Nehemiah 2:16-20

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16 Now the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who were doing the work.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the calamity we are in, that ^aJerusalem lies waste and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.” 18 And I told them how the hand of my God had been good to me and also about the king’s words which he had said to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” ^aSo they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19 But Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ¹official and ^aGeshem the Arab heard it. And ^bthey mocked us and despised us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? ^aAre you rebelling against the king?” 20 So I responded to them with a word and said to them, “^aThe God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His slaves will arise and build, ^bbut you have no portion, right, or remembrance in Jerusalem.”