Nehemiah · King James Version (with Apocrypha)
Nehemiah 2 King James Version (with Apocrypha)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that] wine [was] before him: and I took up the wine, and gave [it] unto the king. Now I had not been [beforetime] sad in his presence.
1 In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, I picked up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence.
2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why [is] thy countenance sad, seeing thou [art] not sick? this [is] nothing [else] but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
2 The king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.” Then I was very much afraid.
3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?”
4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
4 Then the king said to me, “What is your request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.
5 I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may build it.”
6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
6 The king said to me (the queen was also sitting by him), “How long will your journey be? When will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time for him.
7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
7 Moreover I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah;
8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which [appertained] to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house that I will occupy.” The king granted my requests, because of the good hand of my God on 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.
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 was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
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, save the beast that I rode upon.
12 I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There wasn’t any animal with me except the animal that I rode on.
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 the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
13 I went out by night by the valley gate toward the jackal’s well, then to the dung gate; and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its 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.
14 Then I went on to the spring gate and to the king’s pool, but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.
15 Then went I 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.
15 Then I went up in the night by the brook and inspected the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.
16 And the rulers knew not whither 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.
16 The rulers didn’t know where I went, or what I did. I had not as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work.
17 ¶ Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we [are] in, how Jerusalem [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, let’s build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we won’t be disgraced.”
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 unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for [this] good [work].
18 I told them about the hand of my God which was good on me, and also about the king’s words that he had spoken to me. They said, “Let’s rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard [it], they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What [is] this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
20 Then answered I them, and said unto 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.
20 Then I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.”
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Asaph
Persian official to whom Artaxerxes’s letter ordered timber given to Nehemiah for the gates and wall.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 2:8
Geshem
Geshem the Arab joined Sanballat and Tobiah in mocking the builders and sent messages to lure Nehemiah to Ono.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 6:1; Nehemiah 6:2
Sanballat
Sanballat the Horonite, who mocked, plotted against, and tried to lure Nehemiah during the wall building; one of the high priest’s grandsons became his son-in-law.
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:1
Tobiah
Ammonite official who jeered at the wall, sent intimidating letters, had ties of marriage and oath among Judah’s nobles, and was given a temple storeroom by Eliashib until…
Cited in the guide: Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 4:3; Nehemiah 6:17
Cross references (19)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Ezra 7:1; Nehemiah 1:11; Nehemiah 1:1; Ezra 7:7; Esther 3:7
- 2 Proverbs 15:13; Genesis 40:7
- 3 Nehemiah 1:3; 1 Kings 1:31; Daniel 5:10; Psalm 137:6; Daniel 2:4
- 4 Philippians 4:6; Proverbs 3:6; Nehemiah 1:4; Nehemiah 1:11; 1 Kings 3:5
- 5 2 Samuel 14:22; Ruth 2:13; Esther 8:5; Ezra 5:17; Esther 5:8
- 6 Nehemiah 13:6; Nehemiah 5:14; Isaiah 65:24; Isaiah 58:12; Nehemiah 2:4
- 7 Ezra 7:21; Nehemiah 2:9; Ezra 8:36; Ezra 6:6; Ezra 8:22
- 8 Ezra 7:6; Isaiah 66:14; Nehemiah 7:2; Daniel 1:9; Nehemiah 2:17–18
- 9 Ezra 8:22
- 10 Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:7; Nehemiah 13:4; Acts 19:26–27; Proverbs 27:4
- 11 Ezra 8:32
- 12 Revelation 17:17; Ezra 7:27; Jeremiah 31:33; 2 Corinthians 8:16; Jeremiah 32:40
- 13 Nehemiah 1:3; 2 Chronicles 26:9; Nehemiah 2:17; Nehemiah 3:13–14; Nehemiah 2:3
- 14 Nehemiah 3:15; 2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:30; 2 Kings 18:17
- 15 2 Samuel 15:23; Jeremiah 31:38–40; John 18:1
- 17 Ezekiel 5:14; Isaiah 35:3–4; Psalm 79:4; Lamentations 3:51; Nehemiah 1:3
- 18 Philippians 2:13; 1 Chronicles 19:13; 2 Chronicles 32:5; Ephesians 6:10; Haggai 1:13–14
- 19 Nehemiah 6:6; Nehemiah 6:1–2; Psalm 44:13–14; Mark 5:40; Psalm 80:6
- 20 Ezra 4:3; Acts 8:21; Nehemiah 2:4; Isaiah 56:5; Acts 10:31
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences