Whoever did not come to Jerusalem within three days would lose his property and would no longer be a member of the community of the returned captives. That was the decision of the officers and elders.
The leaders of the families of the Levites and the priests were written down in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, while Darius the Persian was king.
I argued with those people, put curses on them, hit some of them, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to make a promise to God, saying, “Do not let your daughters marry the sons of foreigners, and do not take the daughters of foreigners as wives for your sons or yourselves.
But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite officer, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they made fun of us and laughed at us. They said, “What are you doing? Are you turning against the king?”
Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They gave it to the Lord’s service and set its doors in place. They worked as far as the Tower of the Hundred and gave it to the Lord’s service. Then they went on to the Tower of Hananel.