Day 59 · Nehemiah 6; 8–9
Old Testament · Phase 6 · Exile & Return
Walls completed; Public reading of the Law; Covenant renewal
Nehemiah 6
Section titled “Nehemiah 6”Sanballat’s Conspiracy
1When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left— though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates— 2Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”
But they were planning to harm me.
3So 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?”
4Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave the same reply.
5The fifth time, Sanballat sent me this same message by his young servant, who had in his hand an unsealed letter 6that read:
“It is reported among the nations— and Geshem agrees— that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king, 7and 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.”
8Then I sent him this reply: “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”
9For they were all trying to frighten us, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.”
But now, my God, strengthen my hands.
10Later, I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said:
“Let us meet at the house of God
inside the temple.
Let us shut the temple doors
because they are coming to kill you —
by night they are coming to kill you!”
11But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Should one like me go into the temple to save his own life? I will not go!”
12I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13He 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.
14O my God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat for what they have done, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the other prophets who tried to intimidate me.
Completion of the Wall
15So the wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul. 16When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and disheartened, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.
17Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters kept coming to them. 18For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.
19Moreover, these nobles kept reporting to me Tobiah’s good deeds, and they relayed my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
Nehemiah 8–9
Section titled “Nehemiah 8–9”Ezra Reads the Law
1At that time all the people gathered together in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
2On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could listen and understand. 3So 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.
4Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for this occasion. At his right side stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and at his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
5Ezra opened the book in full view of all the people, since he was standing above them all, and as he opened it, all the people stood up. 6Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and with their hands uplifted, all the people said, “Amen, Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
7The Levites — Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah — instructed the people in the Law as they stood in their places. 8So 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.
9Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.”
For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law.
10Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
11And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.”
12Then all the people began to eat and drink, to send out portions, and to rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that had been made known to them.
The Feast of Tabernacles
13On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and Levites, gathered around Ezra the scribe to study the words of the Law. 14And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15and that they should proclaim 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.”
16And the people went out, brought back branches, and made booths on their own rooftops, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God, and in the squares by the Water Gate and by the Gate of Ephraim. 17The whole assembly that had returned from exile made booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated like this. And there was great rejoicing.
18Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. The Israelites kept the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly, according to the ordinance.
The People Confess Their Sins
1On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads. 2Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
3While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.
4And the Levites — Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani — stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God. 5Then the Levites— Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah— said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting:
Blessed be Your glorious name,
and may it be exalted
above all blessing and praise.
6You alone are the LORD.
You created the heavens,
the highest heavens with all their host,
the earth and all that is on it,
the seas and all that is in them.
You give life to all things,
and the host of heaven worships You.
7You are the LORD,
the God who chose Abram,
who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans
and gave him the name Abraham.
8You found his heart faithful before You,
and made a covenant with him
to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites,
of the Amorites and Perizzites,
of the Jebusites and Girgashites—
to give it to his descendants.
You have kept Your promise,
because You are righteous.
9You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt;
You heard their cry at the Red Sea.
10You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
all his officials, and all the people of his land,
for You knew they had acted with arrogance
against our fathers.
You made a name for Yourself
that endures to this day.
11You divided the sea before them,
and they crossed through it on dry ground.
You hurled their pursuers into the depths
like a stone into raging waters.
12You led them with a pillar of cloud by day
and a pillar of fire by night,
to light for them the way
in which they should travel.
13You came down on Mount Sinai
and spoke with them from heaven.
You gave them just ordinances, true laws,
and good statutes and commandments.
14You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath
and gave them commandments and statutes and laws
through Your servant Moses.
15In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven;
in their thirst You brought them water from the rock.
You told them to go in and possess the land
that You had sworn to give them.
16But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked
and did not obey Your commandments.
17They refused to listen and failed to remember
the wonders You performed among them.
They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader
to return them to their bondage in Egypt.
But You are a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in loving devotion,
and You did not forsake them.
18Even when they cast for themselves
an image of a calf and said,
‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’
and when they committed terrible blasphemies,
19You in Your great compassion
did not forsake them in the wilderness.
By day the pillar of cloud never turned away
from guiding them on their path;
and by the night the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go.
20You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them.
You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths,
and You gave them water for their thirst.
21For 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.
22You 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.
23You multiplied their descendants
like the stars of heaven
and brought them to the land
You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
24So their descendants went in and possessed the land;
You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land.
You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land,
to do with them as they wished.
25They captured fortified cities and fertile land
and took houses full of all goods,
wells already dug,
vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled;
they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.
26But they were disobedient and rebelled against You;
they flung Your law behind their backs.
They killed Your prophets,
who had admonished them to return to You.
They committed terrible blasphemies.
27So You delivered them into the hands
of enemies who oppressed them,
and in their time of distress they cried out to You.
From heaven You heard them,
and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers
who saved them from the hands of their enemies.
28But as soon as they had rest,
they again did evil in Your sight.
So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies,
who had dominion over them.
When they cried out to You again,
You heard from heaven,
and You delivered them many times
in Your compassion.
29You admonished them to turn back to Your law,
but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments.
They sinned against Your ordinances,
by which a man will live if he practices them.
They turned a stubborn shoulder;
they stiffened their necks and would not obey.
30You were patient with them for many years,
and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets.
Yet they would not listen,
so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.
31But in Your great compassion,
You did not put an end to them;
nor did You forsake them,
for You are a gracious and compassionate God.
32So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God
who keeps His gracious covenant,
do not view lightly all the hardship
that has come upon us,
and upon our kings and leaders,
our priests and prophets,
our ancestors and all Your people,
from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.
33You are just in all that has befallen us,
because You have acted faithfully,
while we have acted wickedly.
34Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers
did not obey Your law
or listen to Your commandments
and warnings that You gave them.
35For even while they were in their kingdom,
with the abundant goodness
that You had given them,
and in the spacious and fertile land
that You had set before them,
they would not serve You
or turn from their wicked ways.
36So here we are today as slaves
in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—
here we are as slaves!
37Its abundant harvest goes to the kings
You have set over us because of our sins.
And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please.
We are in great distress.
38In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”