1 Words of Nehemiah son of Hachaliah. And it cometh to pass, in the month of Chisleu, the twentieth year, and I have been in Shushan the palace, 2 and come in doth Hanani, one of my brethren, he and men of Judah, and I ask them concerning the Jews, the escaped part that have been left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem; 3 and they say to me, `Those left, who have been left of the captivity there in the province, [are] in great evil, and in reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burnt with fire.'