Study Desk

But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the men from Ashdod were very angry. They heard that the people continued working on the walls of Jerusalem. They heard the people were repairing the holes in the wall.

But we prayed to our God. And we put guards on the walls to watch day and night so that we could be ready to meet them.

And still other people were saying, "We have to pay the king's tax on our fields and vineyards. But we cannot afford to pay, so we are borrowing money to pay the tax.

We are as good as the others. Our sons are as good as their sons. But we will have to sell our sons and daughters as slaves. Some of us have already had to sell our daughters as slaves. There is nothing we can do. We have already lost our fields and vineyards. Other people own them now."

My men, my brothers, and I are also lending money and grain to the people. But let's stop forcing them to pay interest on these loans.

But the governors who ruled before me made life hard for the people. The governors forced everyone to pay 1 pound of silver. They also made the people give them food and wine. The leaders under these governors also ruled over the people and made life even harder. But I respected and feared God, so I didn't do things like that.

Every day I prepared this much food for the people who ate at my table: one ox, six good sheep, and different kinds of birds. Every ten days all kinds of wine were brought to my table. But I never demanded that they give me the food that was allowed for the governor. I knew that the work the people were doing was very hard.

Then Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and our other enemies heard that I had built the wall. We repaired all the holes in the wall, but we had not yet put the doors in the gates.

So Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: "Come, Nehemiah, let's meet together. We can meet in the town of Kephirim on the plain of Ono." But they were planning to hurt me.

Our enemies were only trying to make us afraid. They are thinking to themselves, "The Jews will be afraid and too weak to keep on working. Then the wall will not be finished." But I prayed, "God, make me strong."

But I said to Shemaiah, "Should a man like me run away? You know that an ordinary man like me cannot go into the Holy Place without being put to death. I will not go!"

Now the city was large and there was plenty of room. But there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt.

Some people came to Jerusalem from these towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer. But these people could not prove that their families really came from the Israelites:

These people searched for their family histories, but they could not find them. They could not prove that their ancestors were priests, so they could not serve as priests. Their names were not included in the list of priests.

You saw he was true and loyal to you, and you made an agreement with him. You promised to give him the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites. But you promised to give that land to Abraham's descendants. And you kept your promise because you are good.

You showed the miracles to Pharaoh. You did amazing things to his officials and his people. You knew that the Egyptians thought they were better than our ancestors. But you proved how great you are, and they remember that even today.

You split the Red Sea in front of them, and they walked through on dry land. The Egyptian soldiers were chasing them, but you threw that enemy into the sea. And they sank like a rock into the sea.

But our ancestors became proud and stubborn. They refused to obey your commands.

They refused to listen. They forgot the amazing things you did with them. They became stubborn. They decided to return to Egypt and become slaves again. "But you are a forgiving God! You are kind and full of mercy. You are patient and full of love. So you didn't leave them!

And then they turned against you. They threw away your teachings. They killed your prophets. Those prophets warned the people. They tried to bring them back to you. But our ancestors said terrible things against you.