the
Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because there was
come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. So I came to
Jerusalem, and was there three days."

_The Right Man in the Right Place_.

"And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I
any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem: neither was
there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went
out by night by the valley gate, even toward the dragon's well, and to
the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken
down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to
the fountain gate and to the king's pool: but there was no place for
the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by
the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the
valley gate, 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 to them, 'Ye see the evil fortune 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.'

{218}

"And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also
of 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 the good work. 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?'

"Then answered I them, and said unto them, 'The God of heaven, he will
prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye
have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.'"

_Enemies Threaten_.

"But it came to pass that, when Sanballat heard that we builded the
wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.
And he spoke, before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said,
'What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they
sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones
out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned?'

"Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, 'Even that which
they build, if a fox go up, he s