¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the problem we have. Jerusalem lies waste and its gates are destroyed by fire. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem again, that we may no longer be put to shame.” ¹⁸ I told them how the hand of my God had brought good to me, and the words that the king had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us get up and build.” So they put their hands to the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they made fun of us and hated us. They said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you turning against the king?”