Nehemiah 2

Nehemiah 2:1 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 been so sad in his presence,

Nehemiah 2:2, the king asked me, “Why is your face sad when you aren’t sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.”[1] I was terrified

Nehemiah 2:3 and replied to the king, “May the king stay alive[2] permanently![3] Why should I not be sad when the city of my ancestors’ graves lies in ruins, and its gates have been consumed[4] by fire?”

Nehemiah 2:4 The king asked me, “What is your request?” So, I prayed to the God of the sky

Nehemiah 2:5 and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah and the city of my ancestors’ graves, so that I may build it.”

Nehemiah 2:6 The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So, I gave him a definite time, and it pleased the king to send me.

Nehemiah 2:7 I also said to the king: “If it pleases the king, let me have letters written to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates River, so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah.

Nehemiah 2:8 And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple’s fortress, the city wall, and the home where I will live.” The king granted my requests because the gracious hand of my God was on me.

Nehemiah 2:9 I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent efficient[5] captains[6] and horsemen with me.

Nehemiah 2:10 When Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite official, heard that someone had come to pursue the Israelites’ prosperity, they were greatly displeased.

Nehemiah 2:11 After I arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days,

Nehemiah 2:12 I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal[7] I took was the one I was riding.

Nehemiah 2:13 I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Serpent’s Well and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the broken-down walls of Jerusalem and its consumed gates.

Nehemiah 2:14 I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but farther down it became too narrow for my animal to go through.

Nehemiah 2:15 So I went up at night by way of the valley and inspected the wall. Then, heading back, I entered through the Valley Gate and returned.

Nehemiah 2:16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work.

Nehemiah 2:17 So I said to them, “You see the situation we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned. Come, let’s build Jerusalem’s wall, so that we will not continually[8] be a disgrace.”

Nehemiah 2:18 I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me, and what the king had said to me. They said, “Let’s start rebuilding,” and their hands were strong[9] to do this good work.

Nehemiah 2:19 When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they ridiculed[10] and despised us, saying, “What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

Nehemiah 2:20 I gave them this reply, “The God of the sky is the one who will grant us fortune. We, his servants, will start building, but you have no share, right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”

[1] לֵב = heart. Nehemiah 2:2, 12; 4:6; 6:8; 7:5.

[2] חָיָה = live, stay alive, revive. Nehemiah 2:3; 4:2; 5:2; 6:11; 9:6, 29.

[3] עוֹלָם = age, permanent/ly, ancient, future. Nehemiah 2:3; 9:5; 13:1.

[4] אָכַל = consume. Nehemiah 2:3, 13; 5:2, 14; 7:65; 8:10, 12; 9:25, 36.

[5] חַיִל = capable, powerful, efficient. Nehemiah 2:9; 4:2; 11:6.

[6] שַׂר = captain. Nehemiah 2:9; 3:9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19; 4:16; 7:2; 9:32, 34, 38; 11:1; 12:31, 32.

[7] בְּהֵמָה = animal. Nehemiah 2:12, 14; 9:37; 10:36.

[8] עוֹד = again, continually, still, more. Nehemiah 2:17.

[9] חָזָק = be strong, strongly, catch. Nehemiah 2:18; 3:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32; 4:16, 17, 21; 5:16; 6:9; 10:29.

[10] לעג= ridicule. Nehemiah 2:19; 4:1.