Nehemiah 2:1-7

1And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not in times past been sad in his presence.

2Therefore the king said to me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing but sorrow of heart. Then I was very greatly afraid,

3And said to the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and its gates are consumed with fire?

4Then the king said to me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

5And I said to the king, If it should please the king, and if thy servant hath found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.

6And the king said to 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.1

7Moreover I said to the king, If it should please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may let me pass through till I come into Judah;