Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Nehemiah, chapters 3 through 5. Chapter 3 Then
Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren
the priests and built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated
it and hung its doors. They built as far as the
Tower of the Hundred and consecrated it, then
as far as the Tower of Hananel. Next Eliashib
the men of Jericho built. And next to them, Zakur,
the son of Imri, built. Also the sons of Hasena
built the fish gate. They laid its beams and
hung its doors with its bolts and bars. And next
to them, Meramat, the son of Urija, the son of
Koz, made repairs. Next to them, Mishulam, the
son of Berakiah, the son of Mishizabel, made
repairs. Next to them, Zadok, the son of Bana,
made repairs. Next to them, the Tikhwaites made
repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders
to the work of their lord. Moreover, Jehoiada
the son of Passaea and Mishulam the son of Besudeia
repaired the old gate. They laid its beams and
hung its doors with its bolts and bars. And next
to them, Melatia the Gibeonite, Jadon the Mironotite,
the men of Gibeon and Mispa repaired the residence
of the governor of the region beyond the river.
Next to him, Uziel the son of Haraia. One of
the goldsmiths made repairs. Also next to him,
Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs.
And they fortified Jerusalem as far as the broad
wall. And next to them, Rephiah, the son of Hur,
leader of half the district of Jerusalem, made
repairs. Next to them, Jediah, the son of Harumah,
made repairs in front of his house. And next
to him, Hattush, the son of Hashabniah, made
repairs. Malkijah, the son of Harim, and Hashub,
the son of Pahat Moab. repaired another section,
as well as the tower of the ovens. And next to
him was Shalom, the son of Halohesh, leader of
half the district of Jerusalem. He and his daughters
made repairs. Hanun and the inhabitants of Zenoa
repaired the valley gate. They built it, hung
its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired
a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the refuge
gate. Malkijah, the son of Rekab, leader of the
district of Beit Hakaram, repaired the refuge
gate. He built it and hung its doors with its
bolts and bars. Shaloun, the son of Kolhose,
leader of the district of Mizpah, repaired the
fountain gate. He built it, covered it, hung
its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired
the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's
garden, as far as the stairs that go down from
the city of David. After him, Nehemiah, the son
of Azbuk, leader of half the district of Beit
Zur, made repairs as far as the place in front
of the tombs of David. to the man -made pool,
and as far as the house of the mighty. After
him, the Levites, under Rehum, the son of Bani,
made repairs. Next to him, Hashabiah, leader
of half the district of Keilah, made repairs
for his district. After him, their brethren,
under Bavai, the son of Hinnadad, leader of the
other half of the district of Keilah, made repairs.
And next to him, Ezer, the son of Jeshua, the
leader of Mizpah, repaired another section in
front of the ascent to the armory. at the buttress.
After him Baruch the son of Zebei carefully repaired
the other section from the buttress to the door
of the house of Eliashib the high priest. After
him Merimoth the son of Orisha the son of Koz
repaired another section from the door of the
house of Eliashib to the end of the house of
Eliashib. And after him the priests the men of
the plain made repairs. After him, Benjamin and
Heshub made repairs opposite their house. After
them, Azariah the son of Massiah the son of Ananiah
made repairs by his house. After him, Binwi the
son of Hinnadad repaired another section from
the house of Azariah to the buttress, even as
far as the corner. Palal the son of Uzziah made
repairs opposite the buttress and on the tower
which projects from the king's upper house that
was by the court of the prison. After him, Pediah
the son of Parosh, made repairs. Moreover, the
Nethinim, who dwelt in Ophel, made repairs as
far as the place in front of the water gate,
toward the east, and on the projecting tower.
After them, the Tikhwites repaired another section,
next to the great projecting tower, and as far
as the wall of Ophel. Beyond the horse gate,
the priests made repairs, each in front of his
own house. After them, Zadok, the son of Emer,
made repairs in front of his own house. After
him, Shemaiah, the son of Shecaniah, the keeper
of the east gate, made repairs. After him, Hananiah,
the son of Shilemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son
of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him,
Mishulam, the son of Berechiah, made repairs
in front of his dwelling. After him, Malkijah,
one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as
the house of the Nethanim and of the merchants,
in front of the Mifkad gate, and as far as the
upper room at the corner. And between the upper
room at the corner, as far as the Sheep gate,
the goldsmith and the merchants made repairs.
Chapter 4 But it so happened, when Sambalat heard
that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was
furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews.
And he spoke before his brethren, and the army
of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews
doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they
offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a
day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps
of rubbish, stones that are burned? Now Tobiah
the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, Whatever
they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will
break down their stone wall. Hear, O our God,
for we are despised. Turn their reproach on their
own heads and give them as plunder to a land
of captivity. Do not cover their iniquity and
do not let their sin be blotted out from before
you, for they have provoked you to anger before
the builders. So we built the wall, and the entire
wall was joined together up to half its height,
for the people had a mind to work. Now it happened
when Sambalat Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites,
and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem
were being restored and the gaps were beginning
to be closed, that they became very angry, and
all of them conspired together to come and attack
Jerusalem and create confusion. Nevertheless,
we made our prayer to our God, and because of
them we set a watch against them day and night.
Then Judah said, The strength of the laborers
is failing, and there is so much rubbish that
we are not able to build the wall. and our adversaries
said they will neither know nor see anything
till we come into their midst and kill them and
cause the work to cease so it was when the jews
who dwelt near them came that they told us ten
times from whatever place you turn they will
be upon us therefore i positioned men behind
the lower parts of the wall at the openings and
i set the people according to their families
with their swords their spears and their bows
And I looked and arose and said to the nobles,
to the leaders, and to the rest of the people,
Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord great
and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your
sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
And it happened when our enemies heard that it
was known to us and that God had brought their
plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the
wall, everyone to his work. So it was from that
time on. that half of my servants worked at construction
while the other half held the spears, the shields,
the bows, and wore armor. And the leaders were
behind all the house of Judah. Those who built
on the wall and those who carried burdens loaded
themselves so that with one hand they worked
at construction and with the other held a weapon.
Every one of the builders had his sword girded
at his side as he built, and the one who sounded
the trumpet was beside me. Then I said to the
nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people,
The work is great and extensive, and we are separated
far from one another on the wall. Wherever you
hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there.
Our God will fight for us. So we labored in the
work, and half of the men held the spears from
daybreak until the stars appeared. At the same
time, I also said to the people, Let each man
and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that
they may be our guard by night and a working
party by day. So neither I, my brethren, my servants,
nor the men of the guard who followed me, took
off our clothes, except that everyone took them
off for washing. And there was a great outcry
of the people and their wives against their Jewish
brethren. For there were those who said, We,
our sons and our daughters, are many. Therefore,
let us get grain that we may eat and live. There
were also some who said, We have mortgaged our
lands and vineyards and houses, that we might
buy grain because of the famine. There were also
those who said, We have borrowed money for the
king's tax on our lands and vineyards. Yet now
our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our
children as their children, and indeed we are
forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves,
and some of our daughters have been brought into
slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them,
For other men have our lands and vineyards. And
I became very angry when I heard their outcry
and these words. After a serious thought, I rebuked
the nobles and rulers and said to them, Each
of you is exacting usury from his brother. So
I called a great assembly against them. And I
said to them, According to our ability, we have
redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to
the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your
brethren? Or should they be sold to us? Then
they were silenced and found nothing to say.
Then I said, What you are doing is not good.
Should you not walk in the fear of our God because
of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?
I also with my brethren and my servants am lending
them money and grain. Please let us stop this
usury. Restore now to them, even this day, their
lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and
their houses, also a hundredth of the money and
the grain, the new wine and the oil that you
have charged them. So they said, We will restore
it and will require nothing from them. We will
do as you say. Then I called the priests and
required an oath from them that they would do
according to this promise. Then I shook out the
fold of my garment and said, So may God shake
out each man from his house and from his property
who does not perform this promise. Even thus
may he be shaken out and emptied. And all the
assembly said, Amen, and praised the Lord. Then
the people did according to this promise. Moreover,
from the time that I was appointed to be their
governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth
year until the thirty -second year of King Artaxerxes,
twelve years, neither I nor my brethren ate the
governor's provisions. But the former governors
who were before me laid burdens on the people,
and took from them bread and wine, besides forty
shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore
rule over the people, but I did not do so, because
of the fear of God. Indeed, I also continued
the work on this wall, and we did not buy any
land. All my servants were gathered there for
the work. And at my table were one hundred and
fifty Jews and rulers, besides those who came
to us from the nations around us. Now that which
was prepared daily was one ox and six choice
sheep. Also fowl were prepared for me, and once
every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine.
Yet in spite of this, I did not demand the governor's
provisions, because the bondage was heavy on
this people. Remember me, my God, for good, according
to all that I have done for this people. I hope
you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did,
and I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow
to continue on our journey. God bless you and
have a great day.