Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls

¹¹ So I ^(A)came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. ¹² And I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my ^[a]mind to do for Jerusalem, and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. ¹³ So I went out at night by ^(B)the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Spring and on to the Dung Gate, and I was inspecting the walls of Jerusalem ^(C)which were broken down and its ^(D)gates which had been consumed by fire. ¹⁴ Then I passed on to ^(E)the Fountain Gate and ^(F)the King’s Pool, but there was no place for ^[b]my mount to pass. ¹⁵ So I was going up at night by the ^(G)ravine and inspecting the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. ¹⁶ However, 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 bad situation we are in, that ^(H)Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” ¹⁸ And 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’s arise and build.” ^(I)So they put their hands to the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[c]official, and ^(J)Geshem the Arab heard about it, ^(K)they mocked us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? ^(L)Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰ So I answered them and said to them, “^(M)The God of heaven will make us successful; therefore we His servants will arise and build, ^(N)but you have no part, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”