So we worked hard, while half of them held the lances from early in the morning until the stars came out. And I said at that time to the people, "Let each man with his servant stay in Jerusalem, that they may protect us at night and work during the day." So neither I, nor any of my relatives, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who accompanied me took off our clothes, but each kept his spear in his right hand.
After fifty-two days the wall was finished. When our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid, and it seemed very wonderful to them, and they knew that this work had been done by our God.
After the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites had been appointed, I placed my brother Hanani, the commander of the castle, in charge of Jerusalem, for he was a faithful man and more God-fearing than many. And I said to them, "Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until after sunrise; and at night, while the watchmen are still on guard, let them shut the doors and bar them. Also let the people who live in Jerusalem be on guard, each at his post opposite his own house."
Now the city was wide and large, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not been rebuilt. So my God put it into my mind to gather together the nobles and the officials and the people. The officials lived in Jerusalem. The rest of the people drew lots that one out of every ten should live in Jerusalem, the sacred city, while the others stayed in the villages.
Then I had the officials of Judah take their place on the wall, and I formed two great processions. The first marched to the right upon the wall toward the Dung Gate; and behind them went Hoshaiah and half of the officials of Judah. At the Fountain Gate they went straight up the stairs of the City of David by the ascent along the wall above the House of David to the Water Gate on the east of the city.
The other procession went to the left on the wall above the Tower of the Furnaces, and I after them, with half of the people, to the broad wall and above the Gate of Ephraim and past the Old Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred to the Sheep Gate. Then they stood in the Gate of the Guard. So the two processions took their position in the temple and I and half of the rulers who were with me.
Then the singers sang loudly, and the people offered many sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had given them great cause for joy. The women and children rejoiced, too, so that the cries of joy at Jerusalem were heard far away.
A Brave Knight
Then the common people and their wives raised a loud cry against their fellow Jews. Some said, "We must give up our sons and our daughters in pledge to get grain that we may eat and live." Others said, "We must give up our fields and our vineyards and our houses, that we may get grain because there is so little." Others said, "We have borrowed money to pay the king's taxes. Although our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children; yet we must sell our sons and our daughters as slaves. Some of our daughters have already been made slaves, and it is not in our power to stop it, for our fields and our vineyards belong to the nobles."
When I heard their cry and these words, I was very angry. After I had thought about it, I rebuked the nobles and the rulers and said to them, "You make each of your fellow Jews pay what you loan him."
Then I called a great meeting to protest against what they were doing. And I said to them, "We ourselves have, as far as we could, bought back our fellow Jews who have been sold to foreigners. Would you sell your fellow Jews, and should they be sold to us?" Then they were silent and could not find a word to say. So I said, "What you are doing is not good. Ought you not to live in the fear of God, so as not to be an object of shame to our foreign foes? I, too, my relatives, and my servants lend the people money and grain. Let us stop taking anything for what we lend. Give back to them at once their fields, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and their houses, and whatever you have made them pay for the money, the grain, the new wine and the oil."
Then they said, "We will give them back and will ask nothing from them; we will do even as you say." Then I called the priests and made them solemnly promise that they would do as they had said.
For twelve years from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, I and my relatives did not eat the food which was my right as governor. But the governors who were before me were an expense to the people and took from them bread and wine and forty pieces of silver each day. Their servants also were cruel to the people. But I did not do so, for I feared God. I also gave myself to the work on the wall, and we did not buy any land, but all my servants were gathered there for work. Also a hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, beside those who came to us from other nations, were fed at my table. Each day one ox and six choice sheep and fowls were prepared at my expense, and once in ten days plenty of wine for all. Yet with all this expense, I did not demand the food which was due me as governor, because the public work was a heavy burden upon this people. Remember to my credit, O my God, all that I have done for them!
Jonah the Narrow-Minded Patriot
This message from Jehovah came to Jonah, the son of Amittai: "Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and preach against it; for their wickedness is known to me." But Jonah started to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah.
But Jehovah made a furious wind blow over the sea, and there was such a great storm that the ship was in danger of breaking to pieces. Then the sailors were afraid and each cried for help to his own god. They threw into the sea the things that were in the ship, in order to make it lighter. But Jonah had gone down into the bottom of the ship and lay fast asleep. Then the captain of the ship went and said to him, "How is it that you are asleep? Call on your god; perhaps that god will think of us, so that we may not be lost."
And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then they said to him, "Tell us, what is your business, and where do you come from? What is your country and to what race do you belong?" He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and a worshipper of Jehovah, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." Then the men were greatly frightened and said to him, "What is this you have done?" For they knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, because he had told them.
Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm for us?" for the sea grew more and more stormy. He said to them, "Take me up and throw me into the sea, and the sea will be calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has overtaken you." But the men rowed hard to get back to the land; they could not, however, for the sea grew more and more stormy ahead.
Therefore they cried to Jehovah and said, "We pray thee, O Jehovah, we pray thee, let us not die for this man's life, nor let us be guilty of shedding innocent blood, for thou art Jehovah; thou hast done as it pleases thee." So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea became calm. Then the men greatly feared Jehovah, and they offered a sacrifice and made promises to him.