13. I went through Valley Gate that night toward Snake Fountain and Dung Gate and examined the places where the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and where its gates had been burned.
14. Passing through Fountain Gate, I arrived at King’s Pool, but the animal I was riding couldn’t get through.
15. So I went through the valley that night and examined the wall. Then I turned back, entered Valley Gate, and returned.
16. The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I had done. I hadn’t yet told the Jews, the priests, the leaders, the other officials, or any of the rest who would be doing the work.
17. Then I told them, “You see the trouble we’re in. Jerusalem is in ruins, and its gates are burned down. Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be insulted.”
18. Then I told them that my God had been guiding me and what the king had told me.They replied, “Let’s begin to rebuild.” So they encouraged one another to begin this God-pleasing work.
19. When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammon ite servant, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they made fun of us and ridiculed us. They asked, “What are you doing? Are you going to rebel against the king?”
20. “The God of heaven will give us success,” I answered them. “We, his servants, are going to rebuild. You have no property or claim or historic right in Jerusalem.”