Nehemiah 2 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. I had never looked sad in his presence before.

So the king said to me, "Why does your face look so sad? You're not sick. This can only be sadness of heart." I was absolutely terrified.

I said to the king, "May the king live forever! How could my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"

The king asked me, "What exactly are you asking for?" So I prayed to the God of heaven

and said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah, to the city where my ancestors are buried, so I can rebuild it."

The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you return?" It pleased the king to send me, so I gave him a specific timeframe.

I also said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let me have letters to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates, so they'll grant me safe passage until I arrive in Judah."

"And a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal forest, so he'll give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress by the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I'll live in." The king granted everything I asked, because the good hand of my God was on me.

I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king's letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were furious that someone had come to work for the good of the people of Israel.

I arrived in Jerusalem and stayed there for three days.

Then I got up during the night — I and a few men with me. I hadn't told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I had was the one I was riding.

I went out at night through the Valley Gate, toward the Dragon Spring and the Dung Gate, examining Jerusalem's walls — broken down, with gates consumed by fire.

I continued to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but the path was too narrow for the animal I was riding to get through.

So I went up through the valley at night, examining the wall. Then I turned back and came in through the Valley Gate.

The officials had no idea where I had gone or what I was doing. I hadn't said anything yet to the Jewish leaders, the officials, the priests, the nobles, or anyone else who would be doing the work.

Then I said to them, "You can see the trouble we're in — Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come on, let's rebuild Jerusalem's wall so we won't be an embarrassment anymore."

I told them how the good hand of my God had been on me, and about the king's words to me. They said, "Let's start building!" And they committed themselves to this good work.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked us and looked down on us. They said, "What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king?"

I answered them, "The God of heaven — he will make us succeed. We are his servants, and we're going to start building. But you? You have no stake, no claim, and no history in Jerusalem."