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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Nehemiah 2 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/nehemiah/2.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/nehemiah/2-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Nehemiah 2</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../nehemiah/1.htm" title="Nehemiah 1">◄</a> Nehemiah 2 <a href="../nehemiah/3.htm" title="Nehemiah 3">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Nehemiah Goes to Jerusalem</h3><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_1"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.1" class="v16_2_1">1</span>During the month of Nisan<a href="#fn" id="link_Neh.2.1!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> in the twentieth year that Artaxerxes was king, I served him his wine, as I had done before. But this was the first time I had ever looked depressed. </span><span class="v16_2_2"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.2" class="v16_2_2">2</span>So the king said, “Why do you look so sad? You're not sick. Something must be bothering you.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_2">Even though I was frightened, </span><span class="v16_2_3"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.3" class="v16_2_3">3</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Neh.2.3!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> I answered, “Your Majesty, I hope you live forever! I feel sad because the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and its gates have been burned down.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_4"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.4" class="v16_2_4">4</span>The king asked, “What do you want me to do?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_4">I prayed to the God who rules from heaven. </span><span class="v16_2_5"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.5" class="v16_2_5">5</span>Then I told the king, “Sir, if it's all right with you, please send me back to Judah, so that I can rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_6"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.6" class="v16_2_6">6</span>The queen was sitting beside the king when he asked me, “How long will it take, and when will you be back?” The king agreed to let me go, and I told him when I would return.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_7"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.7" class="v16_2_7">7</span>Then I asked, “Your Majesty, would you be willing to give me letters to the governors of the provinces west of the Euphrates River, so that I can travel safely to Judah? </span><span class="v16_2_8"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.8" class="v16_2_8">8</span>I will need timber to rebuild the gates of the fortress near the temple and more timber to construct the city wall and to build a place for me to live. And so, I would appreciate a letter to Asaph, who is in charge of the royal forest.” God was good to me, and the king did everything I asked.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_9"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.9" class="v16_2_9">9</span>The king sent some army officers and cavalry troops along with me, and as I traveled through the Western Provinces, I gave the letters to the governors. </span><span class="v16_2_10"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.10" class="v16_2_10">10</span>But when Sanballat from Horon<a href="#fn" id="link_Neh.2.10!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about what had happened, they became very angry, because they didn't want anyone to help the people of Israel.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Nehemiah Inspects the Wall of Jerusalem</h3><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_11"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.11" class="v16_2_11">11</span>Three days after arriving in Jerusalem, </span><span class="v16_2_12"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.12" class="v16_2_12">12</span>I got up during the night and left my house. I took some men with me, without telling anyone what I thought God wanted me to do for the city. The only animal I took was the donkey I rode on. </span><span class="v16_2_13"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.13" class="v16_2_13">13</span>I went through Valley Gate on the west, then south past Dragon Spring, before coming to Garbage Gate. As I rode along, I took a good look at the crumbled walls of the city and the gates that had been torn down and burned. </span><span class="v16_2_14"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.14" class="v16_2_14">14</span>On the east side of the city, I headed north to Fountain Gate and King's Pool, but then the trail became too narrow for my donkey. </span><span class="v16_2_15"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.15" class="v16_2_15">15</span>So I went down to Kidron Valley and looked at the wall from there. Then before daylight I returned to the city through Valley Gate.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_16"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.16" class="v16_2_16">16</span>None of the city officials knew what I had in mind. And I had not even told any of the Jews—not the priests, the leaders, the officials, or any other Jews who would be helping in the work. </span><span class="v16_2_17"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.17" class="v16_2_17">17</span>But when I got back, I said to them, “Jerusalem is truly in a mess! The gates have been torn down and burned, and everything is in ruins. We must rebuild the city wall so that we can again take pride in our city.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_18"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.18" class="v16_2_18">18</span>Then I told them how kind God had been and what the king had said.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_18">Immediately, they replied, “Let's start building now!” So they got everything ready.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_19"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.19" class="v16_2_19">19</span>When Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard about our plans, they started insulting us and saying, “Just look at you! Do you plan to rebuild the walls of the city and rebel against the king?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v16_2_20"><span class="reftext" id="Neh.2.20" class="v16_2_20">20</span>I answered, “We are servants of the God who rules from heaven, and he will make our work succeed. So we will start rebuilding Jerusalem, but you have no right to any of its property, because you have had no part in its history.”</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">2.1 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Nisan: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or Abib, the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">2.10 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Horon: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Possibly meaning that Sanballat was the official in charge of Beth-Horon, an important town on the road from Jerusalem to Lydda and the Mediterranean Sea.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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