⁴ Then the king said to me, “What do you ·want [seek; request]?”

·First [Then; So] I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I answered the king, “If ·you are willing [it pleases/is good to you] and if I have ·pleased you [found favor in your sight], send me to Judah, to the city ·where my ancestors are buried [of my fathers’ tombs; ^CJerusalem] so I can rebuild it.”

⁶ The queen was sitting next to the king. He asked me, “How long will your ·trip [journey] take, and when will you get back?” It ·pleased [^Lwas good to] the king to send me, so I set a time.

⁷ I also said to him, “If ·you are willing [it pleases/is good to you], give me letters for the governors of ·Trans-Euphrates [^Cprovinces west of the Euphrates River]. Tell them to let me pass safely through their lands ·on my way to [until I reach] Judah. ⁸ And may I have a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, telling him to give me timber? I will need it to make ·boards [beams] for the gates of the ·palace [or fortress], which is by the ·Temple [^Lhouse], and for the city wall, and for the house in which I will live.” So the king ·gave [granted] me the letters, because ·God was showing kindness to me [^Lthe gracious/good hand of God was on me].