When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.”
But I said, “Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”
Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me.
So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.
When all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.
Also in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.
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 married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.
Now when the wall was rebuilt and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed,
then I put Hanani my brother, and Hananiah the commander of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.
Then I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot, and while they are standing guard, let them shut and bolt the doors. Also appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each at his post, and each in front of his own house.”
Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few and the houses were not built.
Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogies. Then I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up first in which I found the following record:
These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city,
who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of men of the people of Israel:
the sons of Parosh, 2,172;
the sons of Shephatiah, 372;
the sons of Arah, 652;
the sons of Pahath-moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818;
the sons of Elam, 1,254;
the sons of Zattu, 845;
the sons of Zaccai, 760;
the sons of Binnui, 648;
the sons of Bebai, 628;
the sons of Azgad, 2,322;
the sons of Adonikam, 667;
the sons of Bigvai, 2,067;
the sons of Adin, 655;
the sons of Ater, of Hezekiah, 98;
the sons of Hashum, 328;
the sons of Bezai, 324;
the sons of Hariph, 112;
the sons of Gibeon, 95;
the men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188;
the men of Anathoth, 128;
the men of Beth-azmaveth, 42;
the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah and Beeroth, 743;
the men of Ramah and Geba, 621;
the men of Michmas, 122;
the men of Bethel and Ai, 123;
the men of the other Nebo, 52;
the sons of the other Elam, 1,254;
the sons of Harim, 320;
the men of Jericho, 345;
the sons of Lod, Hadid and Ono, 721;
the sons of Senaah, 3,930.
The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973;
the sons of Immer, 1,052;
the sons of Pashhur, 1,247;
the sons of Harim, 1,017.
The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodevah, 74.
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