Nehemiah 2

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, wine was before him. I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before. The king said to me, “Why is your face sad when you are not sick? This can only be sadness of heart.” Then I was very afraid. I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad when the city where my fathers' tombs are lies in ruins and its gates have been consumed by fire?” The king asked me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven and said to the king, “If it seems good to the king and if your servant is pleasing in your sight, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, so that I may rebuild it.” The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” It pleased the king to send me, and I set a time. I also said to the king, “If it seems good to the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of Beyond the River, so that they will let me pass through until I reach Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the citadel attached to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will enter.” The king granted me this, for the good hand of my God was on me. I came to the governors of Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. The king had sent army commanders and horsemen with me. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard about this, they were greatly displeased that someone had come to seek the welfare of the Israelites. I arrived in Jerusalem and stayed there three days. I arose at night with a few men. I had told no one what my God was putting in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me except the one I was riding. I went out at night through the Valley Gate, past the Dragon Spring and on to the Dung Gate, inspecting Jerusalem's walls, which were broken down, and its gates, which had been consumed by fire. I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. So I went up along the brook at night, inspecting the wall. Then I turned back, entered through the Valley Gate, and returned. The deputies did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the deputies, or the rest of the workers. Then I said to them, “You see the distress we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned. Come, let us rebuild Jerusalem's wall, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” I told them about the hand of my God, which had been good to me, and also what the king had said to me. They said, “Let us rise and build!” So they strengthened their hands for this good work. When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arab heard, they mocked us and despised us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” I answered them, “The God of heaven will grant us success. We his servants will rise and build, but you have no share, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”

Rights and attribution