6. And the king said to me, with the queen who was sitting beside him: "Until what time will your journey be, and when will you return?" And it was pleasing before the countenance of the king, and so he sent me. And I established a time for him.
7. And I said to the king: "If it seems good to the king, may he give me letters to the governors of the region beyond the river, so that they may lead me through, until I arrive in Judea,
8. and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, so that he may give me timber, in order that I may be able to cover the gates of the tower of the house, and the walls of the city, and the house that I will enter." And the king granted to me in accord with the good hand of my God, who is with me.
9. And I went to the governors of the region beyond the river, and I gave them the letters of the king. Now the king had sent with me military leaders and horsemen.
10. And Sanballat, a Horonite, and the servant Tobiah, an Ammonite, heard this. And they were saddened, with a great affliction, that a man had arrived who was seeking the prosperity of the sons of Israel.
11. And I arrived at Jerusalem, and I was there for three days.
12. And I got up in the night, I and a few men with me. And I did not reveal to anyone what God had placed in my heart to do in Jerusalem. And there was no animal with me, except the animal on which I was sitting.
13. And I departed in the night through the gate of the valley, and before the fountain of the dragon, and toward the dung gate. And I considered the wall of Jerusalem, which was broken apart, and its gates, which had been consumed by fire.
14. And I continued on to the gate of the fountain, and to the aqueduct of the king. And there was no room for the beast on which I was sitting to pass through.
15. And so I climbed up in the night along the torrent, and I considered the wall. And turning back, I went by the gate of the valley, and I returned.
16. Now the magistrates did not know where I had gone, or what I had done. For I had revealed nothing, even to that point in time, to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the magistrates, or to the others who were doing the work.