Nehemiah 2:5-8

5and I answered the king, “If it seems good to the king and if your servant has found favor in your sight, send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried that I may rebuild it.”

6Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” Since it pleased the king to send me, I set a time for him.

7I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates that will enable me to pass through until I arrive in Judah,

8as well as a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest so he will give me lumber to make beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the Temple, for the wall of the city and for the residence I will occupy.” The king granted me the requests because the good hand of my God was upon me.