Nehemiah 2:1-3

New American Standard Bible 1995

Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered

2 And it came about in the month Nisan, ^(A)in the twentieth year of King ^(B)Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and ^(C)I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. ² So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? ^(D)This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³ I said to the king, “^(E)Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad ^(F)when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?”