7
And I said to the king, If good to the king, let him give me letters to the governors beyond the river, so as to forward me till I come to Juda;
8
and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the garden which belongs to the king, that he may give me timber to cover the gates, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I shall enter. And the king gave to me, according as the good hand of God .
9
And I came to the governors beyond the river, and I gave them the king's letters. (Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.)
10
And Sanaballat the Aronite heard , and Tobia the servant, the Ammonite, and it was grievous to them that a man was come to seek good for the children of Israel.
11
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12
And I rose up by night, I and a few men with me; and I told no man what God put into my heart to do with Israel; and there was no beast with me, except the beast which I rode upon.
13
And I went forth by the gate of the valley by night, and to the mouth of the well of fig trees, and to the dung-gate: and I mourned over the wall of Jerusalem which they were destroying, and her gates were devoured with fire.
14
And I passed on to the fountain gate, and to the king's pool; and there was no room for the beast to pass under me.
15
And I went up by the wall of the brook by night, and mourned over the wall, and passed through the gate of the valley, and returned.
16
And the sentinels knew not why I went, nor what I was doing; and until that time I told not to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the captains, or to the rest who wrought the works.
17
Then I said to them, Ye see this evil, in which we are, how Jerusalem is desolate, and her gates have been set on fire: come, and let us build throughout the wall of Jerusalem, and we shall be no longer a reproach.