Study Desk

Meanwhile, the people of Judah said: "The strength of the laborer fails, and there is so much rubble that we will never be able to rebuild the wall."

So I stationed men behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows.

So we continued the work, while half of the men held spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.

At that time I also said to the people, "Let every man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day."

So neither I nor brothers nor my men nor the guards with me changed out of our clothes; each carried his weapon, even to go for water.

and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, "You are exacting usury from your own brothers!" So I called a large assembly against them

So I continued, "What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies?

"We will restore it," they replied, "and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say." So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised.

Each day, one ox, six choice sheep, and some fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine was provided. But I did not demand the food allotted to the governor, because the burden on the people was so heavy.

So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to go down to you?"

and you have even appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf: 'There is a king in Judah.' Soon these rumors will reach the ears of the king. So come, let us confer together."

He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would sin by doing as he suggested, so they could give me a bad name in order to discredit me.

So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul.

These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

So the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with some of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns. And by the seventh month the Israelites had settled in their towns.

So Ezra read it aloud from daybreak until noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate, in front of the men and women and those who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

So they read from the Book of the Law of God, explaining it and giving insight, so that the people could understand what was being read.

So they proclaimed this message and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the hill country and bring back branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written."

For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.