Nehemiah 10:30-39 (HCSB)Details of the Vow 30 We will not give our daughters in marriage to the surrounding peoples and will not take their daughters as wives for our sons. 31 When the surrounding peoples bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day.  We will also leave the land uncultivated in the seventh year  and will ...  Read More

Nehemiah 9:38, 10:28-29 (HCSB)Israel’s Vow of Faithfulness38  In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement  in writing on a sealed document containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.28 The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with their wives, sons, and daughters, everyone who is able to understand  and who has separate...  Read More

Nehemiah 9:1-5 (HCSB)National Confession of Sin 9 On the twenty-fourth day of this month  the Israelites assembled; they were fasting, wearing sackcloth, and had put dust on their heads.  2 Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners,  and they stood  and confessed their sins and the guilt of their fathers.  3 While they stood in their places,  they read from the book of th...  Read More

Nehemiah 8:1-18 (HCSB)Public Reading of the Law When the seventh month  came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, 8 1 all the people gathered together  at the square in front of the Water Gate.  They asked Ezra the scribe  to bring the book of the law of Moses  that the Lord had given Israel. 2 On the first day of the seventh month,  Ezra the priest  brought the law  before the assembly ...  Read More

WHEN OPPOSITION ARISESThe events of the book of Nehemiah took place just after those of the book of Ezra (445 BC-431 BC) with Nehemiah arriving in Jerusalem in 444 BC, 13 years after Ezra arrived.Study The Word: Nehemiah organized the work and brought the supplies.  The people in Jerusalem began the monumental work of rebuilding the city wall for protection. Everything should move along smoothly, ...  Read More

Have you ever had anybody respond to you the way Sanballat and Tobiah did to Nehemiah? What did that feel like? What was your response? Why did Nehemiah answer them in 2:20 but not in chapter 4? What do you think about Nehemiah praying against his enemies in 4:4-5?   In 4:9, we see Nehemiah pray and put guards in place. In 4:15-23, we see half the workers building, half protecting. Was this wisdom...  Read More

Nehemiah 7:1-5, 70-73 (HCSB)The Exiles Return 7 When the wall had been rebuilt and I had the doors installed,  the gatekeepers,  singers, and Levites were appointed. 2 Then I put my brother Hanani  in charge of Jerusalem,  along with Hananiah,  commander of the fortress,  because he was a faithful man who feared God  more than most. 3 I said to them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the s...  Read More

Nehemiah 6:1-19 (HCSB)Attempts to Discourage the Builders6 When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies  heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that no gap was left in it —though at that time I had not installed the doors in the gates — 2 Sanballat and Geshem  sent me a message: “Come, let’s meet together in the villages of  the Ono Valley.”  But they were planning to harm m...  Read More

Nehemiah 5:1-19 (HCSB)Social Injustice 5 There was a widespread outcry from the people and their wives against their Jewish countrymen. 2 Some were saying, “We, our sons, and our daughters are numerous. Let us get grain so that we can eat and live.” 3 Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, vineyards, and homes to get grain during the famine.”  4 Still others were saying, “We have borro...  Read More

Nehemiah 4:15-23  (HCSB)Sword and Trowel 15 When our enemies heard that we knew their scheme and that God had frustrated it, every one of us returned to his own work on the wall. 16 From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor.  The officers supported all the people of Judah, 17 who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried the l...  Read More

Nehemiah 4:1-4 (HCSB)Progress in Spite of Opposition 4  When Sanballat  heard that we were rebuilding the wall,  he became furious. He mocked the Jews  2 before his colleagues and the powerful men  of Samaria,  and said, “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones  back to life from ...  Read More

SEE A NEED AND MEET ITThe events of the book of Nehemiah took place just after those of the book of Ezra (445 BC-431 BC) with Nehemiah arriving in Jerusalem in 444 BC, 13 years after Ezra arrived.Study The Word: Nehemiah was not a priest or a king.  He was exiled to Babylon where he was on the serving staff of King Cyrus.  When he heard of the difficulties of the survivors in Jerusalem, he was mov...  Read More