city are repairing that bit of the wall which is immediately opposite
their own houses. No less than six times we are told that the builder's
own house was close to the part of the wall he built.

One man we cannot help watching as we turn round towards the eastern
wall. His name is Baruch, and there is something about him which
attracts our attention at once. He works as if he were working for his
life, he does not lose a moment; whoever is absent, Baruch is always at
his post; whoever is idle, Baruch is ever hard at work, early in the
morning and late at night, when the hot sun is scorching the city and
when the night dews are falling, Baruch is always busy, toiling away on
the wall with all his might and main. Ver. 20 tells us he 'earnestly
repaired.' The word means to be hot, to be on fire with zeal and energy.
He 'earnestly repaired the _other_ piece,' or as it would be better
translated '_another_ piece.' Having finished his own portion, in
another part of the wall, Baruch has come to the rescue at the
south-east corner, where the rubbish is deepest and the work is hardest.
Baruch therefore receives the mark of distinction on God's list of
honour. Round the corner, on the eastern wall, one builder we cannot
pass without notice, for he is an old white-headed man. His name is
Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah. We find this man mentioned in 1 Chron.
iii. 22 as a descendant of King David. His son Hattush had returned with
Ezra, twelve years before; now here is the old man himself, determined
not to let his white hairs prevent him from helping on the good work
(ver 29). He builds by the gate which was his charge, the Golden Gate,
at the east of the temple court and facing the Mount of Olives.

The last piece of the wall is being done by the goldsmiths and the
merchants; and now, as we pass them, we find ourselves again at the
Sheep Gate, at the very spot from which we started in our walk round the