Nehemiah 2:11-17

11So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.

12Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode.

13And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire.

14Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass.

15So I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.

16And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work.

17Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.”