Nehemiah 2:9–20

⁹Then I came to ^athe governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now ^bthe king had sent with me commanders of the military force and horsemen.

¹⁰Then ^aSanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ¹official heard about it, and it was a very great evil to them that someone had come to seek the good of the sons of Israel.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls

¹¹So I ^acame to Jerusalem and was there three days.

¹²And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my heart to do for Jerusalem; and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding.

¹³So I went out at night by ^athe Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Spring and on to the ¹Dung Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem ^bwhich were broken down and its ^cgates which were consumed by fire.

¹⁴Then I passed on to ^athe Spring Gate and ^bthe King’s Pool, but there was no place for ¹my animal to pass.

¹⁵So I went up at night by the ^aravine and inspected the wall. Then I turned and entered the Valley Gate and turned around.

¹⁶Now the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who were doing the work.

¹⁷Then I said to them, “You see the calamity we are in, that ^aJerusalem lies waste and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.”

¹⁸And I told them how the hand of my God had been good to me and also about the king’s words which he had said to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” ^aSo they strengthened their hands for the good work.

¹⁹But Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ¹official and ^aGeshem the Arab heard it. And ^bthey mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? ^cAre you rebelling against the king?”

²⁰So I responded to them with a word and said to them, “^aThe God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His slaves will arise and build, ^bbut you have no portion, right, or remembrance in Jerusalem.”