⁷ I also said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let me have letters written to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates River,^(A) so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah.^(B)

⁸ And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple’s fortress,^(A) the city wall, and the home where I will live.”^[a](B) The king granted my requests, for the gracious hand of my God was on me.^(C)

¹⁰ When Sanballat the Horonite^(A) and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard that someone had come to pursue the prosperity of the Israelites, they were greatly displeased.^(B)

Preparing to Rebuild the Walls

¹¹ After I arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days,^{(C) 12} I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took^[a] was the one I was riding.