Nehemiah 2

Nehemiah Goes Before the King and Surveys Jerusalem

1 In the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, I was serving wine to the king. I had never looked sad in his presence before.

2 The king said to me, “Why are you looking so sad when you not even sick, This can only be sadness of the heart.” I got scared real quick,

3 And I said to the king, “May the king live forever. How could I not be sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been burned down?”

4 Then the king asked me, “What do you want?” So I prayed to the God of heaven,

5 And I said, “If it pleases the king, and if I got favor in your sight, send me to Judah, to the city where my ancestors are buried, so I can rebuild it.”

6 Then the king, with the queen sitting next to him, asked me, “How long will you be gone, When are you coming back?” So I gave him a time, and he was cool with sending me.

7 I also said, “If it pleases the king, can you write letters for me to the governors west of the Euphrates, so they will let me pass through safely until I get to Judah,

8 And also give me a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the temple fortress, for the city wall, and for the house I will be staying in.” And the king gave me what I asked for, because God’s hand was on me.

9 I went to the governors west of the Euphrates and handed them the king’s letters. The king also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

Prepare to Rebuild the Walls

10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, they were big mad that someone had come to help the Israelites.

11 I got to Jerusalem and was there for three days.

12 Then I got up at night, I took a few men with me, but I did not tell anyone what God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. I did not take any animal with me except the one I was riding.

13 I went out at night through the Valley Gate, toward the Jackal’s Well and the Dung Gate. I was inspecting Jerusalem’s walls that had been broken down, and the gates that had been destroyed by fire.

14 Then I moved on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my animal to get through.

15 So I went up the valley by night, inspecting the wall. Then I turned back and entered again through the Valley Gate.

16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because I had not told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or anyone else who would be doing the work.

17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, Jerusalem is in ruins, and its gates are burned. Come on, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so we will not be a disgrace anymore.”

18 I told them how God had been good to me and what the king said to me. They said, “Let us rise up and build!” So they strengthened themselves for the good work.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked us and laughed. “You all really about to do this, You rebelling against the king?”

20 I answered them, “The God of heaven will give us success. We, His servants, will start building. But you all got no share, no right, and no name in Jerusalem.”