1Wine was brought in for King Artaxerxes. It was the month of Nisan in the 20th year of his rule. I got the wine and gave it to him. I hadn’t been sad in front of him before. But now I was.2So the king asked me, ‘Why are you looking so sad? You aren’t ill. You must be feeling very sad.’ I was really afraid.3But I said to the king, ‘May you live for ever! Why shouldn’t I look sad? The city where my people of long ago are buried has been destroyed. And fire has burned up its gates.’4The king said to me, ‘What do you want?’ I prayed to the God of heaven.5Then I answered the king, ‘Are you pleased with me, King Artaxerxes? If it pleases you, send me to Judah. Let me go to the city of Jerusalem. That’s where my people are buried. I want to rebuild it.’6The queen was sitting beside the king. He turned and asked me, ‘How long will your journey take? When will you get back?’ It pleased the king to send me. So I chose a certain time.7I also said to him, ‘If it pleases you, may I take some letters with me? I want to give them to the governors of the land west of the River Euphrates. Then they’ll help me travel safely through their territory until I arrive in Judah.8May I also have a letter to Asaph? He takes care of the royal park. I want him to give me some logs so I can make beams out of them. I want to use them for the gates of the fort that is by the temple. Some of the logs will also be used in the city wall. And I’ll need some for the house I’m going to live in.’ God was kind to me and helped me. So the king gave me what I asked for.9Then I went to the governors of the land west of the River Euphrates. I gave them the king’s letters. He had also sent army officers and horsemen along with me.10Sanballat and Tobiah heard about what was happening. Sanballat was a Horonite. Tobiah was an official from Ammon. They were very upset that someone had come to help the Israelites.
Nehemiah checks out the walls of Jerusalem
11I went to Jerusalem and stayed there for three days.12Then at night I took a few other people with me to check out the walls. I hadn’t told anyone what my God wanted me to do for Jerusalem. There weren’t any donkeys with me except the one I was riding on.13That night I went out through the Valley Gate. I went towards the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate. I checked out the walls of Jerusalem. They had been broken down. I also checked the city gates. Fire had burned them up.14I moved on towards the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool. But there wasn’t enough room for my donkey to get through.15It was still night. I went up the Kidron Valley. I kept checking the wall. Finally, I turned back. I went back in through the Valley Gate.16The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I had done. That’s because I hadn’t said anything to anyone yet. I hadn’t told the priests or nobles or officials. And I hadn’t spoken to any other Jews who would be rebuilding the wall.17I said to them, ‘You can see the trouble we’re in. Jerusalem has been destroyed. Fire has burned up its gates. Come on. Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Then people won’t be ashamed anymore.’18I also told them how my gracious God was helping me. And I told them what the king had said to me. They replied, ‘Let’s start rebuilding.’ So they began that good work.19But Sanballat, the Horonite, heard about it. So did Tobiah, the official from Ammon. Geshem, the Arab, heard about it too. All of them laughed at us. They made fun of us. ‘What do you think you are doing?’ they asked. ‘Are you turning against the king?’20I answered, ‘The God of heaven will give us success. We serve him. So we’ll start rebuilding the walls. But you don’t have any share in Jerusalem. You don’t have any claim to it. You don’t have any right to worship here.’
English Standard Version
Nehemiah Sent to Judah
1In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.2And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid.3I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”4Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.5And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”6And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time.7And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah,8and 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 fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls
9Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.10But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.11So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days.12Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode.13I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.14Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass.15Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.16And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.17Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.”18And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.19But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”20Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim* in Jerusalem.”
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