Nehemiah:2

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* And it came to pass in the month Nisan , in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes 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 . * 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 , * 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 ? * Then the king said unto me , For what dost thou make request ? So I prayed to the God of heaven . * And I said unto the king , If it please the king , and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight , that thou wouldest send me unto Judah , unto the city of my fathers sepulchres , that I may build it . * 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 . * 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 ; * And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the kings 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 . * Then I came to the governors beyond the river , and gave them the kings letters . Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me . * When Sanballat the Horonite , and Tobiah the servant , the Ammonite , heard of it , it grieved them exceedingly ra # that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel Yisra #el #. * So I came to Jerusalem , and was there three days . * 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 . * And I went out by night by the gate of the valley , even before the dragon well # #Eyn , and to the dung port sha #ar #, and viewed (8675 ) the walls of Jerusalem , which were broken down , and the gates thereof were consumed with fire . * Then I went on to the gate of the fountain , and to the kings pool : but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass . * Then went I up in the night by the brook , and viewed (8675 ) the wall , and turned back , and entered by the gate of the valley , and so returned . * 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 m @la #kah #. * 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 . * Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me ; as also the kings 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 . * But when Sanballat the Horonite , and Tobiah 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 ? * 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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