Nehemiah 2:1–8

And it came to pass in the month ^aNisan, in ^bthe twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and ^cI took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. ²Wherefore the king said unto me, ^dWhy is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but ^esorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, ³and said unto the king, ^fLet the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when ^gthe city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and ^hthe gates thereof are consumed with fire? ⁴Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to ⁱthe God of heaven. ⁵And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. ⁶And 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 ^jtime. ⁷Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the ^kgovernors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; ⁸and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s ^lforest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the ^mpalace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for ⁿthe house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, ^oaccording to the good hand of my God upon me.