Leadership Verses

And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. {queen: Heb. wife}

Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;

And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which {appertained} to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard {of it}, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but {there was} no place for the beast {that was} under me to pass.

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 I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also 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 {this} 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.

And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, unto the throne of the governor on this side the river.

And next unto them repaired Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem.