Nehemiah 7:4

Although the people had built the walls, they had not repaired many of the houses. So not many people lived in the city, although it was a big city. Nehemiah knew that a city could not be successful without inhabitants.

Nehemiah had to ask people to come and live in the city. This was a harder job for Nehemiah than when he asked them to build the walls. Many of the people had homes and farms outside the city. They had come to Jerusalem so that they could help to build the walls. But now they wanted to return to their homes and to their families.

v5 My God gave me the desire to gather the people together. I called together the chief men, the officials and the people to register them by their families. Then I found the register of the families of the first people who returned from *exile. This is the information in this register: