , and every ten days an abundant supply of wine . In spite of all this , I never demanded the food allotted to the governor ,"
"for the demands were heavy on these people . Remember me with favour O my God for all that I have done for these people."