|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Nehemiah's Prayer Answered |
|
|
 |
| Nehemiah 2:1 |
|
And it came about in the month Nisan, in the
twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the
wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. |
|
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:2 |
|
So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad
though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart." Then I was very
much afraid. |
| |
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:3 |
|
I said to the king, "Let the king live forever.
Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies
desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?" |
| |
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:4 |
|
Then the king said to me, "What would you request?"
So I prayed to the God of heaven. |
| |
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:5 |
|
I said to the king, "If it please the king,
and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city
of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it." |
| |
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:6 |
|
Then the king said to me, the queen sitting
beside him, "How long will your journey be, and when will you return?" So it pleased
the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time. |
| |
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:7 |
|
And I said to the king, "If it please the king,
let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that
they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, |
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:8 |
|
and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's
forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress
which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I
will go." And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was
on me. |
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:9 |
|
Then I came to the governors of the provinces
beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with
me officers of the army and horsemen. |
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:10 |
|
When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite
official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come
to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem's Walls |
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:11 |
|
So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
|
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:12 |
|
And I arose in the night, I and a few men with
me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem
and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. |
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:13 |
|
So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in
the direction of the Dragon's Well and on to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls
of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire.
|
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:14 |
|
Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the
King's Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass. |
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:15 |
|
So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected
the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. |
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:16 |
|
The officials did not know where I had gone
or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the
officials or the rest who did the work. |
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:17 |
|
Then I said to them, "You see the bad situation
we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let
us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach." |
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:18 |
|
I told them how the hand of my God had been
favorable to me and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then
they said, "Let us arise and build." So they put their hands to the good work. |
|
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:19 |
|
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the
Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us
and said, "What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?" |
| |
|
|
| Nehemiah 2:20 |
|
So I answered them and said to them, "The God
of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build,
but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem." |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
