16 Now the magistrates did not know where I had gone, or what I had done. For I had revealed nothing, even to that point in time, to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the magistrates, or to the others who were doing the work.
17 And so I said to them: 'You know the affliction in which we are, because Jerusalem is desolate, and its gates have been consumed by fire. Come, and let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and let us no longer be in disgrace.'
18 And I revealed to them how the hand of my God was with me for good, and the words of the king, which he had spoken to me. And I said: 'Let us rise up, and build.' And their hands were strengthened for good.
19 But Sanballat, a Horonite, and the servant Tobiah, an Ammonite, and Geshem, an Arab, heard of it. And they ridiculed and disparaged us, and they said: 'What is this thing that you are doing? Could you be rebelling against the king?'
20 And I replied to them a word, and I said to them: 'The God of heaven himself is helping us, and we are his servants. Let us rise up and build. But there is no portion, or justice, or remembrance in Jerusalem for you.'
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