World English Bible · The Persian return
Nehemiah 3
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
Then the rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate. They it, and set up its doors. They it even to the tower of Hammeah, to . Next to him the men of built. Next to them the son of Imri built. The sons of built the fish gate. They laid its beams, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. Next to them, the son of , the son of made repairs. Next to them, the son of , the son of made repairs. Next to them, the son of made repairs. Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles didn't put their necks to work. the son of and the son of Besodeiah repaired the old . They laid its beams and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. Next to them, the Gibeonite and the Meronothite, the men of and of , repaired the residence of the governor beyond . Next to him, the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him, , one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they fortified even to the wide wall. Next to them, the son of Hur, the ruler of half the district of , made repairs. Next to them, the son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house. Next to him, the son of Hashabneiah made repairs. the son of and the son of repaired another and the tower of the furnaces. Next to him, the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of , he and his daughters made repairs. and the inhabitants of repaired the valley gate. They built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and one thousand of the wall to the dung gate. the son of , the ruler of the district of Beth Haccherem, repaired the dung gate. He built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of , repaired the spring . He built it, covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars; and he repaired the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden, even to the stairs that go down from city. After him, the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of , made repairs to the place opposite the of , and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the . After him, the — the son of made repairs. Next to him, , the ruler of half the district of , made repairs for his district. 18After him, their brothers, Bavvai the son of , the ruler of half the district of made repairs. Next to him, the son of , the ruler of , repaired another across from the ascent to the armory at the turning of the wall. After him, the son of earnestly repaired another , from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of the . After him, the son of the son of repaired another , from the door of the house of even to the end of the house of . After him, the priests, the men of the surrounding area made repairs. After them, and made repairs across from their house. After them, the son of the son of Ananiah made repairs beside his own house. After him, the son of repaired another , from the house of to the turning of the wall, and to the corner. the son of made repairs opposite the turning of the wall, and the tower that stands out from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him the son of made repairs. (Now servants lived in , to the place opposite the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stands out.) After him the Tekoites repaired another , opposite the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of . Above the horse gate, the priests made repairs, everyone across from his own house. After them, the son of made repairs across from his own house. After him, the son of , the keeper of the east , made repairs. 30After him, the son of , and , the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another . After him, the son of made repairs across from his room. After him, , one of the goldsmiths to the house of servants, and of the merchants, made repairs opposite the of Hammiphkad and to the ascent of the corner. Between the ascent of the corner and the sheep gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The Persian return, 539 BC to 332 BC ›
Persia takes Babylon and reverses its policy, sending exiled peoples home to rebuild their temples. Judah returns as a small province, rebuilding under imperial permission rather than independence.
- Persia
- The largest empire the world had yet seen, from the Indus to the Aegean, run through provinces, a royal road, and a postal system. Its policy on conquered peoples was to send them home and fund their temples, in exchange for loyalty and prayers for the king. The Cyrus Cylinder states the policy in Cyrus's own words, and Ezra opens with the same policy applied to Judah.
- Judah
- A small, poor province called Yehud, a fraction of the old kingdom, with a rebuilt temple that made the people who remembered the first one weep. No king, and no prospect of one. Leadership passes to priests and scribes, which shapes everything afterward.
- Greece
- Persia and Greece collide at Marathon and Salamis, Persia loses, and Athens spends the following decades on the Parthenon, tragedy, and Socrates. Herodotus writes the first history in order to explain that war. Then Plato and Aristotle, whose vocabulary the church will still be using at Nicaea eight centuries later.
- Further afield
- Rome throws out its kings and becomes a republic. In India and China this is the age of the Buddha's early followers and of Confucian teaching taking hold. More of what the world still thinks with was invented in this era than in almost any other.