Nehemiah Sent to Jerusalem 2 ULT And the king said to me,“Why is your face unpleasant? Now as for you, you are not sick. This is nothing except unpleasantness of heart.” And I was extremely much afraid. BSB BSB: so the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This could only be sadness of the heart.” I was overwhelmed with fear
3 ULT And I said to the king,“May the king live to eternity! Why should not my face be unpleasant, when the city, the house of the graves of my fathers, is desolate, and its gates have been consumed by fire.” BSB BSB: and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
4 ULT And the king said to me,“For what is this you are seeking?” And I prayed to the God of heaven. BSB BSB: “What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven
5 ULT And I said to the king,“If it is good to the king, and if your servant is good before your face, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of the graves of my fathers, and I will build it.” BSB BSB: and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”
6 ULT And the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him,“Until when will be your journey? And when will you return?” And it was good before the face of the king, and he sent me, and I gave to him a time. BSB BSB: Then the king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time.
7 ULT And I said to the king,“If it is good to the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of Beyond- the- River, that they will bring me across as far as where I enter into Judah; BSB BSB: I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may letters be given to me for the governors west of the Euphrates, so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah.
8 ULT and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the forest that belongs to the king, that he will give to me timbers to lay the beams of the gates of the citadel, which is for the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I will enter.” And the king gave to me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. BSB BSB: And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will occupy.” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.
9 ULT And I came to the governors of Beyond- the- River, and I gave to them the letters of the king. And the king sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. BSB BSB: Then I went to the governors west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.
Nehemiah Inspects the Walls 11 ULT And I came to Jerusalem, and I was there three days. BSB BSB: After I had arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days,
12 ULT And I arose in the night, myself and a few men with me, and I did not tell anyone what my God had been giving to my heart to do for Jerusalem. Now there was no animal with me except the animal upon which I was riding. BSB BSB: I set out at night with a few men. I did not tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal with me was the one on which I was riding.
13 ULT And I went out at the gate of the valley at night, even to the face of the spring of the dragon, and to the gate of dung. And I was looking intently at the walls of Jerusalem, seeing that they were broken down, and its gates had been consumed by fire. BSB BSB: So I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Well of the Serpent and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and the gates that had been destroyed by fire.
14 ULT And I crossed to the gate of the spring and to the pool of the king, but there was no place for the animal under me to pass. BSB BSB: Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to get through;
15 ULT And I was going up by the wadi at night, and I was looking intently at the wall. And I turned back, and I came in at the gate of the valley, and I returned. BSB BSB: so I went up the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I headed back and reentered through the Valley Gate.
16 ULT Now the prefects did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. And until this time I had not yet told the Jews, or the priests, or the nobles, or the prefects, or the rest of the doers of the work. BSB BSB: The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers.
17 ULT And I said to them,“You see the evil that we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be a reproach.” BSB BSB: Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”
18 ULT And I declared to them the hand of my God, that it was good upon me, and also the words of the king that he had spoken to me. And they said,“We will rise up and build.” And they strengthened their hands for good. BSB BSB: I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me, and what the king had said to me. “Let us start rebuilding,” they replied, and they set their hands to this good work.
19 ULT And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian heard, and they mocked us, and they despised us. And they said,“What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” BSB BSB: But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
20 ULT And I returned them a word, and I said to them:“The God of heaven, he will cause us to succeed, and we ourselves, his servants, will rise up and build. But for you there is neither share nor right nor memorial in Jerusalem.” BSB BSB: So I answered them and said, “The God of heaven is the One who will grant us success. We, His servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no portion, right, or claim in Jerusalem.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.