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It was in the twentieth year of the king's reign (445), that some men who had visited Jerusalem returned to Susa. Nehemiah questioned them anxiously about the welfare of the colony and the state of Jerusalem; and he received this reply: 'The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire.' Nehemiah was overwhelmed with grief; he pictured to himself how defenceless the position of the Jews must be, how open to hostile attacks, how utterly helpless in times of danger. He wept and fasted and sought relief in ardent prayer: O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, . . . let Thy ear now be attentive and Thy eyes open that Thou mayest hear the prayer of Thy servant, which I pray before Thee day and night for the children of Israel. We have acted very wickedly against Thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which Thou hast commanded Thy servant Moses. . . Prosper, I pray Thee, Thy servant this day, and grant him mercy.' Thus strengthened, Nehemiah devised means for helping his brethren, and determined to appeal to his royal master. He was pouring out the wine as usual, when the king noticed that he had lost his customary cheerfulness, and asked him with kindly interest, Why is thy countenance sad? art thou not ill?' Then Nehemiah answered, 'Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lies waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?' The king asked what it was he desired; and now Nehemiah told him his plan. He begged of the king to send him to Jerusalem, that he might rebuild it; to give him letters to the governors and satraps in the west of the Jordan, ordering them to protect him in his journey; and to command the keeper of the royal forests to supply him

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with whatever timber he might require for the Temple and the city. The king granted his requests, merely stipulating that he should return to Susa within a fixed time.

So Nehemiah went forth, the appointed governor of Judea, accompanied by a royal guard. He performed his journey in safety. When the Samaritans, whose animosity against the Jews had not abated, heard that he had arrived in Palestine, invested with important powers and privileges, they were unable to restrain expressions of bitterness and envy. Conspicuous for his hostility was Sanballat the Horonite. After resting three days in Jerusalem, Nehemiah rose in the night, and with a few chosen friends he rode unobserved round the silent and mournful city, whose ruin and sad decay he witnessed in that lonely hour. There stood the remnants of the walls, broken and battered, defenceless indeed, for the strong watch-towers had disappeared, and the gates had been burnt by fire, while many streets were so choked with rubbish and rotten timber, that there was no room for a mule to pass.

When the morning dawned, Nehemiah assembled the priests, rulers, and nobles, and said to them, 'You see the distress that we are in. . . . Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we may be no more a reproach.' Then he told them that God had been merciful to him in the land of the Persians, and that Artaxerxes had granted permission and aid to carry out the work. Incited by his enthusiasm, they cried, Let us rise up and build!' When Sanballat and many others equally ill disposed against the Jews heard of this enterprise, they laughed it to scorn, and said, 'What is this thing that you will do? will you rebel against the king?' Nehemiah answered firmly, 'The God of heaven will prosper us, and we, His servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.'

The labourers were ready, and the work was at once commenced. Eliashib the High-priest and the priests under him set the example: they built and sanctified the first gate; then the whole population of Jerusalem, and many men from all the surrounding cities, followed; gate after gate sprang up, the breaches in the wall were quickly repaired, and soon half the town was again enclosed and protected. When the Samaritans saw the walls of Jerusalem actually rise from the ruins, they could hardly control their rage. What do these feeble Jews begin!' exclaimed Sanballat; will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they finish it soon? will they revive the burnt stones out of the heaps of rubbish?' And Tobiah the Ammonite said, 'They build indeed! If a fox went up, he would break down their stone wall!' Yet in spite of the scoffing jeers and the menaces of their opponents, the enterprise was vigorously proceeded with. Nehemiah had been informed that the enemies, including Ammonites, Arabs, and Philistines, besides the Samaritans, contemplated a sudden attack. He therefore set a watch against them by day and by night; and when danger seemed imminent, he armed the population with spears, swords, and bows, placed the men behind the walls, and addressed them with inspiring words like these: 'Be not afraid of them; remember, the Lord is great and terrible; and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses!' When the adversaries heard that the Jews were fully prepared to meet them, they desisted for a time from their schemes, and retreated. But thenceforth Nehemiah cautiously divided his men into two bands-the one to serve as labourers, the others as soldiers; but even the former were armed while engaged in their task: 'with one hand each of them wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon and his sword was girded by his

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side.' A trumpeter stood ready to blow the alarm when peril threatened, and thus to assemble the scattered workmen. All were lodged in Jerusalem, so as to be near at hand night or day, if their aid should be required by any emergency. Nehemiah himself, his servants, and the men of his guard, slept dressed during all this time.

At last, in the incredibly short time of fifty-two days, the wall around the city stood completed. All acknowledged that so unexpected and so happy a result was mainly owing to Nehemiah's untiring zeal, who had not only guided and protected the workmen, but had personally aided in the great work together with his officers and servants. Upon him, therefore, all eyes were directed for redress from the many evils that had crept into the new community. Among these evils the most unbearable was the hard rapacity by which the richer Jews ground down their poorer brethren. The sufferers, full of trust in Nehemiah's justice, wisdom, and influence, laid before him their complaints and their burdens: 'We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn because of the dearth. We have borrowed money for the king's tribute upon our lands and vineyards; . . . and lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and our vineyards.' Nehemiah's anger and compassion were roused; he summoned the rich and the nobles before him, and thus inveighed against them: You exact usury, every one of his brother . . . We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold to the heathen; and will you even sell your brethren? or shall they sell themselves to us?' Seeing that he had moved the hearts and consciences of his hearers, he continued: It is not good that you do; ought you not to

walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen nations, our enemies? I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, have lent them money and corn; I pray you, let us remit them this loan. Restore to them, I pray you, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses; also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil that you have exacted of them as interest.' The effect was complete, and all exclaimed, 'We will restore it to them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest.' An oath and a solemn adjuration ratified this earnest promise. Nehemiah himself set the example in all deeds of self-denial and patriotic sacrifice; with royal munificence he daily entertained at his table a hundred and fifty of the most distinguished Jews, besides providing for many strangers; and yet he renounced, during the whole time of his governorship, most of the emoluments which belonged to his high office, and which his predecessors had rigorously demanded; he renounced them, because he saw that the burdens were heavy upon the people.'

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The more the work of the Jews prospered, the more violent became the hatred of the Samaritans. When Sanballat and his friends heard that the building of the walls had been brought to a successful issue, and when they found that they could not prevail by open attacks, they determined to gain their object by cunning and treachery. Therefore they invited Nehemiah to an interview in the valley of Ono near Joppa; but Nehemiah, suspecting their sinister designs, declined the request, on the plea that his presence was necessary in Jerusalem for the supervision of the works in progress. Four times the same invitation was repeated, and each time it was refused. At last Sanballat sent Nehemiah a letter containing these words: It is reported among the nations, that thou and