Nehemia 2:2

2:2 So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.

Nehemia 4:6

4:6 So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. ¹  The people were enthusiastic in their work. ² 

Nehemia 8:11

8:11 Then the Levites quieted all the people saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy. Do not grieve.”

Nehemia 6:8

6:8 I sent word back to him, “We are not engaged in these activities you are describing. ³  All of this is a figment of your imagination.” ⁴ 

Nehemia 4:5

4:5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not wipe out their sin from before them. For they have bitterly offended ⁵  the builders! ⁶ 

Nehemia 4:1

Opposition to the Work Continues

4:1 (3:33) ⁷  Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was quite upset. He derided the Jews,

Nehemia 5:7

5:7 I considered these things carefully ⁸  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ⁹  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ¹⁰  from your own countrymen!” ¹¹  Because of them I called for ¹²  a great public assembly.

Nehemia 6:16

6:16 When all our enemies heard and all the nations who were around us saw ¹³  this, they were greatly disheartened. ¹⁴  They knew that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

Nehemia 9:8

9:8 When you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a ¹⁵  covenant with him to give his descendants ¹⁶  the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. You have fulfilled your promise, ¹⁷  for you are righteous.

Nehemia 2:18

2:18 Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what ¹⁸  the king had said to me. Then they replied, “Let’s begin rebuilding right away!” ¹⁹  So they readied themselves ²⁰  for this good project.

Nehemia 8:10

8:10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. ²¹  Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Nehemia 4:4

4:4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile!

Nehemia 11:2

11:2 The people gave their blessing on all the men who volunteered to settle in Jerusalem.

Nehemia 2:12

2:12 I got up during the night, along with a few men who were with me. But I did not tell anyone what my God was putting on my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no animals with me, except for the one ²²  I was riding.

Nehemia 2:4

2:4 The king responded, ²³  “What is it you are seeking?” Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven

Nehemia 9:16

9:16 “But they – our ancestors ²⁴  – behaved presumptuously; they rebelled ²⁵  and did not obey your commandments.

Nehemia 9:37

9:37 Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, ²⁶  and we are in great distress!

Nehemia 13:8

13:8 I was very upset, and I threw all of Tobiah’s household possessions out of the storeroom.

Nehemia 1:4

1:4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, ²⁷  crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Nehemia 8:3

8:3 So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon ²⁸  before the men and women and those children who could understand. ²⁹  All the people were eager to hear ³⁰  the book of the law.

Nehemia 7:5

7:5 My God placed it on my heart to gather the leaders, ³¹  the officials, and the ordinary people so they could be enrolled on the basis of genealogy. I found the genealogical records ³²  of those who had formerly returned. Here is what I found written in that record: ³³ 

Nehemia 9:29

9:29 And you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and did not obey your commandments. They sinned against your ordinances – those by which an individual, if he obeys them, ³⁴  will live. They boldly turned from you; ³⁵  they rebelled ³⁶  and did not obey.

Nehemia 12:43

12:43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard from far away.

Nehemia 2:11

Nehemiah Arrives in Jerusalem

2:11 So I came to Jerusalem. ³⁷  When I had been there for three days,

Nehemia 1:11

1:11 Please, ³⁸  O Lord, listen attentively ³⁹  to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take pleasure in showing respect ⁴⁰  to your name. Grant your servant success today and show compassion to me ⁴¹  in the presence of this man.”

Now ⁴²  I was cupbearer for the king.

Nehemia 9:24

9:24 Their descendants ⁴³  entered and possessed the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites who were the inhabitants of the land. You delivered them into their hand, together with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with as they pleased.

Nehemia 2:10

2:10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official ⁴⁴  heard all this, they were very displeased that someone had come to seek benefit for the Israelites.

Nehemia 6:12

6:12 I recognized the fact that God had not sent him, for he had spoken the prophecy against me as a hired agent of Tobiah and Sanballat. ⁴⁵ 

Nehemia 9:34

9:34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law. They have not paid attention to your commandments or your testimonies by which you have solemnly admonished them.

Nehemia 2:8

2:8 and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s nature preserve, ⁴⁶  so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall ⁴⁷  and for the house to which I go.” So the king granted me these requests, ⁴⁸  for the good hand of my God was on me.

Nehemia 9:17

9:17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. ⁴⁹  But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. ⁵⁰  You did not abandon them,

Nehemia 10:29

10:29 hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders ⁵¹  and enter into a curse and an oath ⁵²  to adhere to ⁵³  the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey ⁵⁴  carefully all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, ⁵⁵  along with his ordinances and his statutes.

Nehemia 12:27

The Wall of Jerusalem is Dedicated

12:27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, ⁵⁶  they sought out the Levites from all the places they lived ⁵⁷  to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication joyfully with songs of thanksgiving and songs accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.

Nehemia 8:1

8:1 all the people gathered together ⁵⁸  in the plaza which was in front of the Water Gate. They asked ⁵⁹  Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had commanded Israel.

Nehemia 9:25

9:25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things – wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full ⁶⁰  and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness.

[4:6]  ¹ tn Heb “up to its half.”

[4:6]  ² tn Heb “the people had a heart to work.”

[6:8]  ³ tn Heb “We are not according to these matters that you are saying.”

[6:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “For from your heart you are inventing them.”

[4:5]  ⁵ tn The Hiphil stem of כָּעַס (ka’as) may mean: (1) “to provoke to anger”; (2) “to bitterly offend”; or (3) “to grieve” (BDB 495 s.v. Hiph.; HALOT 491 s.v. כעס hif). The Hebrew lexicons suggest that “bitterly offend” is the most appropriate nuance here.

[4:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “before the builders.” The preposition נֶגֶד (neged, “before”) here connotes “in the sight of” or “in the view of” (BDB 617 s.v. 1.a; HALOT 666 s.v. 1.a).

[4:1]  ⁷ sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:23 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:33 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:34 HT, 4:3 ET = 3:35 HT, 4:4 ET = 3:36 HT, 4:5 ET = 3:37 HT, 4:6 ET = 3:38 HT, 4:7 ET = 4:1 HT, etc., through 4:23 ET = 4:17 HT. Thus in the Hebrew Bible chap. 3 of the Book of Nehemiah has 38 verses, while chap. 4 has only 17 verses.

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

[5:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “nobles.”

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (masha’) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (masha’ah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew MSS; however, the result is not entirely clear: “you are bearing a burden, a man with his brothers.”

[5:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[5:7]  ¹² tn Heb “I gave.”

[6:16]  ¹³ tc The MT understands the root here to be יָרֵא (yare’, “to fear”) rather than רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”).

[6:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they greatly fell [i.e., were cast down] in their own eyes.” Some scholars suggest emending the reading of the MT, וַיִּפְּלוּ (vayyipÿlu) to וַיִּפָּלֵא (vayyippale’, “it was very extraordinary in their eyes”).

[9:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the” (so NAB).

[9:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “seed.”

[9:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your words.”

[2:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the words of the king which he had spoken to me.”

[2:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Arise! Let us rebuild!”

[2:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “strengthened their hands.”

[8:10]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[2:12]  ²² tn Heb “the animal.”

[2:4]  ²³ tn Heb “said to me.”

[9:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and our fathers.” The vav is explicative.

[9:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they stiffened their neck” (so also in the following verse).

[9:37]  ²⁶ tn Heb “according to their desire.”

[1:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “sat down.” Context suggests that this was a rather sudden action, resulting from the emotional shock of the unpleasant news, so “abruptly” has been supplied in the present translation.

[8:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from the light till the noon of the day.”

[8:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “all who could hear with understanding.” The word “children” is understood to be implied here by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, TEV, NLT).

[8:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the ears of all the people were toward.”

[7:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “nobles”; NCV “important men.”

[7:5]  ³² tn Heb “the book of genealogy.”

[7:5]  ³³ tn Heb “in it”; the referent (the genealogical record) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:29]  ³⁴ tn Heb “if a man keep.” See note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

[9:29]  ³⁵ tn Heb “they gave a stubborn shoulder.”

[9:29]  ³⁶ tn Heb “they stiffened their neck.”

[2:11]  ³⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:11]  ³⁸ tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).

[1:11]  ³⁹ tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”

[1:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “fear.”

[1:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.

[1:11]  ⁴² tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.

[9:24]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the sons.”

[2:10]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “servant” (so KJV, ASV; NAB “slave”; NCV “officer.” This phrase also occurs in v. 19.

[6:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.”

[2:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “forest.” So HALOT 963 s.v. פַּרְדֵּס 2.

[2:8]  ⁴⁷ tc One medieval Hebrew MS, the Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate, and the Arabic read here the plural וּלְחוֹמוֹת (ulÿkhomot, “walls”) against the singular וּלְחוֹמַת (ulÿkhomat) in the MT. The plural holem vav (וֹ) might have dropped out due to dittography or the plural form might have been written defectively.

[2:8]  ⁴⁸ tn The Hebrew text does not include the expression “these requests,” but it is implied.

[9:17]  ⁴⁹ tc The present translation follows a few medieval Hebrew MSS and the LXX in reading בְּמִצְרָיִם (bÿmitsrayim, “in Egypt”; so also NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT) rather than the MT reading בְּמִרְיָם (bÿmiryam, “in their rebellion”).

[9:17]  ⁵⁰ tc The translation follows the Qere reading חֶסֶד (khesed, “loyal love”) rather than the Kethib reading וְחֶסֶד (vÿkhesed, “and loyal love”) of the MT.

[10:29]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the nobles.”

[10:29]  ⁵² tn The expression “a curse and an oath” may be a hendiadys, meaning “an oath with penalties.”

[10:29]  ⁵³ tn Heb “to walk in.”

[10:29]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

[10:29]  ⁵⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[12:27]  ⁵⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[12:27]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “from all their places.” The words “they lived” are implied.

[8:1]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “like one man.”

[8:1]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “said [to].”

[9:25]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “they ate and were sated.” This expression is a hendiadys. The first verb retains its full verbal sense, while the second functions adverbially: “they ate and were filled” = “they ate until they were full.”