JW subtitle extractor

It was now Tishri, the start of a month-long festival.
We had just rebuilt the wall of Jehovah’s great city.
Now it was time to rebuild
the spirituality of his chosen people.
Many did not know God’s Law.
Who better to help us gain understanding
than a man who had come before me—Ezra?
. . . the regulations and judicial decisions of Jehovah.
He and other Levites read aloud
from the Law of Moses.
They not only read it but they explained it,
putting meaning into it.
As a people, we began to understand
how badly we had disappointed Jehovah
by working on the Sabbath,
offering lame sacrifices,
and divorcing our wives to marry foreign women.
It hurt our hearts, but by reading God’s Law,
we were learning to be Jehovah’s people again.
Do not mourn or weep.
Now that you know what displeases God,
you can do what pleases him.
So go.
Eat the choice things, and drink what is sweet,
and send a portion to those who have nothing.
And do not feel sad,
for the joy of Jehovah is your stronghold.
We followed Jehovah’s instructions
to observe the Festival of Booths.
We spent days rejoicing and giving thanks
for Jehovah’s blessing.
Then on the 24th day,
we assembled to read God’s Law,
to confess our sins,
and to weep over our wrongdoing.
We made a binding agreement in writing.
We resolved to obey Jehovah’s Law.
Amen!
Amen!
But some soon forgot their promise.
Peleth!
Reham,
here’s our rent payment.
Put them in a bag.
The basket is hard to carry.
Did you hear about Nehemiah’s latest idea?
You mean the plan to repopulate Jerusalem?
I mean his ridiculous proposal to force families
to move into the city—1 out of 10 by lot.
Yes, I heard.
And I had to be one who was chosen.
Why me?
Doesn’t he care what this does to landholders like me?
Oh!
So when are you supposed to move?
Move?
I’m not moving anywhere.
I have a right to live where I choose, and so do you.
I wasn’t selected.
Not yet, you mean.
And when you are,
I need you to join me in refusing to move.
Raham,
the king sent Nehemiah here to rebuild the city.
Nehemiah is the governor.
Governors come, governors go.
The king is waiting for Nehemiah to return,
and when he does, things will get back to normal.
Even when Nehemiah goes back,
Jehovah will still be here.
It is his will that Jerusalem be rebuilt.
Don’t you believe that?
So you would go along with Nehemiah?
How can you be so ungrateful?
Raham,
your rent!
What was that all about?
Raham refuses to move into Jerusalem,
and he wants us to support him.
What did you say?
I told him Nehemiah is doing Jehovah’s will.
Raham doesn’t understand how happy
he could be if-if he would just follow Jehovah’s direction.
So we will move if we are selected?
Yes.
I’d rather be like Nehemiah than like Raham.
You agree?
Yes.
Me too.
At the inauguration of the walls,
we filled Jerusalem with songs of praise
and thanksgiving to God.
Our great joy could be heard from far away.
When I finally returned to the king,
I thought about that day often.
With what I know now, I wish I had never left.
Jehovah raised up a messenger
who chronicled the things that happened
in Jerusalem during my absence.
His name was Malachi.
Tobiah,
despite not being a Jew,
still found his way into the temple.
He utilized his Jewish family ties
to take advantage of the other Jews.
What brings you to the temple?
It’s been some time.
I just wanted to see you,
oh, and to bring you this small gift.
Tobiah, you are always so generous.
It’s nothing, really.
Umm, is there nothing I can do for you?
Well, since you asked,
there’s one little thing you could do.
Tell me. What can I do for you?
Well, speaking of family . . .
When our relatives, yours and mine, I mean,
visit from Samaria, it would be so nice
to have a place to eat with them.
You know, right here in the temple, that is.
After all, they worship Jehovah too—often.
OK, well, sometimes.
A room in the temple?
But you know I can’t do that.
That is, all the rooms are in use.
All of them?
Aren’t some of them just storerooms?
But those are provisions for the Levites.
But can’t you clear one out for me? just one?
I only need one.
But what will Nehemiah say?
What difference does it make?
Nehemiah is far away in Shushan.
But what if he finds out?
Who is going to tell him?
Are you going to tell him?
No, no!
Then why worry?
So once again our high priest has given in to Tobiah.
Where should I put this grain?
There’s room here.
Be careful! I’ve got it.
Look who’s coming.
Can you hurry, please?
Once they get out of our way, let’s, uh,
let’s set the table here and then the chairs
kind of along the wall.
Tobiah, tell me, please,
where should we store our provisions now?
Wherever you want.
That’s your problem.
Now move along,
like now, please.
All right, so we’ll unload here,
and then like I said, chairs there, table here.
How could Eliashib let anyone,
let alone a man like Tobiah,
take over a room for his own use
after all that Nehemiah did
to preserve the sacredness of the temple?
Most people don’t give tithes anymore anyway.
If we want to eat,
we need to go tend our own flocks and fields.
It’s of no value to serve God.
Wait, brothers!
We can’t let their wrong acts take away our joy.
Why not?
How have we benefited from serving Jehovah?
Yes. And doesn’t the scripture say:
“Take good care of your sheep”?
It also says:
“A faithful man will receive many blessings.”
We must wait on Jehovah.
In time, he will straighten everything out.
Malachi saw how far the people had fallen.
The Levites,
once the proud keepers of Jehovah’s standards,
now found themselves questioning
the value of their own service.
Young man!
Why not offer a sheep?
The bigger the offering,
the bigger the blessings.
And besides,
you know it’s more impressive to the neighbors, huh?
Thank you. I already have an offering.
Yes, yes, but look!
You seem like a nice man.
So today, for you, a special price—huh?—
hardly more than you paid for these doves.
Come take a look.
That sheep is blind!
And look at how it walks!
Young man, that’s absolutely normal for this breed.
God’s Law says not to offer blind, lame, or sick animals.
If ever I can afford to offer a sheep, it’ll be a sound one.
Don’t waste your money!
She’s a fine sheep at a fine price.
I have to go.
Be practical!
Besides, it’s only a tradition.
Bah!
Temple services are not the same.
It’s as if they don’t even think about Jehovah.
Azubah!
What’s wrong?
Azubah, what happened?
How’s Raham?
A certificate of divorce?
I tried to be a good wife,
but it wasn’t enough.
Raham sent me away.
Don’t fear, Azubah.
You can live here with us.
We can all share.
Oh, God!
It’s all my fault.
You mustn’t think that way.
But I didn’t give him children.
With or without children,
marriage is sacred.
Trust in Jehovah.
He will never send you away.
Thank you.
Raham!
We had a visitor last night.
It was your wife,
or should I say your former wife.
Raham,
don’t you care how you’ve hurt your innocent mate?
How can you be so hard-hearted?
Look! Moses said if you find something
indecent with your wife, a man must write
a certificate of divorce, hand it to her,
and dismiss her.
If giving me no children isn’t indecent, then what is?
Besides, I’m tired of living with her.
I’m marrying Gizla today.
Gizla?
That Moabite girl?
I heard you bind yourself with an oath and a curse
not to take a wife from the nations!
God’s Law says: “They will turn your sons away
“from following me to serve other gods;
then Jehovah’s anger will blaze against you”!
Who are you to counsel me?
Every man must find his own joy,
and I intend to find mine.
Raham, only Jehovah can give true joy.
Do you really think you can give
yourself more joy than he can?
Jehovah,
why do we treat each other so treacherously,
profaning your covenant?
Malachi!
Say to the priests who are despising my name:
“A son honors a father, and a servant his master.
“So if I am a father, where is the honor due me?
And if I am a master, where is the fear due me?”
My good man!
My good man, I see you have no offering.
Why have you Levites despised Jehovah’s name?
Despised it?
How?
You present a blind, lame, or sick animal
as a sacrifice and say that it is nothing bad.
Should Jehovah accept it from your hand?
Once the meat is in our pot,
no one can tell if it was lame or sound.
What about Jehovah? Can he tell the difference?
One day Jehovah will come to his temple.
He will cleanse you sons of Levi by fire.
Malachi, what’s gotten into you?
Why should you complain
when everyone else approves?
“‘O priests, if you refuse to take it to heart,’
“says Jehovah,
“‘I will send on you the curse,
“‘and I will turn your blessings into curses.
Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says Jehovah.”
How are we supposed to return?
“‘Will a mere human rob God?
“But you are robbing me,’ says Jehovah.
How have we robbed him?
“‘In the tithes and in the contributions.
“‘You are robbing me—yes,
“the entire nation is,’ says Jehovah.
“‘Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse,
“‘so there may be food in my house;
“‘and test me out, please,
“‘and see whether I will not open to you
“‘the floodgates of the heavens
“‘and pour out on you a blessing
until there is nothing lacking.’”
And there’s another thing you do
so that he no longer looks favorably
on anything you offer.
Why not?
Because you betray the wife of your youth,
although she’s your partner, your legal wife.
There are some who don’t do that
because they have what remains of the spirit.
So guard yourselves respecting your spirit,
and do not deal treacherously
with the wife of your youth.
“‘For I hate divorce,’ says Jehovah the God of Israel.”
The lips of a priest should safeguard knowledge,
and people should seek the law from his mouth.
But you,
you have made many stumble.
Jehovah’s message revealed that the problem
was in their hearts.
In spite of that,
Malachi sought out those who found joy
in doing what was right.
Peleth.
Malachi.
How are you?
Azubah,
don’t despair.
You will see the distinction
between the righteous and the wicked,
between one who serves God
and one who doesn’t.
You must be a prophet.
I serve Jehovah as you do.
And I can tell you that when you speak with one another
about Jehovah, he pays attention.
A book is written before him of those
who fear him and meditate on his name.
May Jehovah be with you.
For years, I was away from Jerusalem,
but my heart was always with my people.
I requested to return to them.
But what I found shocked me.
Eliashib!
May you have peace.
Nehemiah!
I wasn’t expecting . . .
Where are all the Levites and the singers?
Some of them are away right now.
Away?
Why are they away?
Pedaiah is here!
Pedaiah,
show Governor Nehemiah around.
Excuse me, please.
Of course.
Pedaiah,
tell me about the temple services.
Do you have all the provisions that you need?
Governor Nehemiah,
we have nearly no provisions at all.
How can that be?
For a long time, the priests and the Levites
have not taken their duties seriously.
When the people saw that,
they stopped bringing in tithes.
Without the tithes,
most Levites and singers returned to their fields.
Why have you not returned?
My lord, I’m getting by.
I’ve always believed that Jehovah helps
those who trust in him.
I know he will correct things in his time.
Did Eliashib not tell the people to bring your provisions?
In your absence,
the prophet Malachi warned him and all the priests.
But Eliashib—
He took our storeroom and emptied it of our provisions.
He gave it to Tobiah to use as a dining hall.
Pedaiah, help us get rid of these things.
What are you doing?
Eliashib!
What have you been doing?
Why have you and the deputy rulers
neglected the house of God?
Nehemiah.
You and they,
please cleanse this room
and replace the utensils.
Yes, my lord.
And gather all the Levites,
the singers, and the deputy rulers to me.
I’m assigning them all back to their posts.
Pedaiah, I’m placing you, Shelemiah,
and Zadok in charge of the storerooms.
Hanan will be your assistant.
It’s your responsibility
to distribute provisions to your brothers.
Nehemiah,
wait-wait a second.
Let me explain this.
And I will tell all Judah
to bring in the tenth of the grain,
the new wine, and the oil.
I can explain this.
No, no, wait.
Do remember me, O my God,
and do not wipe out my acts of loyal love
for the house of my God.
Not only had they neglected Jehovah’s house
but some of the Jews
continued to conduct business on the Sabbath
—a day Jehovah had declared as holy.
What are you selling today?
Only the best quality fish from Tyre.
What are you doing?
Do you not care that this is the Sabbath?
Nehemiah.
What is this evil thing you’re doing?
That’s why God brought disaster on this city!
The people think it’s acceptable now.
What does Jehovah think?
I stopped the buying and selling
and ordered the doors closed
so as to keep the Sabbath day holy.
But the following week, the merchants tried again.
What’s the meaning of this?
I had to sleep on the ground last night.
You know God’s Law: No work,
no business on the Sabbath!
Go!
You and all the Levites, guard the gates
and keep the Sabbath holy.
Don’t let anyone in!
This, too, remember to my credit, O my God,
and show me pity
according to your abundant loyal love.
There was another thing that I had to do.
Come along.
Ana la mitbayen.
Come back here!
You have to listen to me. I’m your father!
What’s wrong with your children?
They don’t like coming to the temple.
Sweetie, why don’t you like it?
Shvok Y-ati!
Come back here now!
I’m sorry, my lord.
My wife speaks very little Hebrew.
Did you not swear never to marry someone
who doesn’t serve Jehovah?
Nehemiah, nobody cares.
Did you not?
Yes! Yes!
Then why have you ignored the command of Jehovah
and your own oath?
Let me go!
No wonder your children don’t love Jehovah.
Aah!
Did you imagine that you could succeed
without Jehovah’s blessing?
I prayed for Jehovah’s blessing!
Did you?
But you didn’t obey him.
Raham, how can Jehovah bless something
that is against his will?
Why was I surprised?
The people were just following
the bad example of those taking the lead.
Eliashib’s grandson married a Horonite,
the daughter of Sanballat.
Have you no respect for God’s Law?
You should not give your daughters to their sons
or accept any of their daughters for your sons
or yourselves!
Was it not because of these that King Solomon sinned?
Grandfather, say something.
Be still, my son.
Is it not something unheard of
for you to commit this great evil
by marrying foreign women?
You have defiled the priesthood!
You may not serve as a priest or remain in Jerusalem.
Fine.
I’ll go to Samaria.
They’re more tolerant there.
But he’s my grandson.
Then why did you allow him
to disregard Jehovah’s laws?
You know our temple services
are what preserve our relationship with God!
But as soon as I left,
all of you,
you let it fall apart.
It took some time, but true worship was restored.
When I look back on all
that Jehovah enabled us to do
despite the opposition we faced, . . .
I recommend
we turn the accusation of sedition
against Nehemiah.
The next sound they hear
will be our battle cry.
Are you going to wait until they start killing us?
. . . the bad influences we avoided, . . .
I have a right to live where I choose, and so do you.
I need you to join me in refusing to move.
Don’t waste your money!
Be practical!
Besides, it’s only a tradition.
If we want to eat,
we need to go tend our own flocks and fields.
It’s of no value to serve God.
. . . the sleepless nights, . . .
We must go to Jerusalem to keep an eye on Nehemiah.
Don’t you see? These people hate what we’re doing.
They hate us.
You don’t have to live and work around them like we do.
. . . the sweat and toil, . . .
Besides, this work is too much for us.
We’re worn out.
Why do we need a wall anyway?
. . . I just remember the joy we felt
because we were serving Jehovah the right way.
We thought we were just working on a wall,
but Jehovah was rebuilding our faith.
I’ll never forget how Jehovah
brought us together to accomplish his will.
He taught us to rely on him,
and he strengthened us.
Eat the choice things, and drink what is sweet,
and send a portion to those who have nothing.
And do not feel sad,
for the joy of Jehovah is your stronghold.
Do remember me favorably, O my God.
Nehemiah was a man of courage.
He could have stayed in the luxurious palace
of Shushan and served Jehovah from there.
But he didn’t.
When a need arose,
he was ready to make the long journey
to Jerusalem to support his brothers.
But it wouldn’t be easy.
First, he had to ask the king of Persia to let him go.
What helped Nehemiah
to be a courageous person for Jehovah?
Did he rely on his personality
or his good record with the king?
Let’s watch this part again.
The place where my forefathers are buried lies in ruins,
and its gates have been consumed by fire.
Nehemiah, what is this?
Speak frankly.
What are you seeking?
At once, I prayed to the God of the heavens.
If it pleases the king
and if your servant has found favor with you,
send me to Judah,
to the city where my forefathers are buried,
and let me rebuild it.
You may go.
Jehovah was with us.
Nehemiah immediately and humbly prayed to Jehovah,
the true Source of courage.
In fact, he prayed repeatedly
throughout his assignment,
and Jehovah blessed his efforts.
So lesson number one for us today:
When times are hard,
we may be quick to lean on Jehovah.
But what if things are going well?
Are we still reliant on Jehovah?
Or might we find ourselves
becoming complacent, perhaps even saying:
“Things are good in my life now.
“I know there’s a need to get to work,
“but I’ve been serving Jehovah for many years now.
“I’ve done my part.
Let someone else do it”?
Will Jehovah bless such an attitude?
Wouldn’t it be better to turn to Jehovah in prayer,
asking him to give you the courage and joy
to continue to reach out in your service to him?
You just might be surprised
at the doors Jehovah opens for you.
Now, once Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem,
he didn’t just give orders, did he?
The Bible says that he daily worked
alongside his fellow Israelites
“from the break of dawn
until the stars came out.”
In a similar way,
when we show a self-sacrificing spirit,
Jehovah will give us the energy needed
to carry out the task at hand.
The Israelites completed
the wall-building project in just 52 days!
What an amazing feat,
especially in the face of continual opposition!
At first, it came in the form of mocking.
Then the opposers threatened to attack!
There were Samaritans in the north,
Ammonites in the east, Arabs in the south,
and Ashdodites in the west.
Jerusalem was surrounded by enemies.
It could have been easy to feel trapped
and to give in to fear.
What did Nehemiah do?
Well, what was his pattern?
In his own words, he says:
“We prayed to our God.”
Then Nehemiah strengthened the people
by telling them:
“Do not be afraid of them.
Remember Jehovah, who is great and awe-inspiring.”
And so they kept building.
After Nehemiah’s enemies
realized that their open threats had failed,
did they give up?
No.
They now turned to other forms of opposition.
In fact, they tried three different schemes
to sidetrack Nehemiah from the work.
Did you notice them?
Let’s watch the video again.
They asked to meet Nehemiah halfway.
Tell this to Nehemiah:
“Come,
“and let us set a time to meet together
in the Valley Plain of Ono.”
They’re trying to lure me away
from Jerusalem to do me harm.
They spread false rumors.
Geshem, it’s time to implement your plan.
Tobiah, write this down:
“Among the nations it has been heard,
“and Geshem is also saying it,
“that you and the Jews
“are scheming to rebel.
That is why you are building the wall.”
And they used a traitor to try and trick Nehemiah.
They’re coming to kill you—by night!
We must go into the temple
and close the doors.
Shemaiah,
should a man like me run away?
You don’t understand.
What would that do to the spirit of the entire nation?
It’s the only safe place.
Besides, I’m not a priest.
If I entered the temple,
that would be valid reason to kill me.
I will not go in.
That decision would be foolish, Nehemiah.
Oh, I see!
Tobiah and Sanballat put you up to this,
didn’t they, you hypocrite?
May Jehovah remember them
and all of you false prophets
who keep trying to frighten me.
Come, Hanani,
we have work to do.
Three schemes, three failures
—so lesson number two:
Like Nehemiah, we might encounter opposers
who scheme to bring our loyal service to a halt.
Some may invite us to meet them halfway, so to speak.
They may try to convince us that if we serve Jehovah
with just a little less zeal,
we could pursue
worldly goals at the same time.
However, because God’s Kingdom
comes first in our lives,
we can be like Nehemiah and refuse to compromise.
We know where this world is headed.
Opposers also spread false accusations against us.
In some lands, we’re accused
of posing a threat to the State.
Some accusations have been successfully
rebutted in court.
But whatever the outcome,
we’re confident that Jehovah will direct matters
according to his will.
Opposition may also come from those
who pretend to serve Jehovah.
Just as a fellow Jew tried to get Nehemiah
to break God’s Law to save his life,
so former Witnesses may try
to get us to compromise in one way or another.
However, we reject apostates because we know
that our lives are saved,
not by breaking God’s laws, but by keeping them.
Each time, Nehemiah refused to fall into their trap.
Why?
Because he had a brilliant mind?
No!
It was because he relied on Jehovah,
and Jehovah gave him the insight needed
to see through their deceptions.
After the wall was built,
Nehemiah left Jerusalem for a while.
But what did he find on his return?
Instead of coming back to find true worship thriving,
he found it barely surviving.
All the work that he had done
to help the people to trust in Jehovah
—how do you think he felt?
He could have said: “That’s it!
“I’m out!
Let someone else clean this up,” and walked away.
But did he?
Let’s watch again.
Why have you and the deputy rulers
neglected the house of God?
You and they, please cleanse this room.
You know God’s Law:
No work, no business
on the Sabbath!
Go!
Did you not swear never to marry someone
who doesn’t serve Jehovah?
Then why have you ignored the command of Jehovah
and your own oath?
Also, Eliashib’s grandson married a Horonite,
the daughter of Sanballat.
You should not give your daughters to their sons
or accept any of their daughters for your sons!
You have defiled the priesthood!
You may not serve as a priest
or remain in Jerusalem.
It took some time
but true worship was restored.
Nehemiah didn’t walk away, did he?
No, he persevered in his assignment.
Why?
Because he held on to his joy.
You see, his main source of joy came,
not from his accomplishments,
not from the security of walls,
or even from what others were doing.
From where does true joy come?
Nehemiah himself told us:
“The joy of Jehovah is your stronghold.”
So here is lesson number three for us:
Despite challenges and setbacks,
we can be joyful because true joy comes
from a good relationship with Jehovah.
Nehemiah was a man like you and me.
Remember, he didn’t have Jehovah’s power
displayed supernaturally to him
like Moses and Joshua did.
But what did he have?
He had prayer, he had faith,
and he had trust.
Those were his tools.
And there is no doubt that Jehovah
was active on behalf of Nehemiah,
guiding and blessing his efforts.
We have those same tools today.
Pray to Jehovah, put faith in him,
and trust that he will bless your self-sacrificing efforts.
Just as Jehovah gave Nehemiah
the courage, the energy, the insight,
and the perseverance to carry out his assignment,
he’ll do the same for you.

Nehemiah: “The Joy of Jehovah Is Your Stronghold”—Part II