1
H2320
It happened in the month
H5212
Nisan,
H6242
in the twentieth
H8141
year
H783
of Artaxerxes
H4428
the king,
H3196
when wine
H6440
was before
H5375
him, that I took up
H3196
the wine,
H5414
and gave
H4428
it to the king.
H7451
Now I had not been sad
H6440
before in his presence.
2
H4428
The king
H559
said
H6440
to me, "Why is your face
H7451
sad,
H2470
since you are not sick?
H7455
This is nothing else but sorrow
H3820
of heart."
H3966
Then I was very
H7235
much
H3372
afraid.
3
H559
I said
H4428
to the king,
H4428
"Let the king
H2421
live
H5769
forever!
H6440
Why shouldn't my face
H3415
be sad,
H5892
when the city,
H1004
the place
H1
of my fathers'
H6913
tombs,
H2720
lies waste,
H8179
and its gates
H398
have been consumed
H784
with fire?"
4
H4428
Then the king
H559
said
H1245
to me, "For what do you make request?"
H6419
So I prayed
H430
to the God
H8064
of heaven.
5
H559
I said
H4428
to the king,
H2895
"If it pleases
H4428
the king,
H5650
and if your servant
H3190
has found favor
H6440
in your sight,
H7971
that you would send
H3063
me to Judah,
H5892
to the city
H1
of my fathers'
H6913
tombs,
H1129
that I may build it."
6
H4428
The king
H559
said
H7694
to me (the queen
H3427
was also sitting
H681
by him),
H4109
"For how long shall your journey
H7725
be? And when will you return?"
H3190
So it pleased
H4428
the king
H7971
to send
H5414
me; and I set
H2165
him a time.
7
H559
Moreover I said
H4428
to the king,
H2895
"If it pleases
H4428
the king,
H107
let letters
H5414
be given
H6346
me to the governors
H5676
beyond
H5104
the River,
H5674
that they may let me pass through
H935
until I come
H3063
to Judah;
8
H107
and a letter
H623
to Asaph
H8104
the keeper
H4428
of the king's
H6508
forest,
H5414
that he may give
H6086
me timber
H7136
to make beams
H8179
for the gates
H1002
of the citadel
H1004
by the temple,
H2346
for the wall
H5892
of the city,
H1004
and for the house
H935
that I shall enter into."
H4428
The king
H5414
granted
H2896
my requests, because of the good
H3027
hand
H430
of my God on me.
9
H935
Then I came
H6346
to the governors
H5676
beyond
H5104
the River,
H5414
and gave
H4428
them the king's
H107
letters.
H4428
Now the king
H7971
had sent
H8269
with me captains
H2428
of the army
H6571
and horsemen.
10
H5571
When Sanballat
H2772
the Horonite,
H2900
and Tobiah
H5650
the servant,
H5984
the Ammonite,
H8085
heard
H3415
of it, it grieved
H7451
them exceedingly,
H120
because a man
H935
had come
H1245
to seek
H2896
the welfare
H1121
of the children
H3478
of Israel.
12
H6965
I arose
H3915
in the night,
H4592
I and some
H4592
few
H582
men
H5046
with me; neither told
H582
I any man
H430
what my God
H5414
put
H3820
into my heart
H6213
to do
H3389
for Jerusalem;
H929
neither was there any animal
H929
with me, except the animal
H7392
that I rode on.
13
H3318
I went out
H3915
by night
H1516
by the valley
H8179
gate,
H6440
even toward
H8577
the jackal's
H5869
well,
H830
and to the dung
H8179
gate,
H7663
and viewed
H2346
the walls
H3389
of Jerusalem,
H6555
which were broken down,
H8179
and its gates
H398
were consumed
H784
with fire.
14
H5674
Then I went on
H5869
to the spring
H8179
gate
H4428
and to the king's
H1295
pool:
H4725
but there was no place
H929
for the animal
H5674
that was under me to pass.
15
H5927
Then went I up
H3915
in the night
H5158
by the brook,
H7663
and viewed
H2346
the wall;
H7725
and I turned back,
H935
and entered
H1516
by the valley
H8179
gate,
H7725
and so returned.
16
H5461
The rulers
H3045
didn't know
H1980
where I went,
H6213
or what I did;
H3651
neither had I as yet
H5046
told
H3064
it to the Jews,
H3548
nor to the priests,
H2715
nor to the nobles,
H5461
nor to the rulers,
H3499
nor to the rest
H6213
who did
H4399
the work.
17
H559
Then I said
H7200
to them, "You see
H7451
the evil
H3389
case that we are in, how Jerusalem
H2720
lies waste,
H8179
and its gates
H3341
are burned
H784
with fire.
H3212
Come,
H1129
let us build up
H2346
the wall
H3389
of Jerusalem,
H2781
that we won't be disgraced."
18
H5046
I told
H3027
them of the hand
H430
of my God
H2896
which was good
H4428
on me, as also of the king's
H1697
words
H559
that he had spoken
H559
to me. They said,
H6965
"Let's rise up
H1129
and build."
H2388
So they strengthened
H3027
their hands
H2896
for the good work.
19
H5571
But when Sanballat
H2772
the Horonite,
H2900
and Tobiah
H5650
the servant,
H5984
the Ammonite,
H1654
and Geshem
H6163
the Arabian,
H8085
heard
H3932
it, they ridiculed
H959
us, and despised
H559
us, and said,
H1697
"What is this thing
H6213
that you are doing?
H4775
Will you rebel
H4428
against the king?"