The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem;

and hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD my God upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

Now these are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.

Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush.

Of the sons of Shecaniah: of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males a hundred and fifty.

Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.

Of the sons of Shechaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.

And of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.

And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.

And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him fourscore males.

Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and threescore males.

And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty and eight males.

And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred and ten males.

And of the sons of Adonikam, that were the last; and these are their names, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah; and with them threescore males.

And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur; and with him seventy males.

And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there we encamped three days; and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.

Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, teachers.

And I gave them commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should say unto Iddo and his brother, who were set over the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.

And according to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;

and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;

and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim; all of them were mentioned by name.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a straight way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way; because we had spoken unto the king, saying: 'The hand of our God is upon all them that seek Him, for good; but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him.'

So we fasted and besought our God for this; and He was entreated of us.

Then I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, besides Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered;

I even weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels a hundred talents; of gold a hundred talents;

and twenty bowels of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold.

And I said unto them: 'Ye are holy unto the LORD, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill-offering unto the LORD, the God of your fathers.

Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers' houses of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.'

So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and lier-in-wait by the way.

And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.

And on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levites;

the whole by number and by weight; and all the weight was written at that time.

The children of the captivity, that were come out of exile, offered burnt-offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering; all this was a burnt-offering unto the LORD.

And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's satraps, and to the governors beyond the River; and they furthered the people and the house of God.

Now when these things were done, the princes drew near unto me, saying: 'The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons; so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the peoples of the lands; yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been first in this faithlessness.'

And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down appalled.

Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of them of the captivity; and I sat appalled until the evening offering.

And at the evening offering I arose up from my fasting, even with my garment and my mantle rent; and I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God;

and I said: 'O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness is grown up unto the heavens.

Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to spoiling, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

And now for a little moment grace hath been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a fence in Judah and in Jerusalem.

And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken Thy commandments,

which Thou hast commanded by Thy servants the prophets, saying: The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, wherewith they have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness.

Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity for ever; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.

And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that Thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such a remnant,

shall we again break Thy commandments, and make marriages with the peoples that do these abominations? wouldest not Thou be angry with us till Thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?

O LORD, the God of Israel, Thou art righteous; for we are left a remnant that is escaped, as it is this day; behold, we are before Thee in our guiltiness; for none can stand before Thee because of this.'

Now while Ezra prayed, and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there was gathered together unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children; for the people wept very sore.

And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra: 'We have broken faith with our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.

Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of the LORD, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

Arise; for the matter belongeth unto thee, and we are with thee; be of good courage, and do it.'

Then arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they swore.

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water; for he mourned because of the faithlessness of them of the captivity.

And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;

and that whosoever came not within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of the captivity.

Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within the three days; it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.

And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them: 'Ye have broken faith, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.

Now therefore make confession unto the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do His pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.'

Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice: 'As thou hast said, so it is for us to do.

But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.

Let now our princes of all the congregation stand, and let all them that are in our cities that have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, as touching this matter.'

Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this matter; and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.

And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers' houses, after their fathers' houses, and all of them by their names, were separated; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

And they were finished with all the men that had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.

And among the sons of the priests there were found that had married foreign women, namely: of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.

And they gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.

And of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.

And of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.

And of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

And of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah — the same is Kelita — Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

And of the singers: Eliashib; and of the porters: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.

And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.

And of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah.

And of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.

And of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.

And of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth.

And of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.

And of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon;

Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.

Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei.

Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel;

Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhu;

Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib;

Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasai;

and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei;

Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah;

Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai;

Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah;

Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.

Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, and Joel, Benaiah.

All these had taken foreign wives; and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

THE WORDS of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the castle,

that Hanani, one of my brethren, came out of Judah, he and certain men; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, that 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.'