⁶ Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), “How long will your journey be? And when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him ^(A)a time.

⁶ But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, ^(A)for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king,

The Generosity of Nehemiah

¹⁴ Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year ^(A)until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ^(B)ate the governor’s provisions.

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

So I ^(A)prayed to the God of heaven.

¹¹ O Lord, I pray, please ^(A)let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who ^(B)desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

For I was the king’s ^(C)cupbearer.