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Nehemiah Sent to Jerusalem
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that] wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now, I had never been sad in his presence.
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that] wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now, I had never been sad in his presence.
So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.”
Then I was terrified,
Then I was terrified,
And the king said to me, Why is thy face sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sadness of heart. And I was very sore afraid.
but I replied, “Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”
And I said to the king, Let the king live for ever! Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lies waste, and its gates are consumed with fire?
The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?”
With a prayer to the God of heaven,
With a prayer to the God of heaven,
And the king said to me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of the heavens.
I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.”
And I said to the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.
The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked, “How long will you be gone? When will you return?” After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request.
And the king said to me -- the queen also sitting by him, -- For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
And I said to the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may set me forward till I come into Judah;
And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king’s forest, instructing him to give me timber. I will need it to make beams for the gates of the Temple fortress, for the city walls, and for a house for myself.” And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.
and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which [appertains] to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
And I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of a force and horsemen with me.
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of my arrival, they were very displeased that someone had come to help the people of Israel.
And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobijah the servant, the Ammonite, heard [of it], it grieved them exceedingly that there had come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Wall
So I arrived in Jerusalem. Three days later,
Nehemiah Inspects the Walls
And I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
And I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
I slipped out during the night, taking only a few others with me. I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem. We took no pack animals with us except the donkey I was riding.
And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me -- but I told no man what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem -- and there was no beast with me, except the beast that I rode upon.
And I went out by night by the valley-gate, even toward the jackal-fountain, and to the dung-gate; and I viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were in ruins, and its gates were consumed with fire.
Then I went to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but my donkey couldn’t get through the rubble.
And I went on to the fountain-gate, and to the king's pool; and there was no place for the beast under me to pass.
And I went up in the night through the valley, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the valley-gate and returned.
The city officials did not know I had been out there or what I was doing, for I had not yet said anything to anyone about my plans. I had not yet spoken to the Jewish leaders — the priests, the nobles, the officials, or anyone else in the administration.
And the rulers did not know whither I went or what I did, for I had not as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
But now I said to them, “You know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace!”
And I said to them, Ye see the distress that we are in, that Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king.
They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work.
They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work.
And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me; as also of the king's words which he had said unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. And they strengthened their hands for the good [work].
But when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard of our plan, they scoffed contemptuously. “What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” they asked.
And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobijah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it; and they mocked us and despised us, and said, What is this thing which ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
I replied, “The God of heaven will help us succeed. We, his servants, will start rebuilding this wall. But you have no share, legal right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”
And I answered them, and said to them, The God of the heavens, he will prosper us, and we his servants will arise and build; but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.