to make beams for the gates of the palace which is near to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
9 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there had come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, except the beast that I rode upon.
13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and their gates were consumed with fire.
14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
15 Then I went up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
16 And the rulers knew not where I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
17 Then said I to them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and its gates are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we may be no more a reproach.
18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work .
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they mocked, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
20 Then I answered them, and said to them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
CHAP. 3.
1 Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brethren the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even to the tower of Meah they sanctified it, to the tower of Hananeel.
2 And next to him built the men of Jericho. And next to them built Zaccur the son of Imri. [1]
3 But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid its beams, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars.
4 And next to them repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz. And next to them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel. And next to them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.
5 And next to them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.
6 Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid its beams, and set up its doors, and its locks, and its bars.
7 And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, to the throne of the governor on this side of the river.
8 Next to him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths. Next to him also repaired Hananiah the son of one of the perfumers, and they fortified Jerusalem to the broad wall. [2]
9 And next to them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem.
10 And next to them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, opposite his house. And next to him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabniah.
11 Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hashub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired the other piece, and the tower of the furnaces. [3]
12 And next to him repaired Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.
13 The valley gate repaired Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah; they built it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and a thousand cubits on the wall to the dung gate.
14 But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Bethhaccerem; he built it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars.
15 But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its locks, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king’s garden, and to the stairs that descend from the city of David.
16 After him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Bethzur, to the place opposite the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty.
17 After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah, in his part.
