Study Desk

let yi eares marke, & let thine eies be open, yt thou mayest heare the prayer of yi seruaunt, which I praye now before ye daye and nighte for the children of Israel thy seruauntes, & knowlege the synnes of the children of Israel, which we haue commytted agaynst the. And I & my fathers house haue synned also.

But yf ye turne vnto me, and kepe my commaundementes & do them: though ye were cast out vnto the vttemost parte of heauen yet wyl I gather you from thence, and wyll brynge you from thence, eue vnto the place, that I haue chosen for my name to dwell there.

O LORDE, let thine eares marke the prayer of thy seruaunt, & the prayer of thy seruauntes, whose desyre is to feare thy name, & let thy seruaunt prospere this daye, & graunte him mercy in the sight of this man: for I was the kynges butlar.

& sayde vnto the kynge: God saue the kynges life for euer, shulde I not loke sadly? the cite of my fathers buryall lyeth wayest, & the portes therof are consumed wt the fyre.

& letters vnto Assaph the lorde of the kynges wod, yt he maye geue me wodd for balkes to the gates of the palace, which are harde on the house & harde on the walles of the cite, & for the house that I shal entre in to. And ye kynge gaue me acordinge to the good hande of God vpo me.

I gat me vp in ye night season, & a fewe men with me: for I tolde no man what God had geue me in my hert to do at Ierusalem: & there was not one beest wt me, saue it yt I rode vpon.

And I wente ouer vnto ye Well porte, & to the kynges condyte, & there was no rowme for my beest, yt it coulde go vnder me.

And ye rulers knewe not whither I wete, or what I dyd: for hither to had I not tolde the Iewes & the prestes, the councelers & the rulers, & the other yt laboured in the worke,

Then answered I them, and sayde: The God of heauen shal cause vs to prospere: for we his seruauntes are gotten vp, & are buyldinge. As for you, ye haue no porcio ner right, ner remembraunce in Ierusale.

Nexte vnto them buylded Melacia of Gibeon, and Iadon of Morono, me of Gibeon and of Mispa, for the seate of the Debyte on this syde the water.

(As for ye Nethinims they dwelt in Ophel, vnto ye Watergate, towarde the east where ye tower lieth out)

Couer not their wickednesse, & put not out their sinne fro yi presence: for they haue prouoked the buylders.

& loked, and gat me vp, and sayde vnto the chefe men and rulers, & to the other people: Be not ye afrayed of them, thynke vpon ye greate LORDE which ought to be feared, & fighte for yor brethren, sonnes, daughters, wyues, & houses.

Loke in what place now ye heare the noise of ye trompe, resorte ye thither vnto vs. Oure God shal fight for vs,

As for me and my brethren, & my seruauntes, and ye men of the watch behynde me, we put neuer of oure clothes, so so moch as to washe oure selues.

And there were some yt sayde: oure sonnes and doughters are to many, let vs take corne for the, & eate, that we maye lyue.

But some saide: Let vs borowe money of the kinge vpo vsury for oure londes and vynyardes.

I and my brethre, and my seruauntes haue lent them money and corne: but as for vsury, let vs leaue it.

For the olde Debytes that were before me, had bene chargeable vnto the people, and had take of the bred and wyne, and fortye Sycles of syluer: Yee and their seruauntes had oppressed the people. But so dyd not I, and that because of the feare of God.

And there was prepared me daylie an oxe, and sixe chosen shepe, and byrdes, and euer once in ten dayes a greate summe of wyne. Yet requyred not I the lyuynge of a Debyte for ye bondage was greuous vnto ye people.