¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You can see the trouble we ·have here [are in]. Jerusalem is ·a pile of ruins [desolate], and its gates have been burned. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so we won’t be ·full of shame [disgraced; humiliated] any longer.” ¹⁸ I also told them how ·God had been kind to [the gracious hand of God had been on] me and what the king had said to me.

Then they answered, “Let’s start rebuilding.” So they ·began to work hard [^Lstrengthened their hands for this good work].

¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite officer, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they ·made fun of us and laughed at [mocked and ridiculed/jeered at] us. They said, “What are you doing? Are you ·turning [rebelling] against the king?”

²⁰ But I answered them, “The God of heaven will ·give us success [prosper us]. We, his servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no share, claim, or ·memorial [historic/ancient right] in Jerusalem.”