Nehemiah 2

NEW JERUSALEM	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, since I was in charge of the wine, I tookthe wine and offered it to the king. Now, he had never seen me looking depressed before.	1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
2 So the king said to me, 'Why are you looking depressed? You are not sick! This must be a sadness ofthe heart.' Thoroughly alarmed by this,	2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
3 I said to the king, 'May the king live for ever! How can I not look depressed when the city where thetombs of my ancestors are lies in ruins and its gates have been burnt down?'	3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
4 The king then said to me, 'What would you like me to do?' Praying to the God of heaven,	4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 I said to the king, 'If the king approves and your servant enjoys your favour, send me to Judah, to thecity of the tombs of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.'	5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.
6 The king -- with the queen sitting beside him-said, 'How long wil your journey take, and when wil youcome back?' Once I had given him a definite time, the king approved my mission.	6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
7 I then said to the king, 'If the king approves, may I be given orders for the governors of Transeuphratesto let me pass through on my way to Judah?	7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
8 Also an order for Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, to supply me with timber for the beams of the gatesof the citadel of the Temple, for the city wal s and for the house which I am to occupy?' These the king grantedme because the kindly hand of my God was over me.	8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
9 When I reached the governors of Transeuphrates, I gave them the king's orders. The king had sent anescort of army officers and cavalry along with me.	9 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the official of Ammon heard about this, they wereexceedingly displeased that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.	10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
11 And so I reached Jerusalem. After I had been there three days,	11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12 I got up during the night with a few other men -- I had not told anyone what my God had inspired me todo for Jerusalem -- taking no animal with me other than my own mount.	12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
13 Under cover of dark I went out through the Val ey Gate towards the Dragon's Fountain as far as theDung Gate, and examined the wall of Jerusalem where it was broken down and its gates burnt out.	13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
14 I then crossed to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but it was impassable to my mount.	14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
15 So I went up the Val ey in the dark, examining the wal ; I then went in again through the Val ey Gate,coming back	15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
16 without the officials knowing where I had gone or what I had been doing. So far I had said nothing tothe Jews: neither to the priests, the nobles, the officials nor any other persons involved in the undertaking.	16 And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
17 I then said to them, 'You see what a sorry state we are in: Jerusalem is in ruins and its gates havebeen burnt down. Come on, we must rebuild the wal s of Jerusalem and put an end to our humiliating position!'	17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
18 And I told them how the kindly hand of my God had been over me, and the words which the king hadsaid to me. At this they said, 'Let us start building at once!' and they set their hands to the good work.	18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
19 When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the official of Ammon, and Geshem the Arab heard about this,they laughed at us and jeered. They said, 'What is this you are doing? Are you going to revolt against the king?'	19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
20 But I gave them this answer, 'The God of heaven will grant us success and we, his servants, mean tostart building; as for you, you have neither share nor right nor memorial in Jerusalem.'	20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.