The Bible, King James version, Book 16: Nehemiah

This eBook was produced by David Widger
with the help of Derek Andrew's text from January 1992
and the work of Bryan Taylor in November 2002.





Book 16        Nehemiah

16:001:001 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to
           pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in
           Shushan the palace,

16:001:002 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of
           Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped,
           which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

16:001:003 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the
           captivity there in the province are in great affliction and
           reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the
           gates thereof are burned with fire.

16:001:004 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down
           and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed
           before the God of heaven,

16:001:005 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and
           terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that
           love him and observe his commandments:

16:001:006 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou
           mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before
           thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy
           servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel,
           which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's
           house have sinned.

16:001:007 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept
           the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which
           thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

16:001:008 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy
           servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you
           abroad among the nations:

16:001:009 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them;
           though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of
           the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring
           them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

16:001:010 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast
           redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

16:001:011 O LORD, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the
           prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who
           desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant
           this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I
           was the king's cupbearer.

16:002:001 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year
           of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took
           up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been
           beforetime sad in his presence.

16:002:002 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad,
           seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of
           heart. Then I was very sore afraid,

16:002:003 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should
           not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my
           fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are
           consumed with fire?

16:002:004 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request?
           So I prayed to the God of heaven.

16:002:005 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy
           servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest
           send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres,
           that I may build it.

16:002:006 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,)
           For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return?
           So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

16:002:007 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let
           letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that
           they may convey me over till I come into Judah;

16:002:008 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, and for the wall of the
           city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king
           granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

16:002:009 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.

16:002:010 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the
           Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there
           was come a man to seek t