9Then when I came to the governors beyond the Euphrates, and I gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. 10But when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite servant, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that a man had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

11So I arrived at Jerusalem, and was there three days. 12And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; neither did I tell any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any beast with me, except the beast that I rode upon (to attract no attention). 13And I went out at night by the gate of the valley, before the jackal's well, and to the dung gate, and inspected the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates were consumed with fire. 14Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool; but there was no place for my beast to pass. 15Then went I up in the night by the brook, and inspected the wall, and returned, entering at the gate of the valley. 16And the officials did not know where I had gone, nor what I did; nor had I as yet told it to the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work. 17Then said I to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are consumed with fire; come, and let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, that we are no more disgraced”. 18Then I told them how the hand of my God which had favored me; and also the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build”. So they enthusiastically supported this good work.

19But when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite servant, and Geshem, the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and derided us, and said, “What is this thing that you do? Will you rebel against the king?” 20Then I replied, “The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we, His servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.”