¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that ^(A)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.” ^(B)So they put their hands to the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[a]official, and ^(C)Geshem the Arab heard about it, ^(D)they mocked us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? ^(E)Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰ So I answered them and said to them, “^(F)The God of heaven will make us successful; therefore we His servants will arise and build, ^(G)but you have no part, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”