Nehemiah 3

The builders of the wall and its gates

¹Then Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests set to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place. They built and dedicated the wall as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel.

²Next to him the men of Jericho built, and next to them Zaccur son of Imri built.

³The people of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts and its bars.

⁴Next to them Meremoth son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, made repairs. Next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, son of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to him Zadok son of Baana made repairs.

⁵Next to them the men of Tekoa made repairs, but their nobles would not bow their necks to the work of their masters.^a

⁶Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah repaired the Jeshanah Gate. They laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts and its bars.^b

⁷Next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite made repairs. They were men of Gibeon and Mizpah, which were under the authority of the governor of the province Beyond the River.^c

⁸Next to him Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfume makers, made repairs. They restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.^d

⁹Next to them Rephaiah son of Hur, official over half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.

¹⁰Next to them Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs opposite his house, and next to him Hattush son of Hashabneiah made repairs. ¹¹Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-moab repaired another section, and the Tower of the Ovens.

¹²Next to him Shallum son of Hallohesh, official over the other half of the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.^e

¹³Hanun and the people of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and set up its doors, its bolts and its bars. They also repaired about 1,500 feet of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate. ¹⁴Malkijah son of Rechab, official over the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set up its doors, its bolts and its bars.

¹⁵Shallun son of Col-hozeh, official over the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it, roofed it, and set up its doors, its bolts and its bars. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the king’s garden, as far as the steps that go down from the City of David.

The work along the east side of the city

¹⁶After him Nehemiah son of Azbuk, official over half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs as far as a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the man-made pool and the house of the warriors.

¹⁷After him the Levites made repairs, under Rehum son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, official over half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.

¹⁸After him their fellow Levites made repairs, under Bavvai son of Henadad, official over the other half of the district of Keilah.

¹⁹Next to him Ezer son of Jeshua, official of Mizpah, repaired another section, from a point opposite the way up to the armory, at the Angle.

²⁰After him Baruch son of Zaccai eagerly repaired another section, from the Angle as far as the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.^f

²¹After him Meremoth son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the door of Eliashib’s house to the end of his house.

²²After him the priests from the surrounding region made repairs. ²³After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house, and after them Azariah son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his own house.

²⁴After him Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the Angle and to the corner. ²⁵Palal son of Uzai made repairs opposite the Angle and the tower that projects from the upper palace of the king, at the courtyard of the guard. After him Pedaiah son of Parosh made repairs

²⁶(the temple servants were living on the Ophel) as far as a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower.^g

²⁷After them the men of Tekoa repaired another section, from a point opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of the Ophel. ²⁸Above the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each one opposite his own house.

²⁹After them Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his own house, and after him Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs.

³⁰After him Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After them Meshullam son of Berekiah made repairs opposite his living quarters.

³¹After him Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the upper room at the corner. ³²Between the upper room at the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.

Sanballat and Tobiah mock the builders

³³When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and very angry, and he mocked the Jews.^{h 34}He spoke in front of his associates and the army of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life out of the heaps of rubble, burned as they are?”^{i 35}Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Even what they are building, if a fox climbed up on it, it would break down their stone wall!”

³⁶Hear, our God, for we are despised! Turn their insults back on their own heads, and let them be plundered in a land where they are captives. ³⁷Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in front of the builders.^{j 38}So we built the wall, and the whole wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.