Nehemiah

About the Book of Nehemiah

Nehemiah's book continues the report that starts in Ezra's book.
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. He took the Israelites who lived in Judah (the Jews) to Babylon as prisoners. That was called the exile.
When Cyrus, king of Persia, started to rule over Babylon, he let some of the Jews return to Jerusalem. See Ezra 1:1. They started to build God's temple again. Later, Artaxerxes became king of Babylon. He let more Jews return from Babylon to Jerusalem with Nehemiah. This is a report of what happened.
Nehemiah found that soldiers had destroyed the city wall. He helped the Jews to build the wall again. Their enemies tried to stop them. Nehemiah helped the people to be brave and to continue the work. He knew that God would keep them safe.