Nehemiah 2:2-5

New King James Version

² Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but ^(A)sorrow of heart.”

So I became ^[a]dreadfully afraid, ³ and said to the king, ^(B)“May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when ^(C)the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with ^(D)fire?”

⁴ Then the king said to me, “What do you request?”

So I ^(E)prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”