Nehemiah 5-7

Nehemiah Stops Oppression of the Poor

5 Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. ² For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.” ³ There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” ⁴ And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. ⁵ Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

⁶ I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. ⁷ I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, “You are exacting interest, each from his brother.” And I held a great assembly against them ⁸ and said to them, “We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say. ⁹ So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? ¹⁰ Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. ¹¹ Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” ¹² Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised. ¹³ I also shook out the fold^[a] of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

Nehemiah’s Generosity

¹⁴ Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. ¹⁵ The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration^[b] forty shekels^[c] of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. ¹⁶ I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. ¹⁷ Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. ¹⁸ Now what was prepared at my expense^[d] for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people. ¹⁹ Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.

Conspiracy Against Nehemiah

6 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), ² Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. ³ And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” ⁴ And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. ⁵ In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. ⁶ In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem^[e] also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. ⁷ And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” ⁸ Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” ⁹ For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God,^[f] strengthen my hands.

¹⁰ Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” ¹¹ But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live?^[g] I will not go in.” ¹² And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. ¹³ For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. ¹⁴ Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

The Wall Is Finished

¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶ And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. ¹⁷ Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. ¹⁸ For many in Judah were bound by oath 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 his wife. ¹⁹ Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.

7 Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, ² I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. ³ And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” ⁴ The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.

Lists of Returned Exiles

⁵ Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written in it:

⁶ These were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town. ⁷ They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: ⁸ the sons of Parosh, 2,172. ⁹ The sons of Shephatiah, 372. ¹⁰ The sons of Arah, 652. ¹¹ The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818. ¹² The sons of Elam, 1,254. ¹³ The sons of Zattu, 845. ¹⁴ The sons of Zaccai, 760. ¹⁵ The sons of Binnui, 648. ¹⁶ The sons of Bebai, 628. ¹⁷ The sons of Azgad, 2,322. ¹⁸ The sons of Adonikam, 667. ¹⁹ The sons of Bigvai, 2,067. ²⁰ The sons of Adin, 655. ²¹ The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. ²² The sons of Hashum, 328. ²³ The sons of Bezai, 324. ²⁴ The sons of Hariph, 112. ²⁵ The sons of Gibeon, 95. ²⁶ The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188. ²⁷ The men of Anathoth, 128. ²⁸ The men of Beth-azmaveth, 42. ²⁹ The men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. ³⁰ The men of Ramah and Geba, 621. ³¹ The men of Michmas, 122. ³² The men of Bethel and Ai, 123. ³³ The men of the other Nebo, 52. ³⁴ The sons of the other Elam, 1,254. ³⁵ The sons of Harim, 320. ³⁶ The sons of Jericho, 345. ³⁷ The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721. ³⁸ The sons of Senaah, 3,930.

³⁹ The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, 973. ⁴⁰ The sons of Immer, 1,052. ⁴¹ The sons of Pashhur, 1,247. ⁴² The sons of Harim, 1,017.

⁴³ The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the sons of Hodevah, 74. ⁴⁴ The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148. ⁴⁵ The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138.

⁴⁶ The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, ⁴⁷ the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon, ⁴⁸ the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Shalmai, ⁴⁹ the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, ⁵⁰ the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, ⁵¹ the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, ⁵² the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephushesim, ⁵³ the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, ⁵⁴ the sons of Bazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, ⁵⁵ the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, ⁵⁶ the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha.

⁵⁷ The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida, ⁵⁸ the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, ⁵⁹ the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Amon.

⁶⁰ All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392.

⁶¹ The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove their fathers’ houses nor their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: ⁶² the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642. ⁶³ Also, of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name). ⁶⁴ These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. ⁶⁵ The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food until a priest with Urim and Thummim should arise.

Totals of People and Gifts

⁶⁶ The whole assembly together was 42,360, ⁶⁷ besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female. ⁶⁸ Their horses were 736, their mules 245,^{[h] 69} their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720.

⁷⁰ Now some of the heads of fathers’ houses gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics^[i] of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests’ garments and 500 minas^[j] of silver.^{[k] 71} And some of the heads of fathers’ houses gave into the treasury of the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver. ⁷² And what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests’ garments.

⁷³ So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their towns.

And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.

Footnotes

1. Nehemiah 5:13 Hebrew bosom
2. Nehemiah 5:15 Compare Vulgate; Hebrew took from them for food and wine after
3. Nehemiah 5:15 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
4. Nehemiah 5:18 Or prepared for me
5. Nehemiah 6:6 Hebrew Gashmu
6. Nehemiah 6:9 Hebrew lacks O God
7. Nehemiah 6:11 Or would go into the temple to save his life
8. Nehemiah 7:68 Compare Ezra 2:66 and the margins of some Hebrew manuscripts; Hebrew lacks Their horses… 245
9. Nehemiah 7:70 A daric was a coin weighing about 1/4 ounce or 8.5 grams
10. Nehemiah 7:70 A mina was about 1 1/4 pounds or 0.6 kilogram
11. Nehemiah 7:70 Probable reading; Hebrew lacks minas of silver

Nehemiah Deals with Oppression

5 And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren. ² 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.”

³ There were also some who said, “We have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses, that we might buy grain because of the famine.”

⁴ There were also those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our lands and vineyards. ⁵ 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.”

⁶ And I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. ⁷ After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, “Each of you is ^[a]exacting usury from his brother.” So I ^[b]called a great assembly against them. ⁸ 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. ⁹ 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? ¹⁰ I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please, let us stop this ^[c]usury! ¹¹ 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.”

¹² 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. ¹³ Then I shook out ^[d]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.

The Generosity of Nehemiah

¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ Indeed, I also continued the work on this wall, and ^[e]we did not buy any land. All my servants were gathered there for the work.

¹⁷ And at my table were one hundred and fifty Jews and rulers, besides those who came to us from the nations around us. ¹⁸ 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.

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

Conspiracy Against Nehemiah

6 Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, ^[f]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), ² that Sanballat and ^[g]Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together ^[h]among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm.

³ So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

⁴ But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.

⁵ Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. ⁶ In it was written:

It is reported among the nations, and ^[i]Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. ⁷ And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, “There is a king in Judah!” Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together.

⁸ Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.”

⁹ For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.”

Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

¹⁰ Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the ^[j]temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.”

¹¹ And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” ¹² Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. ¹³ For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

¹⁴ My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

The Wall Completed

¹⁵ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. ¹⁶ And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.

¹⁷ Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. ¹⁸ For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. ¹⁹ Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my ^[k]words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.

List of Returning Exiles

7 Then it was, when the wall was built and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, ² that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the leader of the ^[l]citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.

³ And I 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 and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house.”

The Captives Who Returned to Jerusalem

⁴ Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt. ⁵ Then my God put it into my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people, that they might be registered by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of those who had come up in the first return, and found written in it:

⁶ These are the people of the province who came back from the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city.

⁷ Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, ^[m]Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, ^[n]Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: ⁸ the sons of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two;

⁹ the sons of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two;

¹⁰ the sons of Arah, six hundred and fifty-two;

¹¹ the sons of Pahath-Moab, of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and eighteen;

¹² the sons of Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four;

¹³ the sons of Zattu, eight hundred and forty-five;

¹⁴ the sons of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty;

¹⁵ the sons of ^[o]Binnui, six hundred and forty-eight;

¹⁶ the sons of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-eight;

¹⁷ the sons of Azgad, two thousand three hundred and twenty-two;

¹⁸ the sons of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-seven;

¹⁹ the sons of Bigvai, two thousand and sixty-seven;

²⁰ the sons of Adin, six hundred and fifty-five;

²¹ the sons of Ater of Hezekiah, ninety-eight;

²² the sons of Hashum, three hundred and twenty-eight;

²³ the sons of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-four;

²⁴ the sons of ^[p]Hariph, one hundred and twelve;

²⁵ the sons of ^[q]Gibeon, ninety-five;

²⁶ the men of Bethlehem and Netophah, one hundred and eighty-eight;

²⁷ the men of Anathoth, one hundred and twenty-eight;

²⁸ the men of ^[r]Beth Azmaveth, forty-two;

²⁹ the men of ^[s]Kirjath Jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three;

³⁰ the men of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one;

³¹ the men of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two;

³² the men of Bethel and Ai, one hundred and twenty-three;

³³ the men of the other Nebo, fifty-two;

³⁴ the sons of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four;

³⁵ the sons of Harim, three hundred and twenty;

³⁶ the sons of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five;

³⁷ the sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-one;

³⁸ the sons of Senaah, three thousand nine hundred and thirty.

³⁹ The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three;

⁴⁰ the sons of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two;

⁴¹ the sons of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven;

⁴² the sons of Harim, one thousand and seventeen.

⁴³ The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, of Kadmiel,

and of the sons of ^[t]Hodevah, seventy-four.

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

⁴⁵ The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum,

the sons of Ater,

the sons of Talmon,

the sons of Akkub,

the sons of Hatita,

the sons of Shobai, one hundred and thirty-eight.

⁴⁶ The Nethinim: the sons of Ziha,

the sons of Hasupha,

the sons of Tabbaoth,

⁴⁷ the sons of Keros,

the sons of ^[u]Sia,

the sons of Padon,

⁴⁸ the sons of ^[v]Lebana,

the sons of ^[w]Hagaba,

the sons of ^[x]Salmai,

⁴⁹ the sons of Hanan,

the sons of Giddel,

the sons of Gahar,

⁵⁰ the sons of Reaiah,

the sons of Rezin,

the sons of Nekoda,

⁵¹ the sons of Gazzam,

the sons of Uzza,

the sons of Paseah,

⁵² the sons of Besai,

the sons of Meunim,

the sons of ^[y]Nephishesim,

⁵³ the sons of Bakbuk,

the sons of Hakupha,

the sons of Harhur,

⁵⁴ the sons of ^[z]Bazlith,

the sons of Mehida,

the sons of Harsha,

⁵⁵ the sons of Barkos,

the sons of Sisera,

the sons of Tamah,

⁵⁶ the sons of Neziah,

and the sons of Hatipha.

⁵⁷ The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai,

the sons of Sophereth,

the sons of ^[aa]Perida,

⁵⁸ the sons of Jaala,

the sons of Darkon,

the sons of Giddel,

⁵⁹ the sons of Shephatiah,

the sons of Hattil,

the sons of Pochereth of Zebaim,

and the sons of ^[ab]Amon.

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

⁶¹ And these were the ones who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, ^[ac]Addon, and Immer, but they could not identify their father’s house nor their lineage, whether they were of Israel: ⁶² the sons of Delaiah,

the sons of Tobiah,

the sons of Nekoda, six hundred and forty-two;

⁶³ and of the priests: the sons of Habaiah,

the sons of ^[ad]Koz,

the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name.

⁶⁴ These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but it was not found; therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled. ⁶⁵ And the ^[ae]governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things till a priest could consult with the Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁶ Altogether the whole assembly was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, ⁶⁷ besides their male and female servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five men and women singers. ⁶⁸ Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules two hundred and forty-five, ⁶⁹ their camels four hundred and thirty-five, and donkeys six thousand seven hundred and twenty.

⁷⁰ And some of the heads of the fathers’ houses gave to the work. The ^[af]governor gave to the treasury one thousand gold drachmas, fifty basins, and five hundred and thirty priestly garments. ⁷¹ Some of the heads of the fathers’ houses gave to the treasury of the work twenty thousand gold drachmas, and two thousand two hundred silver minas. ⁷² And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand gold drachmas, two thousand silver minas, and sixty-seven priestly garments.

⁷³ So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the Nethinim, and all Israel dwelt in their cities.

Ezra Reads the Law

When the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities.

Footnotes

1. Nehemiah 5:7 charging interest
2. Nehemiah 5:7 Lit. held
3. Nehemiah 5:10 interest
4. Nehemiah 5:13 Lit. my lap
5. Nehemiah 5:16 So with MT; LXX, Syr., Vg. I
6. Nehemiah 6:1 Or Gashmu
7. Nehemiah 6:2 Or Gashmu
8. Nehemiah 6:2 Or in Kephirim, exact location unknown
9. Nehemiah 6:6 Heb. Gashmu
10. Nehemiah 6:10 Lit. house
11. Nehemiah 6:19 Or affairs
12. Nehemiah 7:2 palace
13. Nehemiah 7:7 Seraiah, Ezra 2:2
14. Nehemiah 7:7 Mispar, Ezra 2:2
15. Nehemiah 7:15 Bani, Ezra 2:10
16. Nehemiah 7:24 Jorah, Ezra 2:18
17. Nehemiah 7:25 Gibbar, Ezra 2:20
18. Nehemiah 7:28 Azmaveth, Ezra 2:24
19. Nehemiah 7:29 Kirjath Arim, Ezra 2:25
20. Nehemiah 7:43 Hodaviah, Ezra 2:40; or Judah, Ezra 3:9
21. Nehemiah 7:47 Siaha, Ezra 2:44
22. Nehemiah 7:48 MT Lebanah
23. Nehemiah 7:48 MT Hogabah
24. Nehemiah 7:48 Shalmai, Ezra 2:46; or Shamlai
25. Nehemiah 7:52 Nephusim, Ezra 2:50
26. Nehemiah 7:54 Bazluth, Ezra 2:52
27. Nehemiah 7:57 Peruda, Ezra 2:55
28. Nehemiah 7:59 Ami, Ezra 2:57
29. Nehemiah 7:61 Addan, Ezra 2:59
30. Nehemiah 7:63 Or Hakkoz
31. Nehemiah 7:65 Heb. Tirshatha
32. Nehemiah 7:70 Heb. Tirshatha