CHAPTER 2
Now in the month
of Nisan,
in the twentieth
year
of King
Artaxerxes,
when wine
was set before him,
I took
the wine
and gave
it to the king.
I had never
been
sad
in his presence,
so the king
said
to me,
“Why is
your face
sad,
though you are
not
ill?
This
could only be
sadness
of the heart.”
I was overwhelmed with fear
and replied
to the king,
“May the king
live forever!
Why
should I not
be sad
when
the city
where
my fathers
are buried
lies in ruins,
and its gates
have been destroyed
by fire?”
and answered
the king,
“If
it pleases
the king,
and if
your servant
has found favor
in your sight,
I ask that
you send me
to
Judah,
to
the city
where my fathers
are buried,
so that I may rebuild it.”
Then the king,
with the queen
seated
beside him,
asked
me,
“How long
will your journey
take,
and when
will you return?”
So it pleased
the king
to send me,
and I set
a time.
I also said
to him,
“If
it pleases
the king,
may letters
be given
to me
for
the governors
west
of the Euphrates,
so that
they will grant me safe passage
until
I reach
Judah.
And may I have a letter
to
Asaph,
keeper
of the king’s
forest,
so that
he will give
me
timber
to make beams
for
the gates
of the citadel
to the temple,
for the city
wall,
and for the house
I will occupy.”
And because the gracious
hand
of my God
was upon me,
the king
granted
my requests.
Then I went
to
the governors
west
of the Euphrates
and gave
them
the king's
letters.
The king
had also sent
army
officers
and cavalry
with me.
But when Sanballat
the Horonite
and Tobiah
the Ammonite
official
heard about this,
they were deeply
disturbed
that
someone
had come
to seek
the well-being
of the Israelites.
I
set out
at night
with
a few
men.
I did not
tell
anyone
what
my God
had laid
on
my heart
to do
for Jerusalem.
The only
animal
with me
was the one
on which
I
was riding.
So I went out
at night
through the Valley
Gate
toward
the Well
of the Serpent
and the Dung
Gate,
and I inspected
the walls
of Jerusalem
that
had been broken down
and the gates
that had been destroyed
by fire.
Then I went on
to
the Fountain
Gate
and the King’s
Pool,
but there was no
room
for the animal
under me
to get through;
so I
went up
the valley
by night
and
inspected
the wall.
Then I headed back
and reentered
through the Valley
Gate.
The officials
did not
know
where
I had gone
or what
I
was doing,
for I had not
yet
told
the Jews
or priests
or nobles
or officials
or any others
who would be doing
the work.
Then I said
to them,
“You
see
the trouble
we are in.
Jerusalem
lies in ruins,
and its gates
have been burned down.
Come,
let us rebuild
the wall
of Jerusalem,
so that we will no
longer
be
a disgrace.”
I also told
them
about
the gracious
hand
of my God
upon me,
and
what
the king
had said
to me.
“Let us start
rebuilding,”
they replied,
and they set
their hands
to this good work.
When Sanballat
the Horonite,
Tobiah
the Ammonite
official,
and Geshem
the Arab
heard about this,
they mocked
us
and ridiculed us,
saying,
“What
is this
you are
doing?
Are you
rebelling
against
the king?"
So I answered
them
and said,
“The God
of heaven
is the One
who will grant us success.
We,
His servants,
will start
rebuilding,
but you
have no
portion,
right,
or claim
in Jerusalem.”