Day 30 of 90

¹Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel;

²then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as you do; and we sacrifice to him since the days of Esar Haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here."

³But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' households of Israel, said to them, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."

⁴Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

⁵and hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁶In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷In the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions, to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in Syrian, and set forth in the Syrian language.

⁸Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:

⁹then Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the Dinaites, and the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites, the Dehaites, the Elamites,

¹⁰and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over, and set in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River, and so forth, wrote.

¹¹This is the copy of the letter that they sent to Artaxerxes the king: Your servants the men beyond the River, and so forth.

¹²Be it known to the king, that the Jews who came up from you have come to us to Jerusalem; they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and have finished the walls, and repaired the foundations.

¹³Be it known now to the king that if this city is built, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful to the kings.

¹⁴Now because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not appropriate for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore have we sent and informed the king;

¹⁵that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers: so you shall find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time; for which cause was this city laid waste.

¹⁶We inform the king that, if this city be built, and the walls finished, by this means you shall have no portion beyond the River.

¹⁷Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River: Peace, and so forth.

¹⁸The letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me.

¹⁹I decreed, and search has been made, and it is found that this city of old time has made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.

²⁰There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the country beyond the River; and tribute, custom, and toll, was paid to them.

²¹Make a decree now to cause these men to cease, and that this city not be built, until a decree shall be made by me.

²²Take heed that you not be slack herein: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?

²³Then when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.

²⁴Then ceased the work of God's house which is at Jerusalem; and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

¹Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem; in the name of the God of Israel they prophesied to them.

²Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build God's house which is at Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, helping them.

³At the same time came to them Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and Shetharbozenai, and their companions, and said thus to them, "Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall?"

⁴Then we told them in this way, what the names of the men were who were making this building.

⁵But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not make them cease, until the matter should come to Darius, and then answer should be returned by letter concerning it.

⁶The copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and Shetharbozenai, and his companions the Apharsachites, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king;

⁷they sent a letter to him, in which was written thus: To Darius the king, all peace.

⁸Be it known to the king, that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is built with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls; and this work goes on with diligence and prospers in their hands.

⁹Then we asked those elders, and said to them thus, "Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall?"

¹⁰We asked them their names also, to inform you that we might write the names of the men who were at their head.

¹¹Thus they returned us answer, saying, "We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was built these many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

¹²But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.

¹³But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God.

¹⁴The gold and silver vessels also of God's house, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought into the temple of Babylon, those Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor;

¹⁵and he said to him, 'Take these vessels, go, put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let God's house be built in its place.'

¹⁶Then the same Sheshbazzar came, and laid the foundations of God's house which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now has it been in building, and yet it is not completed.

¹⁷Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let a search be made in the king's treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter."

¹Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.

²There was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, a scroll, and therein was thus written for a record:

³In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning God's house at Jerusalem, let the house be built, the place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be strongly laid; its height sixty cubits, and its breadth sixty cubits;

⁴with three courses of great stones, and a course of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house.

⁵Also let the gold and silver vessels of God's house, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored, and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem, everyone to its place; and you shall put them in God's house.

⁶Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River, you must stay far from there.

⁷Leave the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.

⁸Moreover I make a decree what you shall do to these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the River, expenses be given with all diligence to these men, that they be not hindered.

⁹That which they have need of, both young bulls, and rams, and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven; also wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail;

¹⁰that they may offer sacrifices of pleasant aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.

¹¹Also I have made a decree, that whoever shall alter this word, let a beam be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and fastened thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this:

¹²and the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples who shall put forth their hand to alter the same, to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with all diligence.

¹³Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and their companions, because Darius the king had sent a decree, did accordingly with all diligence.

¹⁴The elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

¹⁵This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

¹⁶The children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.

¹⁷They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁸They set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.

¹⁹The children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

²⁰For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure: and they killed the Passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.

²¹The children of Israel who had come again out of the captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, ate,

²²and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the Lord had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of God's house, the God of Israel.

¹Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

²the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,

³the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,

⁴the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,

⁵the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest;

⁶this Ezra went up from Babylon: and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God on him.

⁷There went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

⁸He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

⁹For on the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon; and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God on him.

¹⁰For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.

¹¹Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel:

¹²Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect and so forth.

¹³I make a decree, that all those of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, who are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with you.

¹⁴Because you are sent of the king and his seven counselors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your hand,

¹⁵and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,

¹⁶and all the silver and gold that you shall find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem;

¹⁷therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bulls, rams, lambs, with their meal offerings and their drink offerings, and shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

¹⁸Whatever shall seem good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do that after the will of your God.

¹⁹The vessels that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem.

²⁰Whatever more shall be needful for the house of your God, which you shall have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure house.

²¹I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers who are beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence,

²²to one hundred talents of silver, and to one hundred measures of wheat, and to one hundred baths of wine, and to one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.

²³Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

²⁴Also we inform you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll, on them.

²⁵You, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God who is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people who are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach him who doesn't know them.

²⁶Whoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with all diligence, whether it be to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

²⁷Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem;

²⁸and has extended loving kindness to me before the king, and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty princes. I was strengthened according to the hand of the Lord my God on me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

¹Now these are the heads of their fathers' households, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:

²Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.

³Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males one hundred fifty.

⁴Of the sons of Pahathmoab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.

⁵Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.

⁶Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.

⁷Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.

⁸Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him eighty males.

⁹Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

¹⁰Of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him one hundred sixty males.

¹¹Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty-eight males.

¹²Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him one hundred ten males.

¹³Of the sons of Adonikam, who were the last; and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males.

¹⁴Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.

¹⁵I gathered them together to the river that runs 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.

¹⁶Then 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, who were teachers.

¹⁷I sent them forth to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should tell Iddo, and his brothers the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.

¹⁸According to the good hand of our God on 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 brothers, eighteen;

¹⁹and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty;

²⁰and 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.

²¹Then 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.

²²For 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 to the king, saying, "The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him."

²³So we fasted and begged our God for this: and he was entreated of us.

²⁴Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,

²⁵and weighed to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counselors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered:

²⁶I weighed into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels one hundred talents; of gold one hundred talents;

²⁷and twenty bowls of gold, of one thousand darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold.

²⁸I said to them, "You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers.

²⁹Watch, and keep them, until you weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers' households of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of the Lord."

³⁰So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

³¹Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the bandit by the way.

³²We came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days.

³³On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were 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 Levite;

³⁴the whole by number and by weight: and all the weight was written at that time.

³⁵The children of the captivity, who had come out of exile, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering to the Lord.

³⁶They delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps, and to the governors beyond the River: and they furthered the people and God's house.

¹Now when these things were done, the princes drew near to me, saying, "The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, following their abominations, even those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

²For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed have mixed themselves with the peoples of the lands. Yes, the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this trespass."

³When I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.

⁴Then were assembled to me everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of their trespass of the captivity; and I sat confounded until the evening offering.

⁵At the evening offering I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn; and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to the Lord my God;

⁶and I said, "My God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God; for our iniquities have increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown up to the heavens.

⁷Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty to this day; and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests, have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

⁸Now for a little moment grace has 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.

⁹For we are bondservants; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended loving kindness to 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 its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

¹⁰"Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,

¹¹which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, 'The land, to which you go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness.

¹²Now therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity forever; that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.'

¹³"After all that has come on us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, since you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such a remnant,

¹⁴shall we again break your commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples that do these abominations? Wouldn't you be angry with us until you had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?

¹⁵The Lord, the God of Israel, you are righteous; for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is this day. Behold, we are before you in our guiltiness; for none can stand before you because of this."

¹Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before God's house, there was gathered together to him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children; for the people wept very bitterly.

²Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered Ezra, "We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land. Yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.

³Now 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 my lord, and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

⁴Arise; for the matter belongs to you, and we are with you. Be courageous, and do it."

⁵Then Ezra arose, 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.

⁶Then Ezra rose up from before God's house, and went into the room of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank water; for he mourned because of their trespass of the captivity.

⁷They made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together to Jerusalem;

⁸and that whoever did not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the assembly of the captivity.

⁹Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together to 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 God's house, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.

¹⁰Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, "You have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.

¹¹Now therefore make confession to 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."

¹²Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, "As you have said concerning us, so must we do.

¹³But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside; neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.

¹⁴Let now our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter is resolved."

¹⁵Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this; and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.

¹⁶The children of the captivity did so. Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers' households, after their fathers' houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

¹⁷They made an end with all the men who had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.

¹⁸Among the sons of the priests there were found who had married foreign women: of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.

¹⁹They gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.

²⁰Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.

²¹Of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.

²²Of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

²³Of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (the same is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

²⁴Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the porters: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.

²⁵Of Israel: Of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.

²⁶Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah.

²⁷Of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.

²⁸Of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.

²⁹Of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, Jeremoth.

³⁰Of the sons of Pahathmoab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.

³¹Of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

³²Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.

³³Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei.

³⁴Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel,

³⁵Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,

³⁶Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

³⁷Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu,

³⁸and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei,

³⁹and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,

⁴⁰Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

⁴¹Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,

⁴²Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.

⁴³Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Iddo, and Joel, Benaiah.

⁴⁴All these had taken foreign wives; and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

¹The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,

²that Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

³They said to me, "The remnant who are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire."

⁴It happened, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,

⁵and said, "I beg you, Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments:

⁶Let your ear now be attentive, and your eyes open, that you may listen to the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel your servants while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Yes, I and my father's house have sinned.

⁷We have dealt very corruptly against you, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances, which you commanded your servant Moses.

⁸"Remember, I beg you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, 'If you trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples;

⁹but if you return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.'

¹⁰"Now these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power, and by your strong hand.

¹¹Lord, I beg you, let your ear be attentive now to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants, who delight to fear your name; and please prosper your servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." Now I was cup bearer to the king.

¹It happened in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence.

²The king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart." Then I was very much afraid.

³I said to the king, "Let the king live forever! Why shouldn't my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?"

⁴Then the king said to me, "For what do you make request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

⁵I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may build it."

⁶The king said to me (the queen was also sitting by him), "For how long shall your journey be? And when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

⁷Moreover I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah;

⁸and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into." The king granted my requests, because of the good hand of my God on me.

⁹Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.

¹⁰When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

¹¹So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

¹²I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any animal with me, except the animal that I rode on.

¹³I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal's well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates were consumed with fire.

¹⁴Then I went on to the spring gate and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.

¹⁵Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.

¹⁶The rulers did not know where 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 who did the work.

¹⁷Then I said to them, "You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we won't be disgraced."

¹⁸I told them of the hand of my God which was good on me, as also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. They said, "Let's rise up and build." So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

¹⁹But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us, and despised us, and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?"

²⁰Then answered I them, and said to them, "The God of heaven will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem."

¹Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up its doors; even to the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, to the tower of Hananel.

²Next to him built the men of Jericho. Next to them built Zaccur the son of Imri.

³The sons of Hassenaah built the fish gate. They laid its beams, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

⁴Next to them, Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz 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.

⁵Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their necks to the work of their lord.

⁶Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the old gate. They laid its beams, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars.

⁷Next to them, Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, repaired the residence of the governor beyond the River.

⁸Next to him, Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him, Hananiah one of the perfumers made repairs, and they fortified Jerusalem even to the broad wall.

⁹Next to them, Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.

¹⁰Next to them, Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house. Next to him, Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs.

¹¹Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired another portion, and the tower of the furnaces.

¹²Next to him, Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters, made repairs.

¹³Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the valley gate. They built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and one thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate.

¹⁴Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth Haccherem repaired the dung gate. He built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

¹⁵Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah repaired the spring gate. He built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden, even to the stairs that go down from the city of David.

¹⁶After him, Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs to the place opposite the tombs of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty men.

¹⁷After him, the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani made repairs. Next to him, Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.

¹⁸After him, their brothers, Bavvai the son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah made repairs.

¹⁹Next to him, Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, repaired another portion, across from the ascent to the armory at the turning of the wall.

²⁰After him, Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

²¹After him, Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.

²²After him, the priests, the men of the Plain made repairs.

²³After them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their house. After them, Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah made repairs beside his own house.

²⁴After him, Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another portion, from the house of Azariah to the turning of the wall, and to the corner.

²⁵Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the turning of the wall, and the tower that stands out from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs.

²⁶(Now the Nethinim lived in Ophel, to the place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stands out.)

²⁷After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, over against the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel.

²⁸Above the horse gate, the priests made repairs, everyone across from his own house.

²⁹After them, Zadok the son of Immer made repairs across from his own house. After him, Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate made repairs.

³⁰After him, Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another portion. After him, Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs across from his room.

³¹After him, Malchijah one of the goldsmiths to the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, made repairs over against the gate of Hammiphkad, and to the ascent of the corner.

³²Between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.

¹But it happened that when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.

²He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?"

³Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, "What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall."

⁴"Hear, our God; for we are despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity;

⁵do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders."

⁶So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height: for the people had a mind to work.

⁷But it happened that when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be filled, then they were very angry;

⁸and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion therein.

⁹But we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

¹⁰Judah said, "The strength of the bearers of burdens is fading, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall."

¹¹Our adversaries said, "They shall not know, neither see, until we come into their midst, and kill them, and cause the work to cease."

¹²It happened that when the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us."

¹³Therefore set I in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places, I set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

¹⁴I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, "Do not be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses."

¹⁵It happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, that we returned all of us to the wall, everyone to his work.

¹⁶It happened from that time forth, that half of my servants worked in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.

¹⁷They all built the wall and those who bore burdens loaded themselves; everyone with one of his hands worked in the work, and with the other held his weapon;

¹⁸and the builders, everyone wore his sword at his side, and so built. He who sounded the trumpet was by me.

¹⁹I said to the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, "The work is great and large, and we are separated on the wall, one far from another.

²⁰Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally there to us. Our God will fight for us."

²¹So we worked in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared.

²²Likewise at the same time said I to the people, "Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day."

²³So neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes. Everyone took his weapon to the water.

¹Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews.

²For there were that said, "We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain, that we may eat and live."

³Some also there were that said, "We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain, because of the famine."

⁴There were also some who said, "We have borrowed money for the king's tribute using our fields and our vineyards as collateral.

⁵Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Behold, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters have been brought into bondage. Neither is it in our power to help it; for other men have our fields and our vineyards."

⁶I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.

⁷Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, "You exact usury, everyone of his brother." I held a great assembly against them.

⁸I said to them, "We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us?" Then they held their peace, and found never a word.

⁹Also I said, "The thing that you do is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?

¹⁰I likewise, my brothers and my servants, lend them money and grain. Please let us stop this usury.

¹¹Please restore to them, even this day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that you are charging them."

¹²Then they said, "We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, even as you say." Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they would do according to this promise.

¹³Also I shook out my lap, and said, "So may God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that doesn't perform this promise; even thus be he shaken out, and emptied." All the assembly said, "Amen," and praised the Lord. The people did according to this promise.

¹⁴Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brothers have not eaten the bread of the governor.

¹⁵But the former governors who were before me were supported by the people, and took bread and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver; yes, even their servants ruled over the people: but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.

¹⁶Yes, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered there to the work.

¹⁷Moreover there were at my table, of the Jews and the rulers, one hundred fifty men, besides those who came to us from among the nations that were around us.

¹⁸Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this I did not demand the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy on this people.

¹⁹Remember to me, my God, for good, all that I have done for this people.

¹Now it happened, when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah, and to Geshem the Arabian, and to the rest of our enemies, that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though even to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates;)

²that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono." But they intended to harm me.

³I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work, so that I can't come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?"

⁴They sent to me four times after this sort; and I answered them the same way.

⁵Then Sanballat sent his servant to me the same way the fifth time with an open letter in his hand,

⁶in which was written, "It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel. Because of that, you are building the wall. You would be their king, according to these words.

⁷You have also appointed prophets to preach of you at Jerusalem, saying, 'There is a king in Judah!' Now it will be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together."

⁸Then I sent to him, saying, "There are no such things done as you say, but you imagine them out of your own heart."

⁹For they all would have made us afraid, saying, "Their hands will be weakened from the work, that it not be done. But now, strengthen my hands."

¹⁰I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home; and he said, "Let us meet together in God's house, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple; for they will come to kill you; yes, in the night will they come to kill you."

¹¹I said, "Should such a man as I flee? Who is there that, being such as I, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in."

¹²I discerned, and behold, God had not sent him; but he pronounced this prophecy against me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

¹³He hired so that I would be afraid, do so, and sin, and that they might have material for an unfavorable report, that they might taunt me.

¹⁴"Remember, my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear."

¹⁵So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days.

¹⁶It happened, when all our enemies heard of it, that all the nations that were about us were afraid, and were much cast down in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was worked of our God.

¹⁷Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them.

¹⁸For there were many in Judah sworn to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah; and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as wife.

¹⁹Also they spoke of his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.

¹Now it happened, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed,

²that I put my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the governor of the castle, in charge of Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.

³I said to them, "Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut the doors, and you bar them: and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, everyone in his watch, with everyone near his house."

⁴Now the city was wide and large; but the people were few therein, and the houses were not built.

⁵My God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written therein:

⁶These are the children of the province, who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, everyone to his city;

⁷who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

⁸The children of Parosh, two thousand one hundred seventy-two.

⁹The children of Shephatiah, three hundred seventy-two.

¹⁰The children of Arah, six hundred fifty-two.

¹¹The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred eighteen.

¹²The children of Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four.

¹³The children of Zattu, eight hundred forty-five.

¹⁴The children of Zaccai, seven hundred sixty.

¹⁵The children of Binnui, six hundred forty-eight.

¹⁶The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty-eight.

¹⁷The children of Azgad, two thousand three hundred twenty-two.

¹⁸The children of Adonikam, six hundred sixty-seven.

¹⁹The children of Bigvai, two thousand sixty-seven.

²⁰The children of Adin, six hundred fifty-five.

²¹The children of Ater, of Hezekiah, ninety-eight.

²²The children of Hashum, three hundred Twenty-eight.

²³The children of Bezai, three hundred twenty-four.

²⁴The children of Hariph, one hundred twelve.

²⁵The children of Gibeon, ninety-five.

²⁶The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, one hundred eighty-eight.

²⁷The men of Anathoth, one hundred twenty-eight.

²⁸The men of Beth Azmaveth, forty-two.

²⁹The men of Kiriath Jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred forty-three.

³⁰The men of Ramah and Geba, six hundred twenty-one.

³¹The men of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two.

³²The men of Bethel and Ai, a hundred twenty-three.

³³The men of the other Nebo, fifty-two.

³⁴The children of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four.

³⁵The children of Harim, three hundred twenty.

³⁶The children of Jericho, three hundred forty-five.

³⁷The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred twenty-one.

³⁸The children of Senaah, three thousand nine hundred thirty.

³⁹The priests: The children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy-three.

⁴⁰The children of Immer, one thousand fifty-two.

⁴¹The children of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred forty-seven.

⁴²The children of Harim, one thousand seventeen.

⁴³The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the children of Hodevah, seventy-four.

⁴⁴The singers: the children of Asaph, one hundred forty-eight.

⁴⁵The porters: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, one hundred thirty-eight.

⁴⁶The Nethinim: the children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,

⁴⁷the children of Keros, the children of Sia, the children of Padon,

⁴⁸the children of Lebana, the children of Hagaba, the children of Salmai,

⁴⁹the children of Hanan, the children of Giddel, the children of Gahar,

⁵⁰the children of Reaiah, the children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda,

⁵¹the children of Gazzam, the children of Uzza, the children of Paseah.

⁵²The children of Besai, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephushesim,

⁵³the children of Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur,

⁵⁴the children of Bazlith, the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha,

⁵⁵the children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Temah,

⁵⁶the children of Neziah, the children of Hatipha.

⁵⁷The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida,

⁵⁸the children of Jaala, the children of Darkon, the children of Giddel,

⁵⁹the children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth Hazzebaim, the children of Amon.

⁶⁰All the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon's servants, were three hundred ninety-two.

⁶¹These were those who went up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer; but they could not show their fathers' houses, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel:

⁶²The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred forty-two.

⁶³Of the priests: the children of Hobaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name.

⁶⁴These searched for their genealogical records, but couldn't find them. Therefore were they deemed polluted and put from the priesthood.

⁶⁵The governor said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, until there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁶The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred sixty,

⁶⁷besides their male servants and their female servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven: and they had two hundred forty-five singing men and singing women.

⁶⁸Their horses were seven hundred thirty-six; their mules, two hundred forty-five;

⁶⁹their camels, four hundred thirty-five; their donkeys, six thousand seven hundred twenty.

⁷⁰Some from among the heads of fathers' households gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury one thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, and five hundred thirty priests' garments.

⁷¹Some of the heads of fathers' households gave into the treasury of the work twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand two hundred minas of silver.

⁷²That which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand minas of silver, and sixty-seven priests' garments.

⁷³So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinim, and all Israel, lived in their cities. When the seventh month had come, the children of Israel were in their cities.