1:1 The Davar Nechemyah (נחמיה) Ben Chakalyah (חכליה). And it came to pass in the month Kislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan (שׁוּש) the palace,
1:2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and [certain] men of Yehudah; and I asked them concerning the Yehudim that had escaped, which had survived the Exile [the Golus], and concerning Yerushalayim (ירושׁלם).
1:3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are survived the Exile [the Golus] there in the province [are] in ra'ah gadol and reproach: the chomat (wall, חומת) Yerushalayim (ירושׁלם) also [is] broken down, and the sha'ar (שׁע) thereof are burned with fire.
1:4 And it came to pass, when I heard these devarim, that I sat down and wept, and mourned [certain] days, and fasted, and interceded tefillah before the Elohim (אלהים) Shamayim,
1:5 And said: "I beseech Thee, O YHWH (יהוה) Elohim (אלהים) Shamayim, the great and terrible Elohim (אלהים), that shomei Brit ve ha chesed (mercy) for them that love Him and shomrei His mitzvot:
Asking YHWH Elohim (אלהים) to remember His word
1:6 Let Thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest shema tefillah of Thy eved, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for benai Yisrael Thy avadim, and yadah (confess) the sins of benai Yisrael, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's bayit have sinned.
1:7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not shomer the mitzvot, nor the chukkim (statutes), nor the mishpatim, which thou commandedst Thy eved Mosheh.
1:8* Zakar, I beseech Thee, the word that Thou did commanded Thy eved Mosheh, saying:
[If] ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among ba amim (peoples):
1:9 But [if] ye make teshuvah unto Me, and shomer My mitzvot, 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.
1:10 Now these [are] Thy eved and Thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand.
Nechemyah asks Hashem for favor before the king
1:11 O YHWH*, I beseech Thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the tefillah of Thy eved, and to the tefillah of Thy avadim, who desire to fear Thy Name: and prosper, I pray Thee, thy eved this day, and grant him rachamim in the sight of this man. For I was the Mashkeh (cupbearer) l'melekh..
1. Nechemyah receives permission from Artachshasta to visit Yerushalayim - 1:1-2:8
a. Distress of the remnant in Yerushalayim 1:1-3
b. Nechemyah' tefillah 1:4-11
c. Answer to Nechemyah's tefillah 2:1-8
2. The rebuilding of the walls of Yerushalayim 2:9- 7:73
a. Nechemyah's arrival in Yerushalayim and encouragement of the people 2:9-20
b. The Builders of the Walls 3:1-32
c. Opposition and Encouragement 4:1-6:14
d. Completion of the wall 6:15-19
e. Registration of the people 7:1-73
3. The Great revival under Ezra 8:1-10:39
a. The Torah read and explained 8:1-12
b. Sukkot and Assembly of the people 8:13-10:39
4. Conditions prevailing in the Eretz after a Remnant had been living there for nearly 100 years 11:1-13:31
a. Inhabitants of Yerushalayim and other cities 11:1-36
b. Identification of Kohanim and Leviim 12:1-26
c. Dedication of the wall 12:27-47
d. Reading of sefer Mosheh 13:1-3
e The repudiation of Toviyah and Cleansing of ha Mikdash 13:4-9
f. Proper provision of Leviim and Singers 13:10-14
g. Restoration of Yom Shabbat rest 13:15-22
h. Enforcement of Torah against mixed marriage with other peoples 13:23-31