Nehemiah 1 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
the winter month of Kislev, late 445 BC, in the twentieth year of the Persian king Artaxerxes I
Location
the citadel of Susa in southwestern Persia, the empire's winter capital, about 900 miles east of Jerusalem
Audience
Jews living in and around Jerusalem in the generations after the return from exile, reading a first-person memoir of how the city was restored
Situation
Nehemiah, a Jewish official in the Persian court, hears from his brother Hanani that the survivors in Judah are in distress and Jerusalem's wall is broken down and its gates burned. He weeps, fasts, and prays a long prayer of confession before asking God for favor with the king.
Key Background
Persia ruled a vast empire through appointed governors and moved its court between capitals with the seasons, and Jews had held positions of trust at that court since the exile began. A city without walls in the ancient Near East was not merely unsafe but had no standing, since walls marked a place as a real city with the right to control its own gates, courts, and trade. Nehemiah's prayer follows the pattern of Deuteronomy: exile came as the promised consequence of unfaithfulness, and return follows the promised mercy for those who turn back, so he is holding God to terms God set.
The words of son of Hacaliah. In the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the fortress city of
Hanani, one of my brothers, came with some men from Judah. I asked them about the who had made it through the exile, and about Jerusalem itself.
They told me, "The survivors back in the province are in serious trouble and Jerusalem's is down and its gates have been burned to nothing."
When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I grieved for days, and praying before the of
I said, God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his and shows to those who him and keep his commands —
please, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, hearing the prayer your is praying before you right now, day and night, for the people of Israel who serve you. I'm confessing the of the people of Israel — we've committed against you. Both I and my father's family have failed you.
We have acted with toward you. We haven't kept the commands, the laws, or the rulings you gave your servant Moses.
"Remember the word you gave your servant Moses: 'If you are unfaithful, I will you the
But if you to me and keep my commands and do them, then even if your exiled people are at the far edges of the sky, I will gather them from there and bring them to the I for my to
"They are your servants and your people, the ones you by your great power and your
"Please, Lord, let ear be attentive to the prayer of servant and to the prayers of servants who want nothing more than to Give servant success today — let this man show me kindness." I was the king's