2 In the spring of the twentieth year of King Artahshashta’s reign, I was serving wine to the king. I’d never looked sad before in his presence, 2 and the king asked me, “Why do you look unhappy? I know that you’re not sick so something must be upsetting you.”

I was very scared 3 and I answered the king, “May the king live forever. I can’t help but look unhappy when the city containing my ancestors’ graves has had its gates burnt down and it’s now abandoned.”[ref] 4 “So what would you like to happen?” the king asked.

Then I prayed to the God of heaven 5 and answered the king, “If I have your favour, and if it seems good to the king, maybe you’d send me to Yehudah—to the city of my ancestors’ graves so I could rebuild it.”

6 Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, “How long would your journey be? And when would you return?” So I gave him a date and he seemed happy with it, because he released me to go.

7 Then I made another request, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the provinces across the Euphrates river to ask them to help me in my travel towards Yehudah. 8 Also a letter to Asaf, the keeper of the king’s forest, so he’ll give me timber for the beams of the gates of the fortress near the temple, and for the city wall, and for the house that I’ll live in.” Then the king granted those requests, thanks to God’s help on what I was doing.

9 Then I went to the governors of the provinces across the Euphrates, and I gave them the king’s letters. The king had sent army officers and horsemen with me. 10 When Sanvallat the Horonite and the servant Toviyyah the Ammonite heard my plans, they were very angry that someone would come to help the Israelis.

11 So I got to Yerushalem and was there for three days, 12 One night, I got up and took a few men with me, without having told anyone what I felt that my God had been telling me to do for Yerushalem. We only had the one horse that I was riding, 13 and we went out in the dark through the Valley Gate and past the Dragon Well to the Dung Gate. I was carefully inspecting the city walls—noting where they were broken down and which gates had been burnt out. 14 Then I crossed to the Fountain Gate and the Royal Pool, but there was nowhere that we could get my mount through the rubble. 15 So I went up the creek bed in the dark, carefully inspecting the wall, before turning back and returning quietly through the Valley Gate.

16 None of the city officials knew where I’d gone or what I was doing, and up until this point I hadn’t yet told my plans to the Jewish leaders or the priests or nobles or city officials, or hired any workers. 17 So now I told them, “You call all see the desparate situation that we’re in: Yerushalem is in ruins and its gates have been burned out. So now, let’s rebuild the city wall and then we’ll no longer be mocked by others.” 18 I told them how God had helped me so far and what the king had given me permission to do.

“Well, let’s get started on the rebuilding,” they said, and got ready to work together. 19 But then Sanvallat the Horonite, and the Ammonite servant Toviyyah, and Geshem the Arabian heard, and they mocked and despised us, saying, “What are you guys all up to? Are you all rebelling against the king?”

20 I answered them by explaining, “The God of the heavens will help us to succeed, and we ourselves, his servants, will do the rebuilding work, but you all will have no part in it, and no rights in Yerushalem.”