"Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we {are} in, how Jerusalem {lieth} waste, and the gates thereof are burn…" — Nehemiah 2:17

Nehemiah 2:17 · KJV

“Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we {are} in, how Jerusalem {lieth} waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.”

— Nehemiah 2:17

Verse 16

And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; 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.

Verse 18

Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for {this} good {work}.

Nehemiah 2 — Context

Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and {so} returned.

And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; 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.

Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we {are} in, how Jerusalem {lieth} waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, 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?

Cross References

Ezekiel 5:14

Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that {are} round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.

Isaiah 35:3-4

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Lamentations 3:51

Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city. {mine heart: Heb. my soul} {because...: or, more than all}

Psalms 79:4

We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.

Lamentations 3:45-46

Thou hast made us {as} the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.

Nehemiah 1:3

And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province {are} in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also {is} broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

Ezekiel 22:4-5

Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come {even} unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.

Lamentations 2:8-9

The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together. {destroying: Heb. swallowing up}