1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the ^atwentieth year, as I was in ^bSusa the citadel, 2 that ^cHanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and ^dshame. ^eThe wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”