9 And I come in unto the governors beyond the River, and give to them the letters of the king; and the king sendeth with me heads of a force, and horsemen; 10 and Sanballat the Horonite heareth, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and it is evil to them—a great evil—that a man hath come in to seek good for the sons of Israel.
11 And I come in unto Jerusalem, and I am there three days, 12 and I rise by night, I and a few men with me, and have not declared to a man what my God is giving unto my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there is no beast with me except the beast on which I am riding. 13 And I go out through the gate of the valley by night, and unto the front of the fountain of the dragon, and unto the gate of the dunghill, and I am measuring about the walls of Jerusalem, that are broken down, and its gates consumed with fire. 14 And I pass over unto the gate of the fountain, and unto the pool of the king, and there is no place for the beast under me to pass over, 15 and I am going up through the brook by night, and am measuring about the wall, and turn back, and come in through the gate of the valley, and turn back. 16 And the prefects have not known whither I have gone, and what I am doing; and to the Jews, and to the priests, and to the freemen, and to the prefects, and to the rest of those doing the work, hitherto I have not declared 'it'; 17 and I say unto them, 'Ye are seeing the evil that we are in, in that Jerusalem 'is' waste, and its gates have been burnt with fire; come and we build the wall of Jerusalem, and we are not any more a reproach.' 18 And I declare to them the hand of my God that is good upon me, and also the words of the king that he said to me, and they say, 'Let us rise, and we have built;' and they strengthen their hands for good.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Nehemiah 2:9-18
Commentary on Nehemiah 2:9-18
(Read Nehemiah 2:9-18)
When Nehemiah had considered the matter, he told the Jews that God had put it into his heart to build the wall of Jerusalem. He does not undertake to do it without them. By stirring up ourselves and one another to that which is good, we strengthen ourselves and one another for it. We are weak in our duty, when we are cold and careless.