21 And it came about in the month Nisan , in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes , that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king . Now I had not been sad in his presence . 2 So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad though you are not sick ? This is nothing but sadness of heart ." Then I was very much afraid . 3 I said to the king , " Let the king live forever . Why should my face not be sad when the city , the place of my fathers' tombs , lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire ?" 4 Then the king said to me, "What would you request ?" So I prayed to the God of heaven . 5 I said to the king , "If it please the king , and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah , to the city of my fathers' tombs , that I may rebuild it." 6 Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, "How long e will your journey be, and when will you return ?" So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time . 7 And I said to the king , "If it please the king , let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River , that they may allow me to pass through until e I come to Judah , 8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest , that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple , for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go ." And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.
9 Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king's letters . Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen . 10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very e displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel .
11 So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days . 12 And I arose in the night , I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except e the animal on which I was riding . 13 So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon's Well and on to the Refuse 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 Fountain Gate and the King's Pool , but there was no place for my mount to pass . 15 So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the wall . Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned . 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done ; nor had I as yet told the Jews , the priests , the nobles , the officials or the rest who did the work . 17 Then I said to them, "You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire . Come , let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach ." 18 I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then they said , "Let us arise and build ." So they put their hands to the good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official , and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us and said , "What is this thing you are doing ? Are you rebelling against the king ?" 20 So I answered them and said to them, " The God of heaven will give us success ; therefore we His servants will arise and build , but you have no portion , right or memorial in Jerusalem ."
