The Daily Audio Bible
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15 And Shallum son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of[a] Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he rebuilt it and covered it and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the King’s Garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David.(A) 16 After him Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of[b] Beth-zur, repaired from a point opposite the graves of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Warriors.(B) 17 After him the Levites made repairs: Rehum son of Bani; next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of[c] Keilah, made repairs for his district. 18 After him their kin made repairs: Binnui,[d] son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of[e] Keilah; 19 next to him Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler[f] of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the Angle.(C) 20 After him Baruch son of Zabbai repaired another section from the Angle to the door of the house of the high priest Eliashib.(D) 21 After him Meremoth son of Uriah son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22 After him the priests, the men of the surrounding area, made repairs.(E) 23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them Azariah son of Maaseiah son of Ananiah made repairs beside his own house. 24 After him Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the Angle and to the corner.(F) 25 Palal son of Uzai repaired opposite the Angle and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah son of Parosh(G) 26 and the temple servants living[g] on Ophel made repairs up to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower.(H) 27 After him the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.
28 Above the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each one opposite his own house.(I) 29 After them Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs. 30 After him Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam son of Berechiah made repairs opposite his living quarters. 31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate,[h] and to the upper room of the corner.(J) 32 And between the upper room of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.(K)
Hostile Plots Thwarted
4 [i]Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews.(L) 2 He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it by themselves?[j] Will they offer sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish—burned ones at that?”(M) 3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “That stone wall they are building—any fox going up on it would break it down!”(N) 4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their taunt back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity.(O) 5 Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have raged against the builders.[k](P)
6 So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
7 [l]But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the gaps were beginning to be closed, they were very angry(Q) 8 and all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9 So we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.(R)
10 But Judah said, “The strength of the burden bearers is failing, and there is too much rubbish so that we are unable to work on the wall.” 11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see anything before we come upon them and kill them and stop the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us ten times, “From all the places where they live[m] they will come up against us.”[n] 13 So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people according to their families,[o] with their swords, their spears, and their bows.(S) 14 After I looked these things over, I stood up and said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your kin, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your households.”(T)
15 When our enemies heard that their plot was known to us and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.(U) 16 From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and body-armor, and the leaders posted themselves behind the whole house of Judah 17 who were building the wall. The burden bearers carried their loads in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and with the other held a weapon. 18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 19 And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread out, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. 20 Rally to us wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet. Our God will fight for us.”(V)
21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from break of dawn until the stars came out. 22 I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night inside Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” 23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me ever took off our clothes; each kept his weapon in his right hand.[p]
Nehemiah Deals with Oppression
5 Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish kin.(W) 2 For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many; we must get grain, so that we may eat and stay alive.” 3 There were also those who said, “We are having to pledge our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine.” 4 And there were those who said, “We are having to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s tax.(X) 5 Now our flesh is the same as that of our kindred; our children are the same as their children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others.”(Y)
6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. 7 After thinking it over, I contended with the nobles and the officials; I said to them, “You are all taking interest from your own people.” And I called a great assembly to deal with them(Z) 8 and said to them, “As far as we were able, we have bought back our Jewish kindred who had been sold to other nations, but now you are selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say.(AA) 9 So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God, to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?(AB) 10 Moreover I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us stop this taking of interest. 11 Restore to them, this very day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the interest on money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” 12 Then they said, “We will restore everything and demand nothing more from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and made them take an oath to do as they had promised.(AC) 13 I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out everyone from house and from property who does not perform this promise. Thus may they be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.(AD)
The Unmarried and the Widows
25 Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.(A) 26 I think that, in view of the impending[a] crisis,[b] it is good for you to remain as you are.(B) 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in the flesh, and I would spare you that. 29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,(C) 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.(D)
32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord,(E) 33 but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit, but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband.(F) 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.
36 If anyone thinks that he is behaving indecently toward his fiancée,[c] if his passions are strong and so it has to be, let him marry as he wishes; it is no sin. Let them marry. 37 But if someone stands firm in his resolve, being under no necessity but having his own desire under control, and has determined in his own mind to keep her as his fiancée,[d] he will do well. 38 So then, he who marries his fiancée[e] does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do better.
39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies,[f] she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord.(G) 40 But in my opinion she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I, too, have the Spirit of God.
Psalm 32
The Joy of Forgiveness
Of David. A Maskil.
1 Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.(A)
2 Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.(B)
3 While I kept silent, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.(C)
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up[a] as by the heat of summer. Selah(D)
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah(E)
6 Therefore let all who are faithful
offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress,[b] the rush of mighty waters
shall not reach them.(F)
7 You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah(G)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.