느헤미야 2

Nehemiah asks the king to send him to Judah

¹In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence before.^{a 2}So the king asked me, “Why do you look so sad? You are not sick. This can only be sadness of heart.” Then I was terribly afraid. ³I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not look sad, when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

⁴The king said to me, “What is it you want?” So I prayed to the God of heaven, ⁵and I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah, to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I can rebuild it.” ⁶The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will you be gone, and when will you come back?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time for him. ⁷I also said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let me be given letters to the governors of the province Beyond the River, so that they will let me pass through until I reach Judah, ⁸and a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress by the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will live in.” And the king granted me these things, because the good hand of my God was on me.^{b 9}So I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army commanders and horsemen with me.

Nehemiah comes to Jerusalem and inspects the walls

¹⁰When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were greatly displeased that someone had come to seek the welfare of the Israelites.^{c 11}So I came to Jerusalem, and I was there three days. ¹²Then I got up during the night, I and a few men with me. I had not told anyone what my God was putting into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me except the one I was riding. ¹³I went out by night through the Valley Gate toward the Dragon Spring and the Dung Gate. I inspected the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. ¹⁴Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal I was riding to get through. ¹⁵So I went up through the valley in the night and inspected the wall. Then I turned back and came in through the Valley Gate, and so I returned. ¹⁶The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the others who would do the work. ¹⁷Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” ¹⁸I told them how the hand of my God had been good to me, and also what the king had said to me. They said, “Let us start building!” So they prepared themselves for this good work.

¹⁹But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they mocked us and scorned us. They said, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” ²⁰I answered them, “The God of heaven will give us success, and we his servants will start building. But you have no share, no right and no memorial in Jerusalem.”