Nehemiah 1

¹ The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,

² That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

³ And they said unto me, 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 burned with fire.

⁴ And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

⁵ And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:

⁶ Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.

⁷ We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

⁸ Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:

⁹ But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

¹⁰ Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

¹¹ O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

World Behind This Chapter

Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Nehemiah 1.

QUESTIONS WORTH EXPLORING

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Why is Nehemiah in Susa rather than Jerusalem?

Susa was one of the major Achaemenid royal centers. Nehemiah’s position there places a Judean official inside the imperial court while news about Jerusalem travels across the empire.

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What did a royal cupbearer actually do?

A cupbearer served close to the ruler and handled access to the royal table and drink. The office could carry exceptional trust and proximity, which helps explain how Nehemiah could present a request directly to the king.

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Why does the prayer call God “the God of heaven”?

The title “God of heaven” is especially prominent in Persian-period biblical and Aramaic texts. Its use fits the international language of the period without by itself settling how the title originated or was understood in every community.

WORTH A CLOSER LOOK

Artifacts

Stand inside the royal city of Susa

The excavated palace complex at Susa makes Nehemiah’s opening location concrete. Susa was an Achaemenid administrative and royal center, and its palatial remains place the cupbearer inside the physical world of Persian kingship.

View the object →

⌘ Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter 3

Language & Literature1

• Nehemiah 1 in STEP BibleSTEP Bible

  Interactive Hebrew-study tools for Nehemiah’s prayer, confession, covenant language, “God of heaven,” the remnant, Jerusalem’s wall, and the royal-court title “cupbearer.”

Artifacts & Manuscripts2

• Darius’s Foundation Inscription from Susa, DSfLivius

  Open translation and explanation of Darius I’s trilingual foundation inscription from the palace at Susa, describing materials and workers gathered from across the empire. Useful for exposing visitors to the multilingual imperial-text world behind Nehemiah’s Persian court setting; not evidence for Nehemiah personally.

• Susa, Palace of Darius the GreatLivius

  Photo-rich archaeological overview of the Achaemenid palace complex at Susa, where Nehemiah serves in the Persian court. Useful for picturing the imperial setting behind Nehemiah’s grief, prayer, and position as royal cupbearer.