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Nehemiah 2:1-20 — Nehemiah Sent to Jerusalem

Neh.2.1-20

¹In the month of Nisan , in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. I had not previously been sad in his presence. ²So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad when you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³And I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies in ruins and its gates have been consumed by fire?” ⁴Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven, ⁵and I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, so that I may rebuild it.” ⁶Then the king said to me, while the queen was sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a time. ⁷I also said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let letters be given me for the governors of Beyond the River, so that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah; ⁸and a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's park, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple , for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy." And the king granted my requests, according to the good hand of my God upon me. ⁹Then I came to the governors of Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. The king had sent army commanders and horsemen with me. ¹⁰When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard of it, they were greatly displeased that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. ¹¹So I came to Jerusalem, and I was there three days. ¹²Then I arose by night, I and a few men with me. I had not told anyone what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me except the one on which I was riding. ¹³I went out by night through the Valley Gate, past the Dragon Spring and toward the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and its gates that had been consumed by fire. ¹⁴Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no place for the animal under me to pass. ¹⁵So I went up through the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. ¹⁶The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. Until then I had told nothing to the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who would do the work. ¹⁷Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer be a reproach.” ¹⁸And I told them that the hand of my God was good upon me, and also the words that the king had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for this good work. ¹⁹But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they mocked us and despised us, saying, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰But I answered them, “The God of heaven will make us succeed, and we his servants will arise and build. But you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem.”

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4/11/2026

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