Nehemiah 1:1-3

1These are the words of Nehemiah, Hacaliah's son. It was the month Kislev. This was when King Artaxerxes had ruled for 20 years. I was in the big city of Susa.

2Hanani, my brother, and some other men arrived from Judah. I asked them for news of the Jews who had returned there from exile in Babylon. I asked them for news about Jerusalem.

3They told me, ‘The Jews who returned to Judah are in much trouble. The walls of the city still have lots of holes in them. Fire has burned the city's gates down to the ground. So the people are very ashamed.’