16 And the rulers did not know where I had gone or what I had done; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews nor to the priests nor to the nobles nor to the rulers nor to the rest that did the work.
17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste and its gates are burned with fire; come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no longer in reproach.
18 Then I told them how the hand of my God was good upon me and likewise the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they comforted their hands for good.
19 But when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the slave, the Ammonite, and Geshem, the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn and despised us and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king?
20 Then I gave them a reply and said unto them, The God of the heavens, he will prosper us; therefore, we, his slaves, will arise and build; but ye have no portion nor righteousness, nor memorial in Jerusalem.