Nehemiah 2 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
the spring month of Nisan, 445 BC, about four months after the news reached him
Location
the Persian court at Susa, then the road west across the empire to Jerusalem in the province of Judah
Audience
Jews in restored Jerusalem, reading how their city's rebuilding was authorized and begun
Situation
Nehemiah's sadness is noticed by the king while serving wine, and he asks for leave and for letters granting safe passage and timber. He reaches Jerusalem, inspects the ruined walls secretly by night, then calls the leaders to rebuild.
Key Background
A cupbearer tasted the king's wine against poisoning, a role of real intimacy and trust rather than mere table service, which is why the king noticed a change in his face and why showing distress before a Persian monarch was genuinely dangerous. Imperial letters functioned as passports and supply orders, since provincial governors would not admit a traveler or release royal forest timber without written authority. Sanballat governed Samaria to the north and Tobiah held authority in Ammon to the east, so a fortified Jerusalem threatened their regional influence and their revenue, which explains hostility to a project the king himself had approved.
In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King when wine was set before him, I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. I had never looked sad in his presence before.
So the king said to me, "Why does your face look so sad? You're not sick. This can only be sadness of heart." I was
I said to the "May the How could my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"
The king asked me, "What exactly are you asking for?" So I to the of
and said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found with you, send me to Judah, to the city where my ancestors are buried, so I can rebuild it."
The king, with the sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you return?" It pleased the king to send me, so I gave him a specific timeframe.
I also said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let me have letters to the governors of the of the so they'll grant me safe passage until I arrive in Judah."
"And a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal forest, so he'll give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress by the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I'll live in." The king granted everything I asked, because the of my was on me.
I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king's letters. The king had also sent and with me.
When the Horonite and the Ammonite official heard about this, they were furious that someone had come to work for the good of the people of Israel.
I arrived in Jerusalem and stayed there for three days.
Then I got up during the night — I and a few men with me. I hadn't told anyone what my had in my to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I had was the one I was riding.
I went out at night through the Valley toward the Dragon Spring and the examining Jerusalem's walls — broken down, with gates consumed by fire.
I continued to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but the path was too narrow for the animal I was riding to get through.
So I went up through the valley at night, examining the wall. Then I turned back and came in through the Valley Gate.
The officials had no idea where I had gone or what I was doing. I hadn't said anything yet to the Jewish leaders, the officials, the priests, the nobles, or anyone else who would be doing the work.
Then I said to them, "You can see the trouble we're in — Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come on, let's rebuild Jerusalem's wall so we won't be an anymore."
I told them how the hand of my God had been on me, and about the king's words to me. They said, "Let's start building!" And they to this
But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and the heard about it, they mocked us and looked down on us. They said, "What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king?"
I answered them, "The God of heaven — he will make us succeed. We are his servants, and we're going to start building. But you? You have no no and no in Jerusalem."