1And it came to pass in the month Nisan [their flight], in the twentieth year of Artach’shashta [I will make the spoiled to boil: I will stir myself (in) winter] the king, [that] wine [was] before him: and I took up the wine, and gave [it] unto the king. Now I had not been [formerly] sad in his presence. 2For what reason the king said unto me, Why [is] youⁱ Countenance (Face, appearance; show favor) sad, seeing youⁱ [are] not sick? this [is] nothing [else] but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, 3And said unto the king, Let the king live forever: why should not my Countenance (Face, appearance; show favor) be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, [lies] waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? 4Then the king said unto me, For what do youⁱ make request? So I prayed to the God-Elohim (The Living Word) [The Many Powered] of heaven. 5And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if youⁱ servant have found favour in youⁱ sight, that youⁱ would send me unto Y’hudah [Let Him (God) Be Praised], unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. 6And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall youⁱ journey be? and when will youⁱ return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 7Moreover 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 Y’hudah [Let Him (God) Be Praised]; 8And a letter unto Asaf [gatherer] 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-Elohim (The Living Word) [The Many Powered] upon me.

9Then 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. 10When Sanvalat [strength] the Horoni [native of twin caves], and Toviyah [Yehovah is good] the servant, the ‘Amoni [tribal], heard [of it], it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the people of Yisra’el [He Holds Onto The Heel Of God].

11So I came to Yerushalayim [Foundation of Peace], and was there three days. 12And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I [any] man what my God-Elohim (The Living Word) [The Many Powered] had put in my heart to do at Yerushalayim [Foundation of Peace]: neither [was there any] beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. 13And 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 Yerushalayim [Foundation of Peace], which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. 14Then 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. 15Then 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. 16And the rulers knew not to which I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told [it] to the Y’hudim (Judeans), nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

17Then said I unto them, You^2f see the distress that we [are] in, how Yerushalayim [Foundation of Peace] [lies] waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Yerushalayim [Foundation of Peace], that we be no more a reproach (disgrace; shame). 18Then I told them of the hand of my God-Elohim (The Living Word) [The Many Powered] 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]. 19But when Sanvalat [strength] the Horoni [native of twin caves], and Toviyah [Yehovah is good] the servant, the ‘Amoni [tribal], and Geshem [rain] the Aravi [Arabian], heard [it], they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What [is] this thing that you^2f do? will you^2f rebel against the king? 20Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God-Elohim (The Living Word) [The Many Powered] of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but you^2f have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Yerushalayim [Foundation of Peace].