English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Nehemiah 3:17-32 (English Standard Version)

17After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired for his district. 18After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah. 19Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at^(A) the buttress.^[a] 20After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section from the buttress to the door of the house of^(B) Eliashib the high priest. 21After him^(C) Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22After him the priests, the men of^(D) the surrounding area, repaired. 23After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah repaired beside his own house. 24After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress 25and to^(E) the corner. Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the buttress and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at^(F) the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh 26^(G) and the temple servants living on^(H) Ophel repaired to a point opposite^(I) the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower. 27After him^(J) the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.

28Above^(K) the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house. 29After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired. 30After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him^(L) Meshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite^(M) his chamber. 31After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate,^[b] and to the upper chamber of the corner. 32And between the upper chamber of the corner and^(N) the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.

Wow, at first glance at today's passage I was thinking how in the world am I going to apply this? But God is good and as I dug a little and looked in to a couple of friend's posts on this and also looked at the Quiet Time Commentary, I found a couple of great things. The first thing that struck me is that most of these people here who were doing work on the wall were doing work right near their house. I think this is another reminder from God (there have been several recently) that when doing His work, it starts at home. It starts in my home, then with the people right in my community. It's easy to think about the mass body of people in the world, but the problem with that is that it's easy to use that as an excuse. The mass body in the world has no individual face, it's easy to hide behind, not get my hands dirty, and really do nothing. But when I go to work for God right at home and right with the people in my community, then everything becomes real, not just theory. This is kind of hard since I just recently moved and am now in a brand new community. But God help me as I attempt to go to work for him right where I'm at