Nehemiah Sent to Jerusalem

1And it will be in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year to Arthasatha the king, wine before him: and I shall lift up the wine and give to the king. And I was not sad before him. 2And the king will say to me, Wherefore thy face sad, and thou not being, sick? This nothing but sadness of heart. And I shall be very greatly afraid. 3And saying to the king, O king, thou wilt live forever: wherefore shall not my face be sad when the city of the house of my father's sepulchres was laid waste, and its gates consumed with fire? 4And the king will say to me, For what this thou seekest? And I shall pray to the God of the heavens. 5And saying to the king, If good to the king, and if thy servant shall be good before thee, that thou wilt send me to Judah to the city of my fathers' sepulchres, and I will build it, 6And the king will say to me (the consort will sit near him) How long shall be thy journey? and when wilt thou turn back? And it will be good before the king, and he will send me; and I shall give to him a time. 7And saying to the king, If good to the king letters shall be given to me to the prefects beyond the river, that they shall cause me to pass over till I shall come to Judah. 8And a letter to Asaph watching the pleasure-grounds to the king, who shall give to me woods to frame the gates of the fortress that is to the house, and for the walls of the city, and for the house which I shall come into it And the king will give to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.

9And I shall come to the prefects beyond the river, and I shall give to them the letter of the king. And the king will send with me chiefs of strength and horsemen. 10And Sanballat the Horonite will hear, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it will be evil to them a great evil that a man came to seek good for the sons of Israel.

Nehemiah Inspects the Walls

11And I shall come to Jerusalem, and I shall be there three days. 12And I shall rise in the night, I and a few men with me; and I announced not to man what my God gave into my heart to do at Jerusalem: and no beast with me but the beast that I rode upon it. 13And I shall go forth by the gate of the valley by night, and before the second fountain, and to the gate of the dung-hill, and I shall be watching the walls of Jerusalem that they being broken, and its gates were consumed with fire. 14And I shall pass over to the gate of the fountain and pool of the king: and not a place for the beast under me to pass. 15And I shall be going up by the torrent in the night, and I shall be watching the walls, and I shall turn back and come into the gate of the valley; and I shall turn back. 16And the prefects knew not whither I went and what I was doing: and to the Jews and to the priests and to the nobles and to the prefects, and to the rest doing the work, even thus I announced not.

17And saying to them, Ye seeing the evil which we are in it, how Jerusalem lay waste, and her gates were burnt with fire: come ye, and we will build the walls of Jerusalem, and we shall be no more a reproach. 18And I shall announce to them the hand of my God that it was good upon me; and also the king's words who said to me. And they will say, We will rise up and build. And they will strengthen their hands for good. 19And Sanballat the Horonite will hear, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, and they will mock to us and despise us, and say, What this word that ye do? are ye bearing rule against the king? 20And I shall turn back word to them, and say to them, The God of the heavens, he will prosper for us; and we his servants will rise up and build: and to you no portion and right and remembrance in Jerusalem.