Nehemiah Prays for the Sons of Israel

1 The words of ^(A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in ^(B)the month Chislev, ^(C)in the twentieth year—and I was in ^(D)Susa the ^[a]capitol— ² that ^(E)Hanani, one of my brothers, and ^[b]some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and remain from the captivity, and about Jerusalem. ³ They said to me, “The remnant there in the ^(F)province who remain from the captivity are in great calamity and ^(G)reproach, and ^(H)the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and ^(I)its gates are burned with fire.”