Nehemiah 2
1. 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 unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
2. Wherefore the king said * unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick * ? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore * afraid * ,
3. And said * unto the king, Let the king live * for ever: why should not my countenance be sad * , when the city,the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed * with fire?
4. Then the king said * unto me, For what dost thou make request * ? So I prayed * to the God of heaven.
5. And I said * unto the king, If it please * the king, and if thy servant have found favour * in thy sight, that thou wouldest send * me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build * it.
6. And the king said * unto me, (the queen also sitting * by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return * ? So it pleased * the king to send * me; and I set * him a time.
7. Moreover I said * unto the king, If it please * the king, let letters be given * me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over * till I come * into Judah;
8. And a letter unto Asaph the keeper * of the king's forest, that he may give * me timber to make beams * for the gates of the palace which appertained 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.
9. Then I came * to the governors beyond the river, and gave * them the king's letters. Now the king had sent * captains of the army and horsemen with me.
10. When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard * of it, it grieved * them exceedingly that there was come * a man to seek * the welfare of the children of Israel.
11. So I came * to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12. And I arose * in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told * I any man what my God had put * in my heart to do * at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon * .
13. And I went out * by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well * , and to the dung port, and viewed * the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down * , and the gates thereof were consumed * with fire.
14. Then I went on * to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass * .
15. Then went I up * in the night by the brook, and viewed * the wall, and turned back * , and entered * by the gate of the valley, and so returned * .
16. And the rulers knew * not whither I went * , or what I did * ; neither had I 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.
17. Then said * I unto them, Ye see * the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned * with fire: come * , and let us build up * the wall of Jerusalem,that we be no more a reproach.
18. Then I told * them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken * unto me. And they said * , Let us rise up * and build * . So they strengthened * their hands for this good work.
19. But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard * it, they laughed us to scorn * , and despised * us, and said * , What is this thing that ye do * ? will ye rebel * against the king?
20. Then answered * I them, and said * unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper * us; therefore we his servants will arise * and build * : but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
