Nehemiah 2:16-18

New English Translation

¹⁶ The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had been doing, for up to this point I had not told any of the Jews or the priests or the nobles or the officials or the rest of the workers. ¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the problem that we have—Jerusalem is desolate and its gates are burned. Come on! Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that this reproach will not continue.” ¹⁸ Then I related to them how the good hand of my God was on me and what^[a] the king had said to me. Then they replied, “Let’s begin rebuilding right away!”^[b] So they readied themselves^[c] for this good project.