Nehemiah 2:16-18
New Catholic Bible
16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had been doing. I had not as yet disclosed anything to the Jews, neither to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the magistrates, nor to any of the other persons who were to be involved in the work.[a]
17 Rebuilding Jerusalem’s Walls. Then I said to them: “You now can realize the difficulty we face. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Therefore, we must rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be looked upon as a disgrace.” 18 Then I told them how God had been so extremely gracious to me, and I also revealed the encouragement that the king had given me. They replied: “Let us begin the rebuilding at once,” and they undertook their work vigorously.
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- Nehemiah 2:16 Nehemiah shows great wisdom by inspecting the walls at night and not sharing his mission with anyone until he was prepared to take action. He realized that opening the idea to others would cause controversy among the Jews and lose time that could be used better in completion of the task of rebuilding.
