The Return · 445 BC
Chapter 17
Building the Wall
So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
For parents
Enemies mock the builders of Jerusalem’s wall (Nehemiah 4:1–3) and plot to come in among them, kill them and stop the work (4:11), and the builders work with a weapon in one hand. Nehemiah prays that God would hand his enemies over to be looted and not let their sin be wiped away, and the prayer is told as harsh as it is (4:4–5). No one is hurt.
lay in ruins, and its gates had been burned. had said to the people, “You can see how bad things are for us. Come, let’s build up the wall of Jerusalem, so that we won’t be disgraced.” He had told them how good his God had been to him, and what the king had said to him. And they had answered, “Let’s get up and build.” So they gathered their strength for the good work.
Then the got up with his brothers the , and they built the Sheep Gate. They set it apart as holy and hung its doors. They set it apart as holy all the way to the Tower of Hammeah and the Tower of Hananel.
The men of built beside them, and Zaccur son of Imri built beside the men of Jericho.
The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set up its doors, with their bolts and bars. Beside them Meremoth son of Uriah made repairs, then Meshullam son of Berechiah, then Zadok son of Baana.
Next to them the men of made repairs. But their nobles wouldn’t take on the Lord’s work.
Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah worked on the Old Gate. They laid its beams and hung its doors, with their bolts and bars. Next to them came Melatiah from and Jadon from Meronoth, men of Gibeon and . They repaired the house of the governor of the land beyond .
Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, worked next to them, and next to him Hananiah, one of the perfume makers. They made Jerusalem strong as far as the Wide Wall.
Then came Rephaiah son of Hur, who ruled half the district of Jerusalem. Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs across from his own house, with Hattush son of Hashabneiah next to him. Malchijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahathmoab repaired another stretch of wall and the Tower of the Furnaces.
Next to them was Shallum son of Hallohesh, who also ruled half the district of Jerusalem. He made repairs, and his daughters worked with him.
Hanun and the people of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it and set up its doors, bolts and bars, and they repaired a thousand of the wall, about fifteen hundred feet, as far as the Dung Gate.
The Dung Gate was repaired by Malchijah son of Rechab, who ruled the district of Beth Haccherem. He built it and set up its doors, bolts and bars.
Shallun son of Colhozeh, who ruled the district of Mizpah, repaired the Spring Gate. He built it, covered it over, and set up its doors, bolts and bars. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the king’s garden, up to the stairs that go down from .
After him came another Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, who ruled half the district of Beth Zur. He worked up to the place across from the tombs of David, to the man-made pool, and to the house of the mighty men.
After him came the , with Rehum son of Bani making repairs. Beside him Hashabiah, who ruled half the district of , worked for his own district. After him came their brothers, with Bavvai son of Henadad, who also ruled half the district of Keilah.
Ezer son of Jeshua, who ruled Mizpah, repaired another stretch. It was across from the slope up to the armory, where the weapons were kept, at the turn of the wall. After him Baruch son of Zabbai eagerly repaired another stretch, from the turn of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. After him Meremoth son of Uriah repaired another, from the door of Eliashib’s house to its far end.
After him the priests from the nearby countryside made repairs. After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their house, and after them Azariah son of Maaseiah, beside his own house. Binnui son of Henadad repaired another stretch, from Azariah’s house to the turn of the wall and the corner. Palal son of Uzai worked across from the turn of the wall and across from the tower that sticks out from the king’s upper palace, near the courtyard of the guard. After him came Pedaiah son of Parosh.
The lived in , as far as the spot across from the Water Gate toward the east, and the tower that sticks out. After Pedaiah the men of Tekoa repaired a second stretch, across from the great tower that sticks out, and on to the wall of Ophel.
The priests worked above the Horse Gate, each across from his own house. Zadok son of Immer came next, also across from his own house. After him came Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, who was the keeper of the East Gate. Hananiah son of Shelemiah repaired another stretch with Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, and after them Meshullam son of Berechiah made repairs across from his own room.
Next came Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths. He made repairs up to the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, across from the Gate of Hammiphkad, and on to the slope at the corner. And the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs between the slope at the corner and the Sheep Gate, where Eliashib and the priests had built.
When heard that they were building the wall, he was angry. He was furious, and he made fun of the Jews.
He spoke in front of his brothers and the army of and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they make themselves a fortress? Are they going to offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Will they make the stones live again, out of the heaps of rubbish? Those stones have been burned!”
the was beside him. “As for what they’re building,” he said, “if a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their stone wall.”
Nehemiah prayed, “Our God, listen, because people look down on us. Turn their insults back onto their own heads. Hand them over to be looted, as captives in another land. Don’t cover over the wrong they have done. Don’t let their sin be wiped from your sight, because they have insulted the builders.”
So they built the wall, and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, because the people had their minds set on the work.
But Sanballat and Tobiah, the , the Ammonites and the people of found out that the repair of Jerusalem’s walls was moving forward, and that the broken places were starting to be filled in. They were very angry. All of them joined in a plot to come and fight against Jerusalem and cause confusion among Nehemiah’s people.
But Nehemiah and the people prayed to their God, and they kept guards on watch against their enemies day and night.
The people of said, “The carriers are running out of strength, and there’s a lot of rubble. So we aren’t able to build the wall.”
And their enemies said, “They won’t know or see a thing until we come in among them. Then we’ll kill them and put a stop to the work.”
The Jews who lived near the enemies came and said to Nehemiah’s people ten times, from every place, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
So Nehemiah posted guards behind the wall, in the lowest, open places. He set the people in place family by family, with their swords, their spears and their bows.
Nehemiah looked, and then he stood up. He said to the nobles, the leaders and everyone else, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.”
The enemies heard that their plan was known, and that God had made it fail. Then Nehemiah and all the people went back to the wall, each to his own work.
From then on, half of Nehemiah’s servants did the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the coats of armor. The leaders were behind all the people of Judah.
The carriers loaded themselves up with burdens. Every carrier and every man building the wall worked with one hand and gripped his weapon with the other.
Every builder wore his sword at his side as he built. And the man who blew the trumpet stayed beside Nehemiah.
Nehemiah said to the nobles, the leaders and everyone else, “The work is big and widely spread out, and we are scattered along the wall, far from one another. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there and join us. Our God will fight for us.”
So they did the work, and half of the people held spears from early morning until the stars came out.
At the same time Nehemiah told the people, “Everyone and his servant should spend the night inside Jerusalem. Then they can stand guard for us at night and do the work by day.”
So Nehemiah, his brothers, his servants and the men of the guard who followed him did not take off their clothes. Everyone took his weapon with him to the water.