5
and I said to the king, If it seemeth good to the king, and if it pleaseth thy servants which be before thy face, I beseech thee, that thou send me into Judah, to the city of the sepulchre(s) of my father(s), and I shall build it (again). (and I said to the king, If it seemeth good to the king, and if thy servant who is before thy face pleaseth thee, I beseech thee, that thou send me to Judah, to the city of my forefathers? graves, and I shall rebuild it.)
6
And the king said to me, and the queen sat beside him, Unto what time shall thy way be, and when shalt thou turn again? And it pleased to the king, and he sent me forth, and I set to the king a time of coming again; (And the king said to me, as the queen sat beside him, How long shalt thy be away, and when shalt thou return? And so it pleased the king, and he sent me forth, and I set a time when I would return to the king;)
7
and I said to the king, If it seemeth good to the king, give he epistles, or letters, to me to the dukes of the country beyond the flood, that they lead me over, till I come into Judah; (and I said to the king, If it seemeth good to the king, let him give me letters to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, with orders to help me get to Judah;)
8
and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he give trees to me, that I may cover (with it) the gates of the tower of the house, and of the wall of the city, and the house, into which I shall enter. And the king gave (the letters) to me, by the good hand of my God, (that was) with me. (and also a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forests, ordering him to give me wood, or timber, so that I can make beams for the gates of the stronghold, or the fortress, and for the city wall, and for the house in which I shall live. And the king gave me the letters, by the good hand of my God, who was with me.)
9
And I came to the dukes of the country beyond the flood, and I gave to them the letters of the king. Soothly the king had sent with me the princes of knights, and (some) horsemen. (And I came to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, and I gave them the king's letters. And the king had sent with me the leaders of the horsemen, and some horsemen as well.)
10
And Sanballat (the) Horonite, and Tobiah, the servant, (the) Ammonite, heard, and they were sorrowful by great torment, that a man was come, that sought prosperity of the sons of Israel. (And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite servant, heard of it, and they were greatly vexed that a man had come, who sought to do good for the Israelites.)
11
And I came into Jerusalem, and I was there three days.
12
And I rose up by night, I and a few men with me, and I showed not to any man (and I told no one), what thing God had given in mine heart, that I would do in Jerusalem; and there was no work beast with me, but the beast that I sat on.
13
And I went out by the gate of the valley by night, and before the well of the dragon, and to the gate of dung; and I beheld the wall of Jerusalem (that was) destroyed, and the gates thereof (that were) wasted by fire. (And I went out at night through the Valley Gate, toward the Dragon Well, and the Dung Gate; and I looked at the wall of Jerusalem, that was broken in many places, and at its gates, that had been destroyed by fire.)
14
And I passed forth to the gate of the well, and to the water conduit of the king, and there was no place for to pass, to the horse, that I sat upon; (And I passed on to the Fountain Gate, and to the King's Pool, but there was no place for the horse that I sat on, to pass through;)
15
and in the night I went up by the strand, and I beheld the wall, and I turned again, and came to the gate of the valley, and I went again (to my lodging). (and then I went up that night by the valley, and I looked at the wall, and then I returned, and came back to the Valley Gate, and went home to my lodging.)