Nehemiah 2:6-10

Christian Standard Bible

⁶ The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So I gave him a definite time,^(A) and it pleased the king to send me.

⁷ I also said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let me have letters written to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates River,^(B) so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah.^{(C) 8} And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple’s fortress,^(D) the city wall, and the home where I will live.”^[a](E) The king granted my requests, for the gracious hand of my God was on me.^(F)

⁹ I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters.^(G) The king had also sent officers of the infantry and cavalry with me. ¹⁰ When Sanballat the Horonite^(H) and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard that someone had come to pursue the prosperity of the Israelites, they were greatly displeased.^(I)