nkjv Nehemiah:1-5 SEEK
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The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah .
It came to pass in the month of Chislev ,
in the twentieth year ,
as I was in Shushan the citadel ,
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that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah ;
and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped ,
who had survived the captivity ,
and concerning Jerusalem .
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And they said to me , "
The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach .
The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down ,
and its gates are burned with fire ."
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So it was ,
when I heard these words ,
that I sat down and wept ,
and mourned for many days ;
I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven .
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And I said : "
I pray ,
LORD God of heaven ,
O great and awesome God ,
You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments ,
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please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open ,
that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now ,
day and night ,
for the children of Israel Your servants ,
and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You .
Both my father '
s house and I have sinned .
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We have acted very corruptly against You ,
and have not kept the commandments ,
the statutes ,
nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses .
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Remember ,
I pray ,
the word that You commanded Your servant Moses ,
saying , "
If you are unfaithful ,
I will scatter you among the nations ;
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but if you return to Me ,
and keep My commandments and do them ,
though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens ,
yet I will gather them from there ,
and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name .'
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Now these are Your servants and Your people ,
whom You have redeemed by Your great power ,
and by Your strong hand .
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O Lord ,
I pray ,
please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant ,
and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name ;
and let Your servant prosper this day ,
I pray ,
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 of Nisan ,
in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes ,
when wine was before him ,
that I took the wine and gave it to the king .
Now I had never been sad in his presence before .
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Therefore the king said to me , "
Why is your face sad ,
since you are not sick ?
This is nothing but sorrow of heart ."
So I became dreadfully afraid ,
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and said to the king , "
May the king live forever !
Why should my face not be sad ,
when the city ,
the place of my fathers '
tombs ,
lies waste ,
and its gates are burned with fire ?"
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Then the king said to me , "
What do you request ?"
So I prayed to the God of heaven .
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And I said to the king , "
If it pleases the king ,
and if your servant has found favor in your sight ,
I ask that you send me to Judah ,
to the city of my fathers '
tombs ,
that I may rebuild it ."
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Then the king said to me (
the queen also sitting beside him ), "
How long will your journey be ?
And when will you return ?"
So it pleased the king to send me ;
and I set him a time .
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Furthermore I said to the king , "
If it pleases the king ,
let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River ,
that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah ,
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and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king '
s forest ,
that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple ,
for the city wall ,
and for the house that I will occupy ."
And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me .
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Then I went to the governors in the region 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 Ammonite official heard of it ,
they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel .
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So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days .
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Then I arose in the night ,
I and a few men with me ;
I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem ;
nor was there any animal with me ,
except the one on which I rode .
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And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate ,
and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire .
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Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King '
s Pool ,
but there was no room for the animal under me to pass .
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So I went up in the night by the valley ,
and viewed the wall ;
then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate ,
and so returned .
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And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done ;
I had not yet told the Jews ,
the priests ,
the nobles ,
the officials ,
or the others who did the work .
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Then I said to them , "
You see the distress that we are in ,
how Jerusalem lies waste ,
and its gates are burned with fire .
Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem ,
that we may no longer be a reproach ."
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And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me ,
and also of the king '
s words that he had spoken to me .
So they said , "
Let us rise up and build ."
Then they set their hands to this good work .
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But when Sanballat the Horonite ,
Tobiah the Ammonite official ,
and Geshem the Arab heard of it ,
they laughed at us and despised us ,
and said , "
What is this thing that you are doing ?
Will you rebel against the king ?"
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So I answered them ,
and said to them , "
The God of heaven Himself will prosper us ;
therefore we His servants will arise and build ,
but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem ."
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Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate ;
they consecrated it and hung its doors .
They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred ,
and consecrated it ,
then as far as the Tower of Hananel .
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Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho built .
And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built .
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Also the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate ;
they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars .
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And next to them Meremoth the son of Urijah ,
the son of Koz ,
made repairs .
Next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah ,
the son of Meshezabel ,
made repairs .
Next to them Zadok the son of Baana made repairs .
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Next to them the Tekoites made repairs ;
but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord .
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Moreover Jehoiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate ;
they laid its beams and hung its doors ,
with its bolts and bars .
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And next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite ,
Jadon the Meronothite ,
the men of Gibeon and Mizpah ,
repaired the residence of the governor of the region beyond the River .
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Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah ,
one of the goldsmiths ,
made repairs .
Also next to him Hananiah ,
one of the perfumers ,
made repairs ;
and they fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall .
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And next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur ,
leader of half the district of Jerusalem ,
made repairs .
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Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs in front of his house .
And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabniah made repairs .
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Malchijah the son of Harim and Hashub the son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section ,
as well as the Tower of the Ovens .
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And next to him was Shallum the son of Hallohesh ,
leader of half the district of Jerusalem ;
he and his daughters made repairs .
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Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate .
They built it ,
hung its doors with its bolts and bars ,
and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Refuse Gate .
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Malchijah the son of Rechab ,
leader of the district of Beth Haccerem ,
repaired the Refuse Gate ;
he built it and hung its doors with its bolts and bars .
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Shallun the son of Col-Hozeh ,
leader of the district of Mizpah ,
repaired the Fountain Gate ;
he built it ,
covered it ,
hung its doors with its bolts and bars ,
and repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King '
s Garden ,
as far as the stairs that go down from the City of David .
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After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk ,
leader of half the district of Beth Zur ,
made repairs as far as the place in front of the tombs of David ,
to the man-made pool ,
and as far as the House of the Mighty .
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After him the Levites ,
under Rehum the son of Bani ,
made repairs .
Next to him Hashabiah ,
leader of half the district of Keilah ,
made repairs for his district .
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After him their brethren ,
under Bavai the son of Henadad ,
leader of the other half of the district of Keilah ,
made repairs .
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And next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua ,
the leader of Mizpah ,
repaired another section in front of the Ascent to the Armory at the buttress .
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After him Baruch the son of Zabbai carefully repaired the other section ,
from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest .
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After him Meremoth the son of Urijah ,
the son of Koz ,
repaired another section ,
from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib .
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And after him the priests ,
the men of the plain ,
made repairs .
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After him Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house .
After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah ,
the son of Ananiah ,
made repairs by his house .
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After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section ,
from the house of Azariah to the buttress ,
even as far as the corner .
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Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the buttress ,
and on the tower which projects from the king '
s upper house that was by the court of the prison .
After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs .
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Moreover the Nethinim who dwelt in Ophel made repairs as far as the place in front of the Water Gate toward the east ,
and on the projecting tower .
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After them the Tekoites repaired another section ,
next to the great projecting tower ,
and as far as the wall of Ophel .
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Beyond the Horse Gate the priests made repairs ,
each in front of his own house .
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After them Zadok the son of Immer made repairs in front of his own house .
After him Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah ,
the keeper of the East Gate ,
made repairs .
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After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah ,
and Hanun ,
the sixth son of Zalaph ,
repaired another section .
After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs in front of his dwelling .
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After him Malchijah ,
one of the goldsmiths ,
made repairs as far as the house of the Nethinim and of the merchants ,
in front of the Miphkad Gate ,
and as far as the upper room at the corner .
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And between the upper room at the corner ,
as far as the Sheep Gate ,
the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs .
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But it so happened ,
when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall ,
that he was furious and very indignant ,
and mocked the Jews .
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And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria ,
and said , "
What are these feeble Jews doing ?
Will they fortify themselves ?
Will they offer sacrifices ?
Will they complete it in a day ?
Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish--stones that are burned ?"
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Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him ,
and he said , "
Whatever they build ,
if even a fox goes up on it ,
he will break down their stone wall ."
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Hear ,
O our God ,
for we are despised ;
turn their reproach on their own heads ,
and give them as plunder to a land of captivity !
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Do not cover their iniquity ,
and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You ;
for they have provoked You to anger before the builders .
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So we built the wall ,
and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height ,
for the people had a mind to work .
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Now it happened ,
when Sanballat ,
Tobiah ,
the Arabs ,
the Ammonites ,
and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed ,
that they became very angry ,
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and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion .
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Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God ,
and because of them we set a watch against them day and night .
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Then Judah said , "
The strength of the laborers is failing ,
and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall ."
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And our adversaries said , "
They will neither know nor see anything ,
till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease ."
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So it was ,
when the Jews who dwelt near them came ,
that they told us ten times , "
From whatever place you turn ,
they will be upon us ."
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Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall ,
at the openings ;
and I set the people according to their families ,
with their swords ,
their spears ,
and their bows .
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And I looked ,
and arose and said to the nobles ,
to the leaders ,
and to the rest of the people , "
Do not be afraid of them .
Remember the Lord ,
great and awesome ,
and fight for your brethren ,
your sons ,
your daughters ,
your wives ,
and your houses ."
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And it happened ,
when our enemies heard that it was known to us ,
and that God had brought their plot to nothing ,
that all of us returned to the wall ,
everyone to his work .
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So it was ,
from that time on ,
that half of my servants worked at construction ,
while the other half held the spears ,
the shields ,
the bows ,
and wore armor ;
and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah .
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Those who built on the wall ,
and those who carried burdens ,
loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction ,
and with the other held a weapon .
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Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built .
And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me .
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Then I said to the nobles ,
the rulers ,
and the rest of the people , "
The work is great and extensive ,
and we are separated far from one another on the wall .
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Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet ,
rally to us there .
Our God will fight for us ."
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So we labored in the work ,
and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared .
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At the same time I also said to the people , "
Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem ,
that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day ."
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So neither I ,
my brethren ,
my servants ,
nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes ,
except that everyone took them off for washing .
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And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren .
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For there were those who said , "
We ,
our sons ,
and our daughters are many ;
therefore let us get grain ,
that we may eat and live ."
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There were also some who said , "
We have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses ,
that we might buy grain because of the famine ."
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There were also those who said , "
We have borrowed money for the king '
s tax on our lands and vineyards .
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Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren ,
our children as their children ;
and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves ,
and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery .
It is not in our power to redeem them ,
for other men have our lands and vineyards ."
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And I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words .
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After serious thought ,
I rebuked the nobles and rulers ,
and said to them , "
Each of you is exacting usury from his brother ."
So I called a great assembly against them .
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And I said to them , "
According to our ability we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations .
Now indeed ,
will you even sell your brethren ?
Or should they be sold to us ?"
Then they were silenced and found nothing to say .
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Then I said , "
What you are doing is not good .
Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations ,
our enemies ?
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I also ,
with my brethren and my servants ,
am lending them money and grain .
Please ,
let us stop this usury !
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Restore now to them ,
even this day ,
their lands ,
their vineyards ,
their olive groves ,
and their houses ,
also a hundredth of the money and the grain ,
the new wine and the oil ,
that you have charged them ."
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So they said , "
We will restore it ,
and will require nothing from them ;
we will do as you say ."
Then I called the priests ,
and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise .
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Then I shook out the fold of my garment and said , "
So may God shake out each man from his house ,
and from his property ,
who does not perform this promise .
Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied ."
And all the assembly said , "
Amen !"
and praised the LORD .
Then the people did according to this promise .
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Moreover ,
from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah ,
from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes ,
twelve years ,
neither I nor my brothers ate the governor '
s provisions .
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But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people ,
and took from them bread and wine ,
besides forty shekels of silver .
Yes ,
even their servants bore rule over the people ,
but I did not do so ,
because of the fear of God .
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Indeed ,
I also continued the work on this wall ,
and we did not buy any land .
All my servants were gathered there for the work .
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And at my table were one hundred and fifty Jews and rulers ,
besides those who came to us from the nations around us .
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Now that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep .
Also fowl were prepared for me ,
and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine .
Yet in spite of this I did not demand the governor '
s provisions ,
because the bondage was heavy on this people .
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Remember me ,
my God ,
for good ,
according to all that I have done for this people .
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Now it happened when Sanballat ,
Tobiah ,
Geshem the Arab ,
and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall ,
and that there were no breaks left in it (
though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates ),