12. I got up during the night and left my house. I took some men with me, without telling anyone what I thought God wanted me to do for the city. The only animal I took was the donkey I rode on.
13. I went through Valley Gate on the west, then south past Dragon Spring, before coming to Rubbish Gate. As I rode along, I took a good look at the crumbled walls of the city and the gates that had been torn down and burnt.
14. On the east side of the city, I headed north to Fountain Gate and King's Pool, but then the path became too narrow for my donkey.
15. So I went down to Kidron Valley and looked at the wall from there. Then before daylight I returned to the city through Valley Gate.
16. None of the city officials knew what I had in mind. And I had not even told any of the Jews—not the priests, the leaders, the officials, or any other Jews who would be helping in the work.
17. But when I got back, I said to them, “Jerusalem is truly in a mess! The gates have been torn down and burnt, and everything is in ruins. We must rebuild the city wall so that we can again take pride in our city.”
18. Then I told them how kind God had been and what the king had said.Immediately, they replied, “Let's start building now!” So they got everything ready.
19. When Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard about our plans, they started insulting us and saying, “Just look at you! Do you plan to rebuild the walls of the city and rebel against the king?”
20. I answered, “We are servants of the God who rules from heaven, and he will make our work succeed. So we will start rebuilding Jerusalem, but you have no right to any of its property, because you have had no part in its history.”