Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls

¹¹ When I arrived in Jerusalem, I was there three days. ¹² Then I arose in the night, I and a few men who were with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me, except the one on which I rode.

¹³ So I went out by night by the Valley Gate toward the Dragon’s Well and then to the Dung Gate, because I was inspecting the broken-down walls of Jerusalem and its burned gates. ¹⁴ Next I passed by the Fountain Gate and then to the King’s Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass. ¹⁵ By going up along the riverbed at night, I inspected the wall. Then I turned back so that I could enter by the Valley Gate, and then came back again. ¹⁶ The officials did not know where I went or what I did, since I had not yet told it to the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or to any of the others who would do the work.