A request to the king
1In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, wine was set before him. I lifted the wine and handed it to the king. I had never looked downcast in his presence before, 2so the king said to me, “Why does your face look so sad? You are not ill. This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” A great fear came over me, 3and I answered the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been eaten by fire?” 4The king said to me, “What is it you want?” I prayed to the God of heaven, 5and then I said to the king, “If it seems good to the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah, to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I may rebuild it.” 6With the queen seated at his side, the king asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you be back?” It pleased the king to send me, and I named him a date. 7Then I said to the king, “If it seems good to the king, let letters be given me for the governors of Beyond the River, so that they will let me travel through until I reach Judah; 8and a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so that he will give me timber for the beams of the gates of the fortress beside the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I am to live in.” The king granted it, since the kind hand of my God was on me. 9So I came to the governors of Beyond the River and handed them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me. 10When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard of this, it galled them bitterly that anyone had come to seek the welfare of the Israelites.
A night ride around the ruins
11I reached Jerusalem, and after I had been there three days 12I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. I had told no one what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me except the one I was riding. 13That night I went out through the Valley Gate, past the Dragon Spring, toward the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which lay broken through, and its gates, which had been eaten by fire. 14I moved on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no room for my mount to get past. 15So I went up the ravine that night, examining the wall; then I turned around, came back in through the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16The officials had no idea where I had gone or what I was doing, for as yet I had said nothing to the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or any of the others who would carry out the work. 17Then I said to them, “You can see for yourselves the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be a disgrace.” 18And I told them how the hand of my God had been kind to me, and what the king had said to me as well. They answered, “Let us get up and build,” and they put their hands to the good work. 19But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and looked at us with contempt. “What is this you are doing?” they said. “Are you rebelling against the king?” 20I gave them my answer: “The God of heaven will give us success. We are his servants, and we are getting up to build. But you have no share, no claim and no memorial in Jerusalem.”
