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 , * 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 . * 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 . * 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 , * 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 : * 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 Yisra #el #, which we have sinned against thee : both I and my fathers house have sinned . * 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 . * Remember , I beseech thee , the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses , saying , If ye transgress , I will scatter you abroad among the nations : * 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 . * Now these are thy servants and thy people , whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power , and by thy strong hand . * 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 kings cupbearer . * 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 . * 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 , * 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 ? * Then the king said unto me , For what dost thou make request ? So I prayed to the God of heaven . * 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 . * 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 . * 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 ; * And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the kings 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 . * Then I came to the governors beyond the river , and gave them the kings letters . Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me . * When Sanballat the Horonite , and Tobiah the servant , the Ammonite , heard of it , it grieved them exceedingly ra # that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel Yisra #el #. * So I came to Jerusalem , and was there three days . * 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 . * And I went out by night by the gate of the valley , even before the dragon well # #Eyn , and to the dung port sha #ar #, and viewed (8675 ) the walls of Jerusalem , which were broken down , and the gates thereof were consumed with fire . * Then I went on to the gate of the fountain , and to the kings pool : but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass . * Then went I up in the night by the brook , and viewed (8675 ) the wall , and turned back , and entered by the gate of the valley , and so returned . * 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 m @la #kah #. * 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 . * Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me ; as also the kings 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 . * 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 ? * 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 . * Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests , and they builded the sheep gate sha #ar #; they sanctified it , and set up the doors of it ; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it , unto the tower of Hananeel Chanan #el #.

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