Nehemiah 2
1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not formerly been sad in his presence.
And it comes to pass, in the month of Nisan, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, wine [is] before him, and I lift up the wine, and give to the king, and I had not been sad before him;
2 And the king said to me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very much afraid.
and the king says to me, “Why [is] your face sad, and you not sick? This is nothing except sadness of heart”; and I fear very much,
3 And I said to the king, Let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchers, lies waste, and the gates of it are consumed with fire?
and say to the king, “Let the king live for all time! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of the graves of my fathers, [is] a desolation, and its gates have been consumed with fire?”
4 Then the king said to me, For what do thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
And the king says to me, “For what are you seeking?” And I pray to the God of the heavens,
5 And I said to the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant has found favor in thy sight, that thou would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' sepulchers, that I may build it.
and say to the king, “If [it is] good to the king, and if your servant is pleasing before you, that you send me to Judah, to the city of the graves of my fathers, and I have built it.”
6 And the king said to me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall thy journey be? And when will thou return? So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time.
And the king says to me (and the queen is sitting near him), “How long is your journey? And when do you return?” And it is good before the king, and he sends me away, and I set to him a time.
7 Moreover I said to the king, If it please the king, let letters be given to me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through till I come to Judah,
And I say to the king, “If [it is] good to the king, let letters be given to me for the governors beyond the River, that they let me pass over until I come to Judah:
8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertains 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.
and a letter to Asaph, keeper of the paradise that the king has, that he give to me trees for beams [for] the gates of the palace that the house has, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I enter”; and the king gives to me, according to the good hand of my God on me.
9 Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.
And I come to the governors beyond the River, and give to them the letters of the king; and the king sends with me heads of a force, and horsemen;
10 And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there came a man to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.
and Sanballat the Horonite hears, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it is evil to them—a great evil—that a man has come to seek good for the sons of Israel.
11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
And I come to Jerusalem, and I am there three days,
12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me. I neither told any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem, nor was there any beast with me except the beast that I rode upon.
and I rise by night, I and a few men with me, and have not declared to a man what my God is giving to my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding.
13 And I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal's well and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates of it were consumed with fire.
And I go out through the Valley Gate by night, and to the front of the Dragon Fountain, and to the Refuse Gate, and I am inspecting the walls of Jerusalem, that are broken down, and its gates consumed with fire.
14 Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
And I pass over to the Fountain Gate, and to the King’s Pool, and there is no place for the beast under me to pass over,
15 Then I went up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall. And I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.
and I am going up through the brook by night, and am inspecting the wall, and turn back, and come in through the Valley Gate, and turn back.
16 And the rulers did not know where I went, or what I did, neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the ranking men, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work.
And the prefects have not known to where I have gone, and what I am doing; and to the Jews, and to the priests, and to the nobles, and to the prefects, and to the rest of those doing the work, until now I have not declared [it];
17 Then I said to them, Ye see the evil condition that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and the gates of it are burned with fire. Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem that we be no more a reproach.
and I say to them, “You are seeing the evil that we are in, in that Jerusalem [is] desolate, and its gates have been burned with fire; come and we build the wall of Jerusalem, and we are not a reproach anymore.”
18 And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
And I declare to them the hand of my God that is good on me, and also the words of the king that he said to me, and they say, “Let us rise, and we have built”; and they strengthen their hands for good.
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?
And Sanballat the Horonite hears, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, and they mock at us, and despise us, and say, “What [is] this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
20 Then I answered them, and said to 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.
And I return them word, and say to them, “The God of the heavens—He gives prosperity to us, and we His servants rise and have built; and to you there is no portion, and right, and memorial in Jerusalem.”
