Nehemiah 2:17-19

New English Translation

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. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this,^[d] they derided us and expressed contempt toward us. They said, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”