Nehemiah 2:1-8
Nehemiah's Request Granted by the King... [ Continue Reading ]
Nehemiah's Request Granted by the King... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, the first month of the Jewish church-year, some four months after Nehemiah had received news regarding the pitiful conditions in Jerusalem, IN THE TWENTIETH YEAR OF ARTAXERXES THE KING, the years of whose reign were counted from some other month than Nisan, na... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore the king, noting at once that something unusual had happened to sadden his trusted servant, SAID UNTO ME, WHY IS THY COUNTENANCE SAD, SEEING THOU ART NOT SICK THIS IS NOTHING ELSE BUT SORROW OF HEART. It was true then as it is now: "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance; but by sorro... [ Continue Reading ]
and said unto the king, Let the king live forever! the common formula of address to the king. WHY SHOULD NOT MY COUNTENANCE BE SAD WHEN THE CITY, THE PLACE OF MY FATHER'S SEPULCHERS, for Nehemiah seems to have been a descendant of the royal house of David, LIETH WASTE, AND THE GATES THEREOF ARE CONS... [ Continue Reading ]
Then the king said unto me, rightly guessing that Nehemiah had a request to make in connection with this sad state of affairs, FOR WHAT DOST THOU MAKE REQUEST? SO I PRAYED TO THE GOD OF HEAVEN, sending up a silent prayer for strength and assistance.... [ Continue Reading ]
And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father's sepulchers, literally, "the city the graves of my fathers," probably intend. in a double sense, THAT I MAY BUILD IT.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king said unto me, (the queen, as some think, Esther, ALSO SITTING BY HIM, this being a private occasion, at which the principal wife of the monarch could be present,) FOR HOW LONG SHALL THY JOURNEY BE? AND WHEN WILT THOU RETURN? SO IT PLEASED KING TO SEND ME; AND I SET HIM A TIME. This circ... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover, I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, to the great territory between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea, THAT THEY MAY CONVEY ME OVER, under the protection of a military guard, TILL I COME INTO JUDAH;... [ Continue Reading ]
and a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, the royal palace of Solomon, which lay in ruins, AND FOR THE WALL OF THE CITY, AND FOR THE HOUSE I SHALL ENTER INTO, the Temple itself, which... [ Continue Reading ]
Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now, the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me, not only on account of his rank as cupbearer of the king, but also as deputy governor of Judea, which he was on this trip.... [ Continue Reading ]
NEHEMIAH ARRIVES AT JERUSALEM... [ Continue Reading ]
When Sanballat the Horonite, apparently a Moabite, AND TOBIAH, THE SERVANT, THE AMMONITE, a freedman raised to some official dignity, assistant to the former, who seems to have been governor of Samaria, HEARD OF IT, IT GRIEVED THEM EXCEEDINGLY THAT THERE WAS COME A MAN TO SEEK THE WELFARE OF THE CHI... [ Continue Reading ]
So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days, resting and casting up in his mind just bow he might undertake the work of reconstruction, for there was need of it everywhere.... [ Continue Reading ]
And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me, just a few trusted attendants; NEITHER TOLD I ANY MAN WHAT MY GOD HAD PUT IN MY HEART TO DO AT JERUSALEM, both the general plans and the special action that he had determined upon during the three days of his visit; NEITHER WAS THERE ANY BEAST WI... [ Continue Reading ]
And I went out by night by the Gate of the Valley, most likely that of Hinnom toward the southeast, EVEN BEFORE THE DRAGON WELL, a fountain or pool on the opposite side of the valley, AND TO THE DUNG PORT, the gate where the rubbish of the city was cast out and burned, AND VIEWED THE WALLS OF JERUSA... [ Continue Reading ]
Then I went on to the Gate of the Fountain, in front of the pool of Siloam, where the ancient wall turned northward from its southeastern corner, AND TO THE KING'S POOL, Siloam itself; BUT THERE WAS NO PLACE FOR THE BEAST THAT WAS UNDER ME TO PASS, heaps of broken stones and rubbish everywhere were... [ Continue Reading ]
Then went I up in the night by the brook, he was obliged to go down along the Kidron, AND VIEWED THE WALL, that on the eastern side, AND TURNED BACK, AND ENTERED BY THE GATE OF THE VALLEY, where he had set forth, now probably the Jaffa Gate, AND SO RETURNED.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did, he kept this survey a strict secret; NEITHER HAD I AS YET TOLD IT TO THE JEWS, NOR TO THE PRIESTS, NOR TO THE NOBLES, NOR TO THE RULERS, NOR TO THE REST THAT DID THE WORK, neither the executive officers of the province nor the church officials,... [ Continue Reading ]
Then said I unto them, in a meeting called for that purpose, in which Nehemiah produced his credentials and addressed them in an inspiring manner, YE SEE THE DISTRESS THAT WE ARE IN, the evil that had befallen them, HOW JERUSALEM LIETH WASTE, AND THE GATES THEREOF ARE BURNED WITH FIRE; COME AND LET... [ Continue Reading ]
Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, how the Lord had so obviously prospered him in his undertaking up to this time, AS ALSO THE KING'S WORDS THAT HE HAD SPOKEN UNTO ME. AND THEY, inspired by his energy, SAID, LET US RISE UP AND BUILD. SO THEY STRENGTHENED THEIR HANDS FOR T... [ Continue Reading ]
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah, the servant,, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian heard it, they laughed us to scorn and despised us, with bitter taunts and scoffing ridicule, AND SAID, WHAT IS THIS THING THAT YE DO? WILL YE REBEL AGAINST THE KING? This was a mean insinuation, for the J... [ Continue Reading ]
Then answered I them and said unto them, The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we, His servants, will arise and build; but ye have no portion nor right nor memorial in Jerusalem. They had cut themselves off from the true worship of Jehovah and therefore had nothing in common with the true... [ Continue Reading ]