King James Version › Nehemiah › 2

Nehemiah

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1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twen­ti­eth year of Ar­tax­erx­es the king, that wine was be­fore him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his pres­ence. 2 Where­fore the king said unto me, Why is thy coun­te­nance sad, see­ing thou art not sick? this is noth­ing else but sor­row of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, 3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ev­er: why should not my coun­te­nance be sad, when the city, the place of my fa­thers' sepul­chres, lieth waste, and the gates there­of are con­sumed with fire? 4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make re­quest? So I prayed to the God of heav­en. 5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy ser­vant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Ju­dah, unto the city of my fa­thers' sepul­chres, that I may build it. 6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sit­ting by him, ) For how long shall thy jour­ney be? and when wilt thou re­turn? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 7 More­over I said unto the king, If it please the king, let let­ters be giv­en me to the gov­er­nors be­yond the riv­er, that they may con­vey me over till I come into Ju­dah; 8 And a let­ter unto As­aph the keep­er of the king's for­est, that he may give me tim­ber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall en­ter in­to. And the king grant­ed me, ac­cord­ing to the good hand of my God upon me. 9 Then I came to the gov­er­nors be­yond the riv­er, and gave them the king's let­ters. Now the king had sent cap­tains of the army and horse­men with me. 10 When San­bal­lat the Horonite, and To­bi­ah the ser­vant, the Am­monite, heard of it, it grieved them ex­ceed­ing­ly that there was come a man to seek the wel­fare of the chil­dren of Is­rael. 11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. 12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; nei­ther told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: nei­ther was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode up­on. 13 And I went out by night by the gate of the val­ley, even be­fore the drag­on well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were bro­ken down, and the gates there­of were con­sumed with fire. 14 Then I went on to the gate of the foun­tain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was un­der me to pass. 15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and en­tered by the gate of the val­ley, and so re­turned. 16 And the rulers knew not whith­er I went, or what I did; nei­ther had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the no­bles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. 17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the dis­tress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates there­of are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a re­proach. 18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spo­ken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strength­ened their hands for this good work. 19 But when San­bal­lat the Horonite, and To­bi­ah the ser­vant, the Am­monite, and Geshem the Ara­bi­an, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and de­spised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? 20 Then an­swered I them, and said unto them, The God of heav­en, he will pros­per us; there­fore we his ser­vants will arise and build: but ye have no por­tion, nor right, nor memo­ri­al, in Jerusalem.