Nehemiah 2

2 ¹In the month of Nisan, in King Artaxerxes' twentieth year, wine was before him; I took it and gave it to the king—I had never been sad in his presence before. ^a a v1 Nisan was the first month of the Hebrew year, falling in early spring (around March–April). ²The king asked, "Why is your face sad, though you aren't sick? This can only be a sad heart." Then I was very afraid.

³I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why shouldn't my face be sad, when the city, my ancestors' burial place, lies in ruins and its gates are burned by fire?"

⁴The king asked me, "What do you request?" Then I prayed to our Father in heaven, ⁵and said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has your favor, send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors' graves, to rebuild it."

⁶The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you return?" He was pleased to send me, so I gave him a time.

⁷I also said to the king, "If it pleases the king, give me letters to the governors of the province Beyond the River, so they let me cross until I reach Judah. ⁸Also a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, to give me timber for beams for the fortress gates by the temple, the city wall, and the house I will live in." The king granted my requests, for my Father's good hand was on me.

⁹I went to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. He had also sent army officers and horsemen with me. ¹⁰Hearing this, Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official were greatly displeased that someone had come to seek the good of Israel's people.

Walking the Broken Walls by Night

¹¹So I arrived in Jerusalem and stayed there three days. ¹²I got up at night with a few men. I told no one what my Father had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. No animal was with me except the one I rode. ¹³By night I went out through the Valley Gate, toward the Jackal's Well, to the Dung Gate, examining Jerusalem's broken walls and its burned gates. ¹⁴I passed to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was no room for my mount to pass. ¹⁵At night I went up the valley, examining the wall, turned back, entered the Valley Gate, and returned. ¹⁶The officials did not know where I went or what I was doing; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who would do the work. ¹⁷Then I said, "You see our trouble: Jerusalem lies in ruins, its gates burned. Come, let's rebuild Jerusalem's wall so we're no longer a disgrace." ¹⁸I told them how my Father's good hand was on me, and what the king had said. They said, "Let's rise and build." So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

¹⁹When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard, they jeered and despised us, saying, "What is this you're doing? Are you rebelling against the king?"

²⁰I answered: "Our Father in heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but you have no share, right, or claim in Jerusalem."