No matter what you do, work at it with all your might. Remember, you are going to the place of the dead. And there isn’t any work or planning or knowledge or wisdom there.

凡你手所当做的事要尽力去做；因为在你所必去的阴间没有工作，没有谋算，没有知识，也没有智慧。

凡你手所当做的事，要尽力去做；因为在你所必须去的阴间没有工作，没有谋算，没有知识，也没有智慧。

凡你手所当做的事，要尽力去做；因为在你所必须去的阴间没有工作，没有谋算，没有知识，也没有智慧。

凡你的手能做的，都要尽力去做，因为在你要去的阴间没有工作，没有计划，也没有知识和智慧。

凡是你手可作的，都当尽力去作；因为在你所要去的阴间里，既没有工作，又没有筹谋；没有知识，也没有智慧。

凡是你手当做的，你都当极力去做；因为在你必去的阴间没有工作，没有筹划，没有知识，也没有智慧。

凡你手所當做的事要盡力去做；因為在你所必去的陰間沒有工作，沒有謀算，沒有知識，也沒有智慧。

凡你手所當做的事，要盡力去做；因為在你所必須去的陰間沒有工作，沒有謀算，沒有知識，也沒有智慧。

凡你手所當做的事，要盡力去做；因為在你所必須去的陰間沒有工作，沒有謀算，沒有知識，也沒有智慧。

凡你的手能做的，都要盡力去做，因為在你要去的陰間沒有工作，沒有計劃，也沒有知識和智慧。

凡是你手可作的，都當盡力去作；因為在你所要去的陰間裡，既沒有工作，又沒有籌謀；沒有知識，也沒有智慧。

凡你的手見得可作的事、你總要盡力去作；因為在你所要去的陰間、那裏沒有工作，沒有設計，沒有知識，也沒有智慧。

凡是你手當做的，你都當極力去做；因為在你必去的陰間沒有工作，沒有籌劃，沒有知識，也沒有智慧。

爾手可為者、當盡力為之、緣爾將至之陰府、無工作、無籌畫、無知識、無智慧、○

且爾竭心思、為所當為、轉瞬之間、即歸於土、在彼無工作、無計謀、無智慧。

凡爾手所經營之事、當盡力經營、因爾所將往之示阿勒、示阿勒有譯黃泉有譯陰府有譯墳墓無經營、無計謀、無知識、無智慧、○

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.

Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do[ it] with thy might; for[ there is] no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, the place where you will eventually go.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.

Work at everything you do with all your heart. Work as if you were working for the Lord, not for human masters.

Make the most of every opportunity. The days are evil.

Stay excited about your faith as you serve the Lord.

But put God’s kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all those things will also be given to you.

Dead people can’t call out your name. How can they praise you when they are in the grave?

In a race all the runners run. But only one gets the prize. You know that, don’t you? So run in a way that will get you the prize.

So I do not run like someone who doesn’t run toward the finish line. I do not fight like a boxer who hits nothing but air.

When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me.

People in the grave can’t praise you. Dead people can’t sing praise to you. Those who go down to the grave can’t hope for you to be faithful to them.It is those who are alive who praise you. And that’s what I’m doing today. Parents tell their children about how faithful you are.

That’s what Hezekiah did all through Judah. He did what was good and right. He was faithful to the Lord his God.He tried to obey his God. He worked for him with all his heart. That’s the way he worked in everything he did to serve God’s temple. He obeyed the law. He followed the Lord’ s commands. So he had success.

In the morning plant your seeds. In the evening keep your hands busy. You don’t know what will succeed. It may be one or the other. Or both might do equally well.

I will tell other people about all the good things you have done. All day long I will talk about how you have saved your people. But there’s no way I could say how many times you’ve done this.Lord and King, I will come and announce your mighty acts. I will announce all the good things that you alone do.God, ever since I was young you have taught me. To this very day I tell about your wonderful acts.God, don’t leave me even when I’m old and have gray hair. Let me live to tell my children about your power. Let me tell all of them about your mighty acts.

He spoke to his friends and the army of Samaria. He said,“ What are those Jews trying to do? Can they make their city wall like new again? Will they offer sacrifices? Can they finish everything in a single day? The stones from their city wall and buildings are piled up like trash. And everything has been badly burned. Can they use those stones to rebuild everything again?”

Clouds that are full of water pour rain down on the earth. A tree might fall to the south or the north. It will stay in the place where it falls.

“ I have spent time with you preaching about the kingdom. I know that none of you will ever see me again.So I tell you today that I am not guilty if any of you don’t believe.I haven’t let anyone keep me from telling you everything God wants you to do.Keep watch over yourselves. Keep watch over all the believers. The Holy Spirit has made you leaders over them. Be shepherds of God’s church. He bought it with his own blood.I know that after I leave, wild wolves will come in among you. They won’t spare any of the sheep.Even men from your own people will rise up and twist the truth. They want to get the believers to follow them.So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning you. Night and day I warned each of you with tears.

So I was very unhappy. I threw all of Tobiah’s things out of the room.I gave orders to make the rooms pure and“ clean” again. Then I put the supplies from God’s house back into them. That included the grain offerings and the incense.I also learned that the shares the Levites were supposed to receive hadn’t been given to them. So all the Levites and musicians had to leave their regular temple duties. They had to go back and farm their own fields.I gave a warning to the officials. I asked them,“ Why aren’t you taking care of God’s house?” Then I brought the Levites and musicians together. I stationed them in their proper places. I put them back to work.All the people of Judah brought a tenth of the grain, olive oil and fresh wine. They took it to the storerooms.I put some men in charge of the storerooms. They were Shelemiah, Zadok and Pedaiah. Shelemiah was a priest. Zadok was a teacher of the law. And Pedaiah was a Levite. I made Hanan their assistant. He was the son of Zakkur. Zakkur was the son of Mattaniah. I knew that these men could be trusted. They were put in charge of handing out the supplies to the other Levites.You are my God. Remember me because of what I’ve done. I’ve worked faithfully for your temple and its services. So please don’t forget the good things I’ve done.In those days I saw some people of Judah stomping on grapes in winepresses. They were doing it on the Sabbath day. Other people were bringing in grain. They were loading it on donkeys. Still other people were loading up wine, grapes, figs and other kinds of things. They were bringing all of it into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them not to sell food on that day.People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish. In fact, they were bringing in all kinds of goods. They were selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. The people of Judah were buying them.I gave a warning to the nobles of Judah. I said,“ Why are you doing such an evil thing? You are misusing the Sabbath day!Your people of long ago did the very same things. That’s why our God has brought all this trouble on us. That’s why he’s making this city suffer so much. Now you are making him even angrier against Israel. You are misusing the Sabbath day.”Evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath day started. So I ordered the gates to be shut. They had to remain closed until the Sabbath day was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates. I told them not to let anything be brought in on the Sabbath day.Once or twice some traders and sellers spent the night outside Jerusalem. They were hoping to sell all kinds of goods.But I gave them a warning. I said,“ Why are you spending the night by the wall? If you do this again, I’ll arrest you.” So from that time on they didn’t come on the Sabbath day anymore.I commanded the Levites to make themselves pure. Then I told them to go and guard the gates. I wanted the Sabbath day to be kept holy. You are my God. Remember me because of the good things I’ve done. Be kind to me according to your great love.In those days I also saw that some men of Judah had married women from Ashdod. Others had married women from Ammon or Moab.Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod. Or they spoke the language of one of the other nations. They didn’t even know how to speak the language of Judah.So I gave them a warning. I cursed them. I beat up some of them. I pulled their hair out. I had them make a promise in God’s name. I said,“ You must promise not to give your daughters to be married to their sons. You must promise not to let their daughters marry your sons. And you must not marry their daughters either.That’s how Solomon, the king of Israel, sinned. He married women from other nations. There wasn’t a king like him anywhere. His God loved him. In fact, God made him king over the whole nation of Israel. But even he was led into sin by women from other lands.Now I hear that you too are doing all of the same terrible and evil things. You aren’t being faithful to our God. You are marrying women from other lands.”One of the sons of Joiada was the son- in- law of Sanballat the Horonite. Joiada, the son of Eliashib, was the high priest. I drove Joiada’s son away from me.You are my God. Remember what those priests have done. They have brought shame to their own work. They have also brought shame to the covenant that God made with the priests and Levites long ago.So I made the priests and Levites pure. I made them pure from every practice that had come from other countries and had made them impure. I gave them their duties. Each one had his own job to do.I also made plans for gifts of wood to be brought at certain appointed times. And I made plans for the first share of the crops to be brought. You are my God. Please remember me with kindness.

Then at night I took a few other people with me to check out the walls. I hadn’t told anyone what my God wanted me to do for Jerusalem. There weren’t any donkeys with me except the one I was riding on.That night I went out through the Valley Gate. I went toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate. I checked out the walls of Jerusalem. They had been broken down. I also checked the city gates. Fire had burned them up.I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool. But there wasn’t enough room for my donkey to get through.It was still night. I went up the Kidron Valley. I kept checking the wall. Finally, I turned back. I went back in through the Valley Gate.The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I had done. That’s because I hadn’t said anything to anyone yet. I hadn’t told the priests or nobles or officials. And I hadn’t spoken to any other Jews who would be rebuilding the wall.I said to them,“ You can see the trouble we’re in. Jerusalem has been destroyed. Fire has burned up its gates. Come on. Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Then people won’t be ashamed anymore.”I also told them how my gracious God was helping me. And I told them what the king had said to me. They replied,“ Let’s start rebuilding.” So they began that good work.But Sanballat, the Horonite, heard about it. So did Tobiah, the official from Ammon. Geshem, the Arab, heard about it too. All of them laughed at us. They made fun of us.“ What do you think you are doing?” they asked.“ Are you turning against the king?”I answered,“ The God of heaven will give us success. We serve him. So we’ll start rebuilding the walls. But you don’t have any share in Jerusalem. You don’t have any claim to it. You don’t have any right to worship here.”Eliashib the high priest and the other priests went to work. They rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They set it apart to God. They put its doors in place. They continued to rebuild the wall up to the Tower of the Hundred. They set the tower apart to God. Then they continued to rebuild the wall all the way to the Tower of Hananel.Some men from Jericho rebuilt the next part of the wall. And Zakkur rebuilt the next part. He was the son of Imri.The sons of Hassenaah rebuilt the Fish Gate. They laid its beams. They put in place its doors with their metal bolts and bars.Meremoth repaired the next part of the wall. He was the son of Uriah. Uriah was the son of Hakkoz. Next to Meremoth, Meshullam made some repairs. He was the son of Berekiah. Berekiah was the son of Meshezabel. Next to Meshullam, Zadok also made some repairs. He was the son of Baana.Some men from Tekoa repaired the next part of the wall. But their nobles refused to do any work at all. They didn’t pay any attention to the people who were in charge of the work.Joiada and Meshullam repaired the Jeshanah Gate. Joiada was the son of Paseah. Meshullam was the son of Besodeiah. Joiada and Meshullam laid the beams of the gate. They put in place its doors with their metal bolts and bars.Next to them, some men from Gibeon and Mizpah made repairs. They included Melatiah from Gibeon and Jadon from Meronoth. Those places were under the authority of the governor of the land west of the Euphrates River.Uzziel repaired the next part of the wall. He made his living by working with gold. He was the son of Harhaiah. Hananiah made repairs on the next part. He made his living by making perfume. So the wall of Jerusalem was made like new again all the way to the Broad Wall.Rephaiah repaired the next part. He was the son of Hur. Rephaiah ruled over half of the territory where Jerusalem was located.Jedaiah repaired the part of the wall that was across from his house. He was the son of Harumaph. Hattush made repairs next to Jedaiah. Hattush was the son of Hashabneiah.Malkijah and Hasshub repaired another part of the wall. They also repaired the Tower of the Ovens. Malkijah was the son of Harim. Hasshub was the son of Pahath- Moab.Shallum repaired the next part. His daughters helped him. He was the son of Hallohesh. Shallum ruled over the other half of the territory where Jerusalem was located.Hanun repaired the Valley Gate. Some people who lived in Zanoah helped him. They rebuilt it. They put in place its doors with their metal bolts and bars. They also repaired 1,500 feet of the wall. They repaired it all the way to the Dung Gate.Malkijah repaired the Dung Gate. He was the son of Rekab. Malkijah ruled over the territory where Beth Hakkerem was located. He rebuilt the gate. He put in place its doors with their metal bolts and bars.Shallun repaired the Fountain Gate. He was the son of Kol- Hozeh. Shallun ruled over the territory where Mizpah was located. He rebuilt the gate. He put a roof over it. And he put in place the doors of the gate with their metal bolts and bars. He also repaired the wall by the Pool of Siloam. It was near the King’s Garden. Shallun repaired the wall as far as the steps that go down from the City of David.Next to Shallun, Nehemiah made some repairs. He was the son of Azbuk. Nehemiah ruled over half of the territory where Beth Zur was located. He repaired the wall up to the part that was across from the tombs of David. He repaired it all the way to the man- made pool and the House of the Heroes.

While it is still day, we must do the works of the one who sent me. Night is coming. Then no one can work.

“ At least there is hope for a tree. If it’s cut down, it will begin to grow again. New branches will appear on it.Its roots may grow old in the ground. Its stump may die in the soil.But when it smells water, it will begin to grow. It will send out new growth like a plant.No man is like that. When he dies, he is buried in a grave. He takes his last breath. Then he is gone.Water dries up from lakes. Riverbeds become empty and dry.In the same way, people lie down and never get up. People won’t wake or rise from their sleep until the heavens are gone.

But we prayed to our God. We put guards on duty day and night to watch out for danger.During that time, the people in Judah spoke up. They said,“ The workers are getting weaker and weaker all the time. Broken stones are piled up everywhere. They are in our way. So we can’t rebuild the wall.”And our enemies said,“ We will be right there among them. We’ll kill them. We’ll put an end to their work. We’ll do it before they even know it or see us.”Then the Jews who lived near our enemies came to us. They told us ten times,“ No matter where you are, they’ll attack us.”So I stationed some people behind the lowest parts of the wall. That’s where our enemies could easily attack us. I stationed the people family by family. They had their swords, spears and bows with them.

Do you do wonderful things for those who are dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you?Do those who are dead speak about your love? Do those who are in the grave tell how faithful you are?Are your wonderful deeds known in that dark place? Are your holy acts known in that land where the dead are forgotten?

People who are still alive know they’ll die. But those who have died don’t know anything. They don’t receive any more rewards. And even their name is forgotten.Their love, hate and jealousy disappear. They will never share again in anything that happens on earth.

But because of God’s grace I am what I am. And his grace was not wasted on me. No, I have worked harder than all the other apostles. But I didn’t do the work. God’s grace was with me.

The people continued to build the wall. The people who carried supplies did their work with one hand. They held a weapon in the other hand.Each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who blew the trumpet stayed with me.Then I spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people. I said,“ This is a big job. It covers a lot of territory. We’re separated too far from one another along the wall.When you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us at that location. Our God will fight for us!”So we continued the work. Half of the men held spears. We worked from the first light of sunrise until the stars came out at night.At that time I also spoke to the people. I told them,“ Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night. Then they can guard us at night. And they can work during the day.”My relatives and I didn’t take off our clothes. My men and the guards didn’t take theirs off either. Each man kept his weapon with him, even when he went to get water.

The elders of the Jews continued to build the temple. They enjoyed great success because of the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, the prophets. Zechariah belonged to the family line of Iddo. The people finished building the temple. That’s what the God of Israel had commanded them to do. Cyrus and Darius had given orders allowing them to do it. Later, Artaxerxes supplied many things that were needed in the temple. Those three men were kings of Persia.So the temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar. It was in the sixth year that Darius was king.

Jesus said,“ My food is to do what my Father sent me to do. My food is to finish his work.

So be committed to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. Start building the temple of the Lord God. Then bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord into it. Also bring in the sacred objects that belong to God. The temple will be built for the Name of the Lord.”

David also said to his son Solomon,“ Be strong and brave. Get to work. Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose hope. The Lord God is my God. He is with you. He won’t fail you. He won’t desert you until all the work for serving in the Lord’ s temple is finished.

So I will always remind you of these things. I’ll do it even though you know them. I’ll do it even though you now have deep roots in the truth.I think it is right for me to remind you. It is right as long as I live in this tent. I’m talking about my body.I know my tent will soon be removed. Our Lord Jesus Christ has made that clear to me.I hope that you will always be able to remember these things after I’m gone. I will try very hard to see that you do.

Then Caleb interrupted the men speaking to Moses. He said,“ We should go up and take the land. We can certainly do it.”

With all my riches I’ve done everything I could for the temple of my God. I’ve provided gold for the gold work and silver for the silver work. I’ve provided bronze for the bronze work and iron for the iron work. I’ve given wood for the things that will be made out of wood. I’ve given onyx and turquoise for the settings. I’ve given stones of different colors and all kinds of fine stone and marble. I’ve provided everything in huge amounts.With all my heart I want the temple of my God to be built. So I’m giving my personal treasures of gold and silver for it. I’m adding them to everything else I’ve provided for the holy temple.

Timothy will visit you. Make sure he has nothing to worry about while he is with you. He is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am.

I will speak about what Christ has done through me. I won’t try to speak about anything else. He has been leading the Gentiles to obey God. He has been doing this by what I have said and done.He has given me power to do signs and wonders. I can do these things by the power of the Spirit of God. From Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum I have finished preaching. In those places, I preached the good news about Christ.I have always wanted to preach the good news where Christ was not known. I don’t want to build on what someone else has started.

So we rebuilt the wall. We repaired it until all of it was half as high as we wanted it to be. The people worked with all their heart.