1Now I was the king's cupbearer, and one day, in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when his wine was ready, I took it up and handed it to the king, and as I stood before him I was feeling very unhappy. 2He said to me, 'Why do you look so unhappy? You are not ill; it can be nothing but unhappiness.' I was much afraid 3and answered, 'The king will live for ever. But how can I help looking unhappy when the city where my forefathers are buried lies waste and its gates are burnt?' 4'What are you asking of me?' said the king. I prayed to the God of heaven, 5and then I answered, 'If it please your majesty, and if I enjoy your favour, I beg you to send me to Judah, to the city where my forefathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.' 6The king, with the queen consort sitting beside him, asked me, 'How long will the journey last, and when will you return?' Then the king approved the request and let me go, and I told him how long I should be. 7Then I said to the king, 'If it please your majesty, let letters be given me for the governors in the province of Beyond-Euphrates with orders to grant me all the help I need for my journey to Judah. 8Let me have also a letter for Asaph, the keeper of your royal forests, instructing him to supply me with timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel, which adjoins the palace, and for the city wall, and for the palace which I shall occupy.' The king granted my requests, for the gracious hand of my God was upon me. 9I came in due course to the governors in the province of Beyond-Euphrates and presented to them the king's letters; the king had given me an escort of army officers with cavalry. 10But when Sanballat the Horonite and the slave Tobiah, an Ammonite, heard this, they were much vexed that someone should have come to promote the interests of the Israelites.
11WHEN I ARRIVED IN JERUSALEM, I waited three days. 12Then I set out by night, taking a few men with me; but I told no one what my God was prompting me to do for Jerusalem. I had no beast with me except the one on which I myself rode. 13I went out by night through the Valley Gate towards the Dragon Spring and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the places where the walls of Jerusalem had been broken down and her gates burnt. 14Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool; but there was no room for me to ride through. 15I went up the valley in the night and inspected the city wall; then I re-entered the city by the Valley Gate. 16So I arrived back without the magistrates knowing where I had been or what I was doing. I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the magistrates, or any of those who would be responsible for the work.
17Then I said to them, 'You see our wretched plight. Jerusalem lies in ruins, its gates destroyed by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and be rid of the reproach.' 18I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been upon me and also what the king had said to me. They replied, 'Let us start the rebuilding.' So they set about the work vigorously and to good purpose.
19But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite slave, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us, asking contemptuously, 'What is this you are doing? Is this a rebellion against the king?' 20But I answered them, 'The God of heaven will give us success. We, his servants, are making a start with the rebuilding. You have no stake, or claim, or traditional right in Jerusalem.'
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