¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the calamity we are in, that ^(A)Jerusalem lies waste and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.” ¹⁸ And I told them how the hand of my God had been good to me and also about the king’s words which he had said to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” ^(B)So they strengthened their hands for the good work. ¹⁹ But Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[a]official and ^(C)Geshem the Arab heard it. And ^(D)they mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? ^(E)Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰ So I responded to them with a word and said to them, “^(F)The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His slaves will arise and build, ^(G)but you have no portion, right, or remembrance in Jerusalem.”