1
These are the words of Nehemiah. He was the son of Hakaliah. I was in the fort of Susa. I was there in the 20th year that Artaxerxes was king. It was in the month of Kislev. 2 At that time Hanani came from Judah with some other men. He was one of my brothers. I asked him and the other men about the Jews who were left alive in Judah. They had returned from Babylon. I also asked him about Jerusalem.
3 He and the men with him said to me, ‘Some of the people who returned are still alive. They are back in the land of Judah. But they are having a hard time. They are ashamed. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down. Its gates have been burned with fire.’
4 When I heard about these things, I sat down and wept. For several days I was very sad. I didn't eat any food. And I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 I said,
‘Lord, you are the God of heaven. You are a great and wonderful God. You keep the covenant you made with those who love you and obey your commandments. You show them your love. 6 Please pay careful attention to my prayer. See how your people are suffering. Please listen to me. I'm praying to you day and night. I'm praying for the people of Israel. We Israelites have committed sins against you. All of us admit it. I and my family have also sinned against you. 7 We've done some very evil things. We haven't obeyed the commands, rules and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 ‘Remember what you told him. You said, “If you people are not faithful, I will scatter you among the nations. 9 But if you return to me, I will bring you back. If you obey my commands, I will gather you together again. I will bring you back from the farthest places on earth. I will bring you to the special place where I have chosen to put my Name.”
10 ‘Lord, they are your people. They serve you. You used your great strength and mighty hand to set them free from Egypt. 11 Lord, please pay careful attention to my prayer. Listen to the prayers of all of us. We take delight in bringing honour to your name. Give me success today when I bring my request to King Artaxerxes.’
I was the king's wine taster.
1:1–11 In Nehemiah's time, many Jews had already moved back to the land of Judah. They moved back from Babylon where they had been forced to live in exile. They were back in the land God had given to the family line of Abraham. But the people of Israel were no longer in charge. They weren't the rulers of the northern kingdom or the southern kingdom. The entire land of Israel was controlled by the government of Persia. The Jews who moved back built a new temple. This showed that they were God's people and worshipped only God. This was part of living as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Yet the wall of Jerusalem was still broken down. This showed that they were no longer a strong nation. They weren't strong like when David and Solomon were kings. The broken wall was a sign of the judgement God brought against his people. They hadn't been faithful to the Mount Sinai covenant. So they faced the covenant curses. Nehemiah's prayer showed that he understood this. In his deep sadness, Nehemiah went without food. This is called fasting. He prayed constantly and admitted to God how the Israelites had sinned. All of God's people had done evil things. Nehemiah recognised that this included himself and his family. In his prayer Nehemiah remembered things that were true about God. God is always faithful to his covenant. Nehemiah asked God to keep his promises to his people. God's people took delight in bringing honour to God's name. Yet the broken wall of Jerusalem brought them shame. So Nehemiah made careful plans to rebuild the wall. He asked God to give him success when he told Artaxerxes his plans.