Nehemiah 1:1-8 and 11, NIrV

1 These are the words of Nehemiah. He was the son of Hakaliah.

I was in the fort of Susa. I was there in the 20th year that Artaxerxes was king. It was in the month of Kislev. 2 At that time Hanani came from Judah with some other men. He was one of my brothers. I asked him and the other men about the Jews who were left alive in Judah. They had returned from Babylon. I also asked him about Jerusalem.

3 He and the men with him said to me, “Some of the people who returned are still alive. They are back in the land of Judah. But they are having a hard time. They are ashamed. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down. Its gates have been burned with fire.”

4 When I heard about these things, I sat down and wept. For several days I was very sad. I didn’t eat any food. And I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 I said,

“Lord, you are the God of heaven. You are a great and wonderful God. You keep the covenant you made with those who love you and obey your commandments. You show them your love. 6 Please pay careful attention to my prayer. See how your people are suffering. Please listen to me. I’m praying to you day and night. I’m praying for the people of Israel. We Israelites have committed sins against you. All of us admit it. I and my family have also sinned against you. 7 We’ve done some very evil things. We haven’t obeyed the commands, rules and laws you gave your servant Moses.

8 “Remember what you told him. You said, ‘If you people are not faithful, I will scatter you among the nations.

...

11 Lord, please pay careful attention to my prayer. Listen to the prayers of all of us. We take delight in bringing honor to your name. Give me success today when I bring my request to King Artaxerxes.”

I was the king’s wine taster.

Nehemiah 2:1-8, NIrV

1 Wine was brought in for King Artaxerxes. It was the month of Nisan in the 20th year of his rule. I got the wine and gave it to him. I hadn’t been sad in front of him before. But now I was. 2 So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You aren’t sick. You must be feeling very sad.”

I was really afraid. 3 But I said to the king, “May you live forever! Why shouldn’t I look sad? The city where my people of long ago are buried has been destroyed. And fire has burned up its gates.”

4 The king said to me, “What do you want?”

I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 Then I answered the king, “Are you pleased with me, King Artaxerxes? If it pleases you, send me to Judah. Let me go to the city of Jerusalem. That’s where my people are buried. I want to rebuild it.”

6 The queen was sitting beside the king. He turned and asked me, “How long will your journey take? When will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me. So I chose a certain time.

7 I also said to him, “If it pleases you, may I take some letters with me? I want to give them to the governors of the land west of the Euphrates River. Then they’ll help me travel safely through their territory until I arrive in Judah. 8 May I also have a letter to Asaph? He takes care of the royal park. I want him to give me some logs so I can make beams out of them. I want to use them for the gates of the fort that is by the temple. Some of the logs will also be used in the city wall. And I’ll need some for the house I’m going to live in.” God was kind to me and helped me. So the king gave me what I asked for.

Nehemiah 2:9-20, NIrV

9 Then I went to the governors of the land west of the Euphrates River. I gave them the king’s letters. He had also sent army officers and horsemen along with me.

10 Sanballat and Tobiah heard about what was happening. Sanballat was a Horonite. Tobiah was an official from Ammon. They were very upset that someone had come to help the Israelites.

11 I went to Jerusalem and stayed there for three days. 12 Then at night I took a few other people with me to check out the walls. I hadn’t told anyone what my God wanted me to do for Jerusalem. There weren’t any donkeys with me except the one I was riding on.

13 That night I went out through the Valley Gate. I went toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate. I checked out the walls of Jerusalem. They had been broken down. I also checked the city gates. Fire had burned them up. 14 I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool. But there wasn’t enough room for my donkey to get through. 15 It was still night. I went up the Kidron Valley. I kept checking the wall. Finally, I turned back. I went back in through the Valley Gate. 16 The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I had done. That’s because I hadn’t said anything to anyone yet. I hadn’t told the priests or nobles or officials. And I hadn’t spoken to any other Jews who would be rebuilding the wall.

17 I said to them, “You can see the trouble we’re in. Jerusalem has been destroyed. Fire has burned up its gates. Come on. Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Then people won’t be ashamed anymore.” 18 I also told them how my gracious God was helping me. And I told them what the king had said to me.

They replied, “Let’s start rebuilding.” So they began that good work.

19 But Sanballat, the Horonite, heard about it. So did Tobiah, the official from Ammon. Geshem, the Arab, heard about it too. All of them laughed at us. They made fun of us. “What do you think you are doing?” they asked. “Are you turning against the king?”

20 I answered, “The God of heaven will give us success. We serve him. So we’ll start rebuilding the walls. But you don’t have any share in Jerusalem. You don’t have any claim to it. You don’t have any right to worship here.”

Nehemiah 4:1-3, 6-11, NIRV

1 Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall. So he became very angry and upset. He made fun of the Jews. 2 He spoke to his friends and the army of Samaria. He said, “What are those Jews trying to do? Can they make their city wall like new again? Will they offer sacrifices? Can they finish everything in a single day? The stones from their city wall and buildings are piled up like trash. And everything has been badly burned. Can they use those stones to rebuild everything again?”

3 Tobiah from Ammon was at Sanballat’s side. He said, “What are they building? They’re putting up a stone wall. But suppose a fox climbs on top of it. Even that will break it down!”

...

6 So we rebuilt the wall. We repaired it until all of it was half as high as we wanted it to be. The people worked with all their heart.

7 But Sanballat and Tobiah heard that Jerusalem’s walls continued to be repaired. The Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard about it too. They heard that the gaps in the wall were being filled in. So they were very angry. 8 All of them made evil plans to come and fight against Jerusalem. They wanted to stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God. We put guards on duty day and night to watch out for danger.

10 During that time, the people in Judah spoke up. They said, “The workers are getting weaker and weaker all the time. Broken stones are piled up everywhere. They are in our way. So we can’t rebuild the wall.”

11 And our enemies said, “We will be right there among them. We’ll kill them. We’ll put an end to their work. We’ll do it before they even know it or see us.”

Nehemiah 4:14-21, NIRV

14 I looked things over. Then I stood up and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people. I said, “Don’t be afraid of your enemies. Remember the Lord. He is great and powerful. So fight for your families. Fight for your sons and daughters. Fight for your wives and homes.”

15 Our enemies heard that we knew what they were trying to do. They heard that God had blocked their evil plans. So all of us returned to the wall. Each of us did our own work.

16 From that day on, half of my men did the work. The other half were given spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers stationed themselves behind all the people of Judah. 17 The people continued to build the wall. The people who carried supplies did their work with one hand. They held a weapon in the other hand. 18 Each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who blew the trumpet stayed with me.

19 Then I spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people. I said, “This is a big job. It covers a lot of territory. We’re separated too far from one another along the wall. 20 When you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us at that location. Our God will fight for us!”

21 So we continued the work. Half of the men held spears. We worked from the first light of sunrise until the stars came out at night.

Nehemiah 6:15-16, NIRV

15 So the city wall was completed on the 25th day of the month of Elul. It was finished in 52 days.

16 All our enemies heard about it. All the nations around us became afraid. They weren’t sure of themselves anymore. They realized that our God had helped us finish the work.