Nehemiah 2:11-20 - Nehemiah Inspects The Walls And Decides To Restore Them
11 I stayed at Jerusalem for three days. 12 I got up in the night and took a small band of men with me. I said nothing to any man of what God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem, I had no beast with me but the one on which I was seated. 13 I went in the dark through the gateway of the valley past the Fountain of the Snake (Serpent's Well) as far as the place where waste material was stored. From there I viewed the broken down walls of Jerusalem and the gateways that were burned with fire. 14 Then I went on to the door of the fountain and to the king's pool: but there was no room for my beast to get through. 15 Then in the night I went up by the stream, viewed the wall and then turned back. I went in by the valley gate. 16 The chiefs had no knowledge of where I had been or what I was doing. I had not then said anything to the Jews or to the priests or the great ones or the chiefs or the rest of those who were doing the work. 17 Then I said to them: You see what a bad condition we are in. How Jerusalem is a waste. It's gateways burned with fire. Come; let us get to work, building up the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer be put to shame. 18 Then I gave them an account of how the hand of my God was on me, helping me. I told them of the king's words he said to me. They said: Let us get to work on the building. So they made their hands strong for the good work.
19 But Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, hearing of it, made sport of us. They laughed at us and said: What are you doing? Will you go against the king?
20 I answered them: The God of heaven will be our help; so we, his servants, will go on with our building. But you have no part or right or any name in Jerusalem.