[Verse 1]
Eliashib and the priests sanctify and build the sheep gate.
Men of Jericho and Zaccur repair the neighboring wall.
Meremoth, Meshullam, Zadok, and others repair adjoining sections.
Joiada and Meshullam repair the old gate.
[Pre-Chorus]
The stones lay broken, every gate was burned,
But prayer became the place where courage turned.
[Chorus]
Every Man over against His House, raise the broken stones,
Call the scattered families to their homes.
The work grew strong through prayer, truth, and hand,
And ruined gates remembered how to stand.
[Verse 2]
Jedaiah works opposite his own house, followed by Hattush.
Malchijah and Hashub repair the tower of the furnaces.
Shallum works with his daughters on another city section.
Malchiah repairs the dung gate with doors, locks.
[Bridge]
Nehemiah son of Azbuk works near David's graves and the house of the mighty.
Levites and district rulers repair successive stretches toward the armory.
Baruch works earnestly while priests and families repair opposite their houses.
Goldsmiths and merchants finish the circuit from the east gate to the sheep gate.
[Final Chorus]
Every Man over against His House, raise the broken stones,
Call the scattered families to their homes.
The work grew strong through prayer, truth, and hand,
And ruined gates remembered where to stand.
[Outro]
The wall stood firm, but hearts still needed care.
The work was stone and covenant and prayer.
Nehemiah 3 reads like a construction register, but its repetition is the point. The wall acquires names, occupations, households, gates, towers, pools, and adjoining stretches. Priests begin at the Sheep Gate, while goldsmiths, an apothecary, officials, merchants, families, and people from neighboring towns take their places around the circuit. "Next unto" becomes the chapter's working rhythm, because one repaired portion matters only when it meets another. The register also refuses to flatten everybody into the same kind of participant. Tekoite nobles decline the work while their people take on more, Shallum's daughters are named, Baruch is singled out for earnest labor, and several workers repair near their own houses. The circuit finally returns to the Sheep Gate, making the list itself resemble the connected wall it records.
