13. I went out at night through the Valley Gate. I rode toward the Dragon Well and the Trash Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and the gates that had been destroyed by fire.
14. Then I rode on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for the animal I was riding to pass through.
15. So I went up the valley at night, inspecting the wall. Finally, I turned and went back in through the Valley Gate.
16. The guards did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. I had not yet said anything to the Jewish people, the priests, the important men, the officers, or any of the others who would do the work.
17. Then I said to them, “You can see the trouble we have here. Jerusalem is a pile of ruins, and its gates have been burned. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so we won’t be full of shame any longer.”
18. I also told them how God had been kind to me and what the king had said to me.Then they answered, “Let’s start rebuilding.” So they began to work hard.
19. But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite officer, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they made fun of us and laughed at us. They said, “What are you doing? Are you turning against the king?”
20. But I answered them, “The God of heaven will give us success. We, his servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no share, claim, or memorial in Jerusalem.”