Then I said to them, "You see the bad condition in which we are, how Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates are destroyed by fire. Come and let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be an object of reproach.' I told them too how my God had kindly cared for me and the words which the king had spoken to me. They said, 'Let us go to work and build.' So they entered heartily into the good work.

144.

COURAGE IN THE FACE OF OPPOSITION

Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was so angry and indignant that he mocked the Jews. He spoke before his tribesmen and the army of Samaria and said, 'What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they leave it to God? Will they offer a sacrifice? Will they complete the work in a day? Will they recover the stones from the heaps of rubbish even after they have been destroyed by fire?" Tobiah the Ammonite was with him, and he said, This which they are building if a fox should go up on it, he would break down their stone wall !

But we went on rebuilding the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people were eager to work. But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem was progressing so that the breaches began to be closed, they were exceedingly angry. And they all conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and produce a panic there. But we prayed to our God and set a watch as a protection against them day and night.

Then the Judean community said, 'The strength of the burden-bearers is failing and there is so much rub

bish that we shall not be able to rebuild the wall. Our foes also have said, "They will not know nor see until we come among them and kill them and put an end to the work." The Jews who dwelt near them came and told us of ten places where we might be attacked. Therefore in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the protected places, I stationed the people by families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. When I saw how afraid they were, I rose and said to the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, 'Do not be afraid of them. Remember. the Lord, who is invincible, and fight for your relatives, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your homes.'

When our enemies heard that their conspiracy was known to us and that God had thwarted it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work. From that time on, while half of my servants were engaged in the work, half of them held the lances, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers stood behind all the people of Judah. Those who built the wall and those who bore burdens were also armed, each using one of his hands for the work, and was ready with the other to grasp his spear. And each builder worked with his sword fastened at his side: The man who sounded the alarm was by me; and I said to the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, "The work is great and extensive, and we on the wall are widely separated from each other. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally about us; our God will fight for us.'

So we worked hard, while half of them held the lances from the gray of morning until the stars came out. Also I said at that time to the people, 'Let each man with his servant stay in Jerusalem, that they may guard us by night and labor by 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.

145. NEHEMIAH'S SOCIAL REFORMS

Then the common people and their wives raised a loud complaint against their fellow Jews. Some said, 'We are compelled to give our sons and our daughters in pledge to get grain that we may eat and live." Others said, 'We are mortgaging our fields and our vineyards and our houses, that we may get grain because of the shortage.' Others said, 'We have borrowed money to pay tribute to the king. Yet as a matter of fact our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children; but now we are compelled to sell our sons and our daughters as slaves, and some of our daughters have already been thus reduced to slavery, and it is not in our power to prevent it, for our fields and our vineyards belong to the nobles.'

When I heard their complaint and these statements, I was very angry. And I took my own counsel and reprimanded the nobles and the rulers and said to them, 'You exact interest each of his fellow Jew.'

Then I called a great popular assembly to protest against their action; and I said to them, 'We ourselves have according to our ability purchased the freedom of our fellow Jews who have been sold to the heathen; and would you sell your fellow Jews, and should they be sold to us?' Then they were silent and could find nothing 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 reproach to our heathen foes? I too, my relatives, and my servants lend the people money and grain. Let us stop taking this interest.

Restore to them at once their fields, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, and the interest on the money, the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that you exact from them.'

Then they said, 'We will restore them and will demand nothing from them; we will do even as you say.' Then I called the priests and took an oath of them that they would do as they had promised. Also I shook out the fold of my garment, and said, 'So may God shake out every man from his house and from the fruit of his labor, who does not keep this promise; even so may he be forcibly deprived of what he has.' All those assembled said, 'So may it be,' and praised Jehovah. The people also did as they had promised.

Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the king, that is for twelve years, I and my relatives did not eat the food which was due me as governor. But the former governors who were before me were a source of expense to the people and took from them bread and wine and forty pieces of silver each day; and their servants oppressed the people. But I did not do so, for I feared God. I also devoted 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, in addition to those who came to us from among surrounding nations, were at my table. Each day one ox and six choice sheep and fowls were prepared at my expense, and once in ten days wine in abundance. Yet with all this expense I did not demand the food which was due me as governor, because the public service rested heavily upon this people. Remember to my credit, O my God, all that I have done for them!

146. NEHEMIAH'S TACT IN AVOIDING PITFALLS

When it was reported to Sanballat and to Tobiah and to Geshem the Arabian and to the rest of our enemies, that I had rebuilt the wall and that there was no breach left in it-even though at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates-Sanballat and Geshem sent this message to me: 'Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.' But they planned to do me personal injury. So I sent messengers to them with the reply, 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work stop, while I leave it to go down to you?'

They sent to me in this way four times, and I gave them the same answer. Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way the fifth time with an open letter in his hand in which was written, 'It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu confirms it, that you and the Jews plan to rebel, and that this is the reason you are building the wall, and that you would be their ruler, and that you also have appointed prophets to proclaim you at Jerusalem, and say, "There is a ruler in Judah." Now it will be reported to the Persian king to this effect. Come therefore, let us consult together.' Then I sent this reply to him, 'There is no truth in what you say, and the report is simply your invention. For they all wanted to make us afraid, thinking, "They may lose courage, so that the work may not be done." But now, O God, give me courage! When I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetable, he was shut up at home, but he said, 'Let us go together to the house of God, into the inside of the temple, and let us shut its doors, for men are coming to kill you in the night; yes, in the night they are coming to kill you!

But I