I replied to the king, "O king, live forever! Why would I not appear dejected when the city with the graves of my ancestors lies desolate and its gates destroyed by fire?"

Then the king, with his consort sitting beside him, replied, "How long would your trip take, and when would you return?" Since the king was amenable to dispatching me, I gave him a time.

The men of Tekoa worked on the section adjacent to them, but their town leaders would not assist with the work of their master.

Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was close by, said, "If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!"

But I replied, "Should a man like me run away? Would someone like me flee to the temple in order to save his life? I will not go!"

He had been hired to scare me so that I would do this and thereby sin. They would thus bring reproach on me and I would be discredited.