Nehemiah 2
Nehemiah Sent to
Jerusalem |
1 |
And it came to pass in the month Nisan,
in the twentieth year of Artaxerx'es the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his
presence.
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2 |
Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very
sore afraid,
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3 |
and said unto the king, Let the king live
for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the
place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates
thereof are consumed with fire 2 Kgs. 25.8-10 · 2 Chr. 36.19 · Jer.
52.12-14 ?
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4 |
Then the king said unto me, For what dost
thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
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5 |
And I said unto the king, If it please
the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that
thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers'
sepulchres, that I may build it.
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6 |
And the king said unto me, (the queen
also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when
wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a
time.
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7 |
Moreover I said unto the king, If it
please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the
river, that they may convey me over till I come into
Judah;
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8 |
and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the
king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the
gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for
the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And
the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon
me.
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9 |
Then I came to the governors beyond the
river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent
captains of the army and horsemen with me.
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10 |
When Sanbal'lat the Hor'onite, and
Tobi'ah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved
them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of
the children of Israel.
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Nehemiah Encourages the
People to Rebuild the Walls |
11 |
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there
three days.
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12 |
And I arose in the night, I and some few
men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my
heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with
me, save the beast that I rode upon.
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13 |
And I went out by night by the gate of
the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and
viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates
thereof were consumed with fire.
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14 |
Then I went on to the gate of the
fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for
the beast that was under me to pass.
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15 |
Then went I up in the night by the brook,
and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the
valley, and so returned.
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16 |
And the rulers knew not whither I went,
or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor
to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the
rest that did the work.
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17 |
Then said I unto them, Ye see the
distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste,
and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build
up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
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18 |
Then I told them of the hand of my God
which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken
unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they
strengthened their hands for this good work.
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19 |
But when Sanbal'lat the Hor'onite, and
Tobi'ah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the
king?
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20 |
Then answered I them, and said unto them,
The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants
will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor
memorial, in Jerusalem.
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