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The Blue Letter Bible

Nehemiah 2 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Nehemiah Goes to Jerusalem

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:1

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:1 - Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan,[fn] during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:2

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:2 - So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.”
Then I was terrified,

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:3

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:3 - but I replied, “Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:4

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:4 - The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?”
With a prayer to the God of heaven,

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:5

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:5 - I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:6

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:6 - The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked, “How long will you be gone? When will you return?” After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:7

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:7 - I also said to the king, “If it please the king, let me have letters addressed to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River,[fn] instructing them to let me travel safely through their territories on my way to Judah.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:8

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:8 - And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king’s forest, instructing him to give me timber. I will need it to make beams for the gates of the Temple fortress, for the city walls, and for a house for myself.” And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:9

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:9 - When I came to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, I delivered the king’s letters to them. The king, I should add, had sent along army officers and horsemen[fn] to protect me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:10

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:10 - But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of my arrival, they were very displeased that someone had come to help the people of Israel.
Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Wall

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:11

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:11 - So I arrived in Jerusalem. Three days later,

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:12

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:12 - I slipped out during the night, taking only a few others with me. I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem. We took no pack animals with us except the donkey I was riding.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:13

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:13 - After dark I went out through the Valley Gate, past the Jackal’s Well,[fn] and over to the Dung Gate to inspect the broken walls and burned gates.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:14

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:14 - Then I went to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but my donkey couldn’t get through the rubble.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:15

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:15 - So, though it was still dark, I went up the Kidron Valley[fn] instead, inspecting the wall before I turned back and entered again at the Valley Gate.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:16

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:16 - The city officials did not know I had been out there or what I was doing, for I had not yet said anything to anyone about my plans. I had not yet spoken to the Jewish leaders—the priests, the nobles, the officials, or anyone else in the administration.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:17

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:17 - But now I said to them, “You know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:18

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:18 - Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king.
They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:19

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:19 - But when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard of our plan, they scoffed contemptuously. “What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” they asked.

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Unchecked Copy Box Neh 2:20

Unchecked Copy BoxNeh 2:20 - I replied, “The God of heaven will help us succeed. We, his servants, will start rebuilding this wall. But you have no share, legal right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew In the month of Nisan. This month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred within the months of April and May 445 B.C.
Hebrew the province beyond the river; also in 2:9.
Or charioteers.
Or Serpent’s Well.
Hebrew the valley.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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Nehemiah Chapter 2 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras