Nehemiah 2:13-20 ▼

13 So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Spring and on to the Dung Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire.

14 Then I passed on to the Spring Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no place for my animal to pass.

15 So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the wall. Then I turned and entered the Valley Gate and turned around.

16 Now the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who were doing the work.

17 Then I said to them, “You see the calamity we are in, that Jerusalem lies waste and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.”

18 And I told them how the hand of my God had been good to me and also about the king’s words which he had said to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

19 But Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard it. And they mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

20 So I responded to them with a word and said to them, “The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His slaves will arise and build, but you have no portion, right, or remembrance in Jerusalem.”