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¹ In the moneth Nisan of the twentieth yeare of kynge Artaxerses, wha the wyne stode before him, I toke vp the wyne, and gaue it vnto ye kynge, and I was heuy in his presence.² Then sayde ye kynge vnto me: Why lokest thou so sadly? Thou art not sicke, that is not ye matter, but thou art heuy harted. Neuertheles I was sore afrayed,³ & sayde vnto the kynge: God saue the kynges life for euer, shulde I not loke sadly? the cite of my fathers buryall lyeth wayest, & the portes therof are consumed wt the fyre.⁴ Then sayde the kynge vnto me: What is the thy request? Then made I my prayer to the God of heaue,⁵ and sayde vnto the kynge: yf it please the kynge, and yf thy seruaunt be fauoured in thy sighte, I beseke the sende me in to Iuda vnto ye cite of my fathers buryall, that I maye buylde it.⁶ And ye kynge sayde vnto me, & so dyd the quene yt sat by him: How loge shal thy iourney cotynue, and wha wilt thou come agayne? And it pleased ye kynge to sende me, and I set him a tyme,⁷ & sayde vnto the kynge: Yf it please the kynge, let him geue me letters to the Debites beyonde ye water, yt they maye conueye me ouer, tyll I come in to Iuda:⁸ & letters vnto Assaph the lorde of the kynges wod, yt he maye geue me wodd for balkes to the gates of the palace, which are harde on the house & harde on the walles of the cite, & for the house that I shal entre in to. And ye kynge gaue me acordinge to the good hande of God vpo me.

⁹ And whan I came to ye Debites beyonde the water, I gaue them ye kynges letters. And the kynge sent captaynes and horsmen with me.¹⁰ But whan Saneballath the Horonite, & Tobias the seruaunt of the Ammonites herde yt, it greued them sore, yt there was come a man which soughte the welth of the children of Israel.¹¹ And whan I came to Ierusalem, & had bene there thre daies,¹² I gat me vp in ye night season, & a fewe men with me: for I tolde no man what God had geue me in my hert to do at Ierusalem: & there was not one beest wt me, saue it yt I rode vpon.¹³ And I rode by nighte vnto the valley porte before the Dragon well, & to the Dongporte, & considered ye walles of Ierusalem that were broken downe, & the portes therof consumed wt the fyre.¹⁴ And I wente ouer vnto ye Well porte, & to the kynges condyte, & there was no rowme for my beest, yt it coulde go vnder me.¹⁵ Then wete I on in the nighte by the broke syde, & cosidered ye wall, & turned back, & came home agayne to ye valley porte.¹⁶ And ye rulers knewe not whither I wete, or what I dyd: for hither to had I not tolde the Iewes & the prestes, the councelers & the rulers, & the other yt laboured in the worke,¹⁷ & I saide vnto the: Ye se the myserye yt we are in, how Ierusale lyeth wayst, & how ye gates therof are brent wt fyre, come, let vs buylde vp ye walles of Ierusale, yt we be nomore a rebuke.¹⁸ And I tolde the of the good hade of my God which was vpo me: And ye kynges wordes yt he had spoke vnto me. And they saide: Then let vs get vp. And we buylded, and their handes were strengthed to good.¹⁹ But whan Saneballat ye Horonite, and Tobias the seruaunt of ye Ammonites, & Gosem the Arabian herde it, they laughed vs to scorne, and despised vs, & sayde: What is this that ye do? Wyll ye fall awaye agayne from the kynge?²⁰ Then answered I them, and sayde: The God of heauen shal cause vs to prospere: for we his seruauntes are gotten vp, & are buyldinge. As for you, ye haue no porcio ner right, ner remembraunce in Ierusale.