Nehemiah:1-2
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The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah .
And it came to pass in the month Chisleu ,
in the twentieth year ,
as I was in Shushan the palace ,
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That Hanani ,
one of my brethren ,
came ,
he and certain men of Judah ;
and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped ,
which were left of the captivity ,
and concerning Jerusalem .
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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 .
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And it came to pass ,
when I heard these words ,
that I sat down and wept ,
and mourned certain days ,
and fasted ,
and prayed before the God of heaven ,
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And said ,
I beseech thee ,
O LORD God of heaven ,
the great and terrible God ,
that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments :
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Let thine ear now be attentive ,
and thine eyes open ,
that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant ,
which I pray before thee now ,
day and night ,
for the children of Israel thy servants ,
and confess the sins of the children of Israel ,
which we have sinned against thee :
both I and my father '
s house have sinned .
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We have dealt very corruptly against thee ,
and have not kept the commandments ,
nor the statutes ,
nor the judgments ,
which thou commandedst thy servant Moses .
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Remember ,
I beseech thee ,
the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses ,
saying ,
If ye transgress ,
I will scatter you abroad among the nations :
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But if ye turn unto me ,
and keep my commandments ,
and do them ;
though there were of you cast out unto 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 set my name there .
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Now these are thy servants and thy people ,
whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power ,
and by thy strong hand .
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O Lord ,
I beseech thee ,
let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant ,
and to the prayer of thy servants ,
who desire to fear thy name :
and prosper ,
I pray thee ,
thy servant this day ,
and grant him mercy in the sight of this man .
For I was the king '
s cupbearer .
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And it came to pass in the month Nisan ,
in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king ,
that wine was before him :
and I took up the wine ,
and gave it unto the king .
Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence .
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Wherefore the king said unto me ,
Why is thy countenance sad ,
seeing thou art not sick ?
this is nothing else but sorrow of heart .
Then I was very sore afraid ,
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And said unto the king ,
Let the king live for ever :
why should not my countenance be sad ,
when the city ,
the place of my fathers '
sepulchres ,
lieth waste ,
and the gates thereof are consumed with fire ?
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Then the king said unto me ,
For what dost thou make request ?
So I prayed to the God of heaven .
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And I said unto the king ,
If it please the king ,
and if thy servant 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 .
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And 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 .
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Moreover I said unto the king ,
If it please the king ,
let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river ,
that they may convey me over till I come into Judah ;
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And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king '
s forest ,
that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained 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 .
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Then I came to the governors beyond the river ,
and gave them the king '
s letters .
Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me .
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When Sanballat the Horonite ,
and Tobiah the servant ,
the Ammonite ,
heard of it ,
it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel .
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So I came to Jerusalem ,
and was there three days .
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And I arose in the night ,
I and some few men with me ;
neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem :
neither was there any beast with me ,
save the beast that I rode upon .
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And I went out by night by the gate of the valley ,
even before the dragon well ,
and to the dung port ,
and viewed the walls of Jerusalem ,
which were broken down ,
and the gates thereof were consumed with fire .
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Then I went on to the gate of the fountain ,
and to the king '
s pool :
but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass .
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Then went I up in the night by the brook ,
and viewed the wall ,
and turned back ,
and entered by the gate of the valley ,
and so returned .
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And 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 .
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Then said I unto them ,
Ye see the distress that we are in ,
how Jerusalem lieth waste ,
and the gates thereof are burned with fire :
come ,
and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem ,
that we be no more a reproach .
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Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me ;
as also the king '
s words that he had spoken unto me .
And they said ,
Let us rise up and build .
So they strengthened their hands for this good work .
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But when Sanballat the Horonite ,
and Tobiah the servant ,
the Ammonite ,
and Geshem the Arabian ,
heard it ,
they laughed us to scorn ,
and despised us ,
and said ,
What is this thing that ye do ?
will ye rebel against the king ?
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Then answered I them ,
and said unto them ,
The God of heaven ,
he will prosper us ;
therefore we his servants will arise and build :
but ye have no portion ,
nor right ,
nor memorial ,
in Jerusalem .
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Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests ,
and they builded the sheep gate ;
they sanctified it ,
and set up the doors of it ;
even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it ,
unto the tower of Hananeel .