14 Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from his twentieth year until his thirty-second year (twelve years total), neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.

15 The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people. But I did not do this, because of my fear of God. 16Instead, I devoted myself to the construction of the wall, and all my servants were gathered there for the work; we did not acquire any land.

17 There were 150 Jews and officials at my table, besides the guests from the surrounding nations. 18Each day one ox, six choice sheep, and some fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine was provided. But I did not demand the food allotted to the governor, because the burden on the people was so heavy.

19 Remember me favorably, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.

1 When 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.

3 So 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?”

4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave the same reply.

5 The fifth time, Sanballat sent me this same message by his young servant, who had in his hand an unsealed letter 6that read:

8 Then I sent him this reply: “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”

9 For 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.

10 Later, I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said:

11 But 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!”

12 I 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.

14 O 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.

15 So 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.

17 Also 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.

19 Moreover, these nobles kept reporting to me Tobiah’s good deeds, and they relayed my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

1 When the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.

2 Then I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah the commander of the fortress, because he was a faithful man who feared God more than most. 3And I told them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot. While the guards are on duty, keep the doors shut and securely fastened. And appoint the residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some at their own homes.”

4 Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt. 5Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. I found the genealogical register of those who had first returned, and I found the following written in it:

6 These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, 7accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah.

This is the count of the men of Israel:

39 The priests:

43 The Levites:

44 The singers:

45 The gatekeepers:

46 The temple servants:

57 The descendants of the servants of Solomon:

61 The following came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove that their families were descended from Israel:

66 The whole assembly numbered 42,360, 67in addition to their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 245 male and female singers. 68They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 69435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

70 Some of the heads of the families contributed to the project. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 bowls, and 530 priestly garments. 71And some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury for the project 20,000 darics of goldand 2,200 minas of silver. 72The rest of the people gave a total of 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priestly garments.

73 So the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with some of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns. And by the seventh month the Israelites had settled in their towns.

1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the one who loves God is known by God.

4 So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one. 5For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many so-called gods and lords), 6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.

7 But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that they eat such food as if it were sacrificed to an idol. And since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8But food does not bring us closer to God: We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

9 Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12By sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to stumble.