11I BEG YOU O LORD MAY IT BE PLEASE EAR YOUR ATTENTIVE TO [THE] PRAYER OF SERVANT YOUR AND TO [THE] PRAYER OF SERVANTS YOUR <THE> DELIGHTING TO FEAR <OBJ.> NAME YOUR AND GRANT SUCCESS! PLEASE TO SERVANT YOUR THIS DAY AND GIVE HIM <TO> COMPASSION<S> <TO> BEFORE THE MAN <THE> THIS AND I I WAS CUP BEARER OF THE KING 11O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants*NoteCloseLiterally to the prayer of Your servant and to the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)
1AND IT WAS IN [THE] MONTH OF NISAN YEAR TWENTY OF ARTAXERXES THE KING WINE [WAS] <TO> BEFORE HIM AND I TOOK <OBJ.> THE WINE AND I GAVE [IT]! TO THE KING AND NOT I HAD BEEN SAD <TO> BEFORE HIM Nehemiah Sent to Jerusalem 1Now in the month of Nisan,*NoteCloseNisan is the first month of the Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of March and April. in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence,
2AND HE SAID TO ME THE KING WHY? [IS] FACE YOUR SAD AND YOU NOT YOU [ARE] SICK [IS] NOTHING THIS THAT EXCEPT SADNESS OF HEART AND I WAS AFRAID GREATLY VERY 2so the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This could only be sadness of the heart.” I was overwhelmed with fear
3AND I SAID TO THE KING THE KING FOR EVER MAY HE LIVE WHY? NOT WILL THEY BE SAD FACE MY THAT THE CITY [THE] HOUSE OF [THE] TOMBS OF ANCESTORS MY [IS] DESOLATE AND GATES ITS THEY HAVE BEEN CONSUMED BY <THE> FIRE 3and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
4AND HE SAID TO ME THE KING ON WHAT? THIS [ARE] YOU REQUESTING AND I PRAYED TO [THE] GOD OF THE HEAVENS 4“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven
5AND I SAID TO THE KING IF [IS] ON THE KING GOOD AND IF HE IS GOOD SERVANT YOUR <TO> BEFORE YOU THAT YOU WILL SEND ME TO JUDAH TO [THE] CITY OF [THE] TOMBS OF ANCESTORS MY AND I WILL REBUILD IT 5and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”
6AND HE SAID TO ME THE KING AND THE QUEEN-CONSORT [WAS] SITTING BESIDE HIM UNTIL WHEN? WILL IT BE JOURNEY YOUR AND WHEN? WILL YOU RETURN AND IT WAS GOOD <TO> BEFORE THE KING AND HE SENT ME AND I GAVE! TO HIM A TIME 6Then the king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time.
7AND I SAID TO THE KING IF [IS] ON THE KING GOOD LETTERS LET PEOPLE GIVE TO ME TO [THE] GOVERNORS OF BEYOND THE RIVER THAT THEY WILL ALLOW TO PASS THROUGH ME UNTIL THAT I WILL COME TO JUDAH 7I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may letters be given to me for the governors west of the Euphrates,*NoteCloseHebrew beyond the River; also in verse 9 so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah.
8AND A LETTER TO ASAPH [THE] KEEPER OF THE FOREST WHICH [BELONGS] TO THE KING THAT HE WILL GIVE TO <THE> ME WOOD<S> TO MAKE BEAMS FOR <OBJ.> [THE] GATES OF THE CITADEL WHICH [BELONGS] TO THE HOUSE AND FOR [THE] WALL OF THE CITY AND FOR THE HOUSE WHICH I WILL GO INTO IT AND HE GAVE [THEM] TO ME THE KING ACCORDING TO [THE] HAND OF GOD MY <THE> GOOD ON ME 8And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will occupy And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.
9AND I WENT TO [THE] GOVERNORS OF BEYOND THE RIVER AND I GAVE! TO THEM <OBJ.> [THE] LETTERS OF THE KING AND HE HAD SENT WITH ME THE KING COMMANDERS OF [THE] ARMY AND HORSEMEN 9Then I went to the governors west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.
10AND HE HEARD SANBALLAT THE HORONITE AND TOBIAH THE SERVANT THE AMMONITE AND IT WAS DISPLEASING TO THEM DISPLEASURE GREAT THAT HE HAD COME SOMEONE TO SEEK GOOD FOR [THE] PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 10But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.
11AND I CAME TO JERUSALEM AND I WAS THERE DAYS THREE Nehemiah Inspects the Walls 11After I had arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days,
12AND I AROSE NIGHT I AND MEN A FEW WITH ME AND NOT I HAD TOLD TO ANYONE WHAT? [WAS] GOD MY PUTTING INTO HEART MY TO DO FOR JERUSALEM AND AN ANIMAL THERE NOT [WAS] WITH ME THAT EXCEPT THE ANIMAL WHICH I [WAS] RIDING ON IT 12I set out at night with a few men. I did not tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal with me was the one on which I was riding
13AND I WENT OUT! BY [THE] GATE OF THE VALLEY NIGHT AND TO [THE] FACE [THE] SPRING OF [THE] DRAGONS AND TO [THE] GATE OF THE DUNG AND I WAS EXAMINING <ON> [THE] WALLS OF JERUSALEM WHICH THEY AND GATES ITS THEY HAD BEEN CONSUMED BY <THE> FIRE 13So I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Well of the Serpent*NoteCloseOr Dragon or Jackal and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and the gates that had been destroyed by fire.
14AND I PASSED ON TO [THE] GATE OF THE SPRING AND TO [THE] POOL OF THE KING AND THERE NOT [WAS] ROOM FOR THE ANIMAL TO PASS THROUGH UNDER ME 14Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to get through;
15AND I WAS GOING UP IN THE WADI NIGHT AND I WAS EXAMINING <ON> THE WALL AND I TURNED BACK AND I WENT IN [THE] GATE OF THE VALLEY AND I RETURNED 15so I went up the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I headed back and reentered through the Valley Gate.
16AND THE OFFICIALS NOT THEY KNEW WHERE? HAD I GONE AND WHAT? [WAS] I DOING AND TO THE JEWS AND TO THE PRIESTS AND TO THE NOBLES AND TO THE OFFICIALS AND TO [THE] REST <OF> [WHO WAS] DOING <OF> THE WORK UNTIL THUS NOT I HAD TOLD 16The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers.
17AND I SAID TO THEM YOU [ARE] SEEING THE TROUBLE WHICH WE [ARE] IN IT THAT JERUSALEM [IS] DESOLATE AND GATES ITS THEY HAVE BEEN BURNED WITH <THE> FIRE COME SO WE MAY REBUILD <OBJ.> [THE] WALL OF JERUSALEM AND NOT WE WILL BE AGAIN A REPROACH 17Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”
18AND I TOLD TO THEM <OBJ.>[ABOUT] [THE] HAND OF GOD MY THAT IT [WAS] GOOD ON ME AND ALSO [THE] WORDS OF THE KING WHICH HE HAD SPOKEN TO ME AND THEY SAID LET US ARISE AND WE WILL REBUILD AND THEY STRENGTHENED HANDS THEIR FOR <THE> GOOD 18I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me, and what the king had said to me. “Let us start rebuilding,” they replied, and they set their hands to this good work.
19AND HE HEARD SANBALLAT THE HORONITE AND TOBIAH THE SERVANT THE AMMONITE AND GESHEM THE ARAB AND THEY MOCKED <TO> US AND THEY DESPISED <ON> US AND THEY SAID WHAT? [IS] THE THING <THE> THIS WHICH YOU [ARE] DOING ¿ ON THE KING [ARE] YOU REBELLING 19But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
20AND I BROUGHT BACK <OBJ.> THEM WORD AND I SAID TO THEM [THE] GOD OF THE HEAVENS HE HE WILL GRANT SUCCESS TO US AND WE SERVANTS HIS WE WILL ARISE AND WE WILL REBUILD AND [BELONGS] TO YOU NOT A SHARE AND A RIGHT AND A MEMORIAL IN JERUSALEM 20So I answered them and said “The God of heaven is the One who will grant us success We, His servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no portion, right, or claim in Jerusalem.”