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In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, I picked up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence. The king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.”

Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?”

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Nehemiah’s Conversation with the King

It came about in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, during the month of Nissan, the king was about to drink some wine that I was preparing for him.[a] Now I had never looked troubled in his presence.

The king asked me, “Why do you look so troubled, since you’re not ill? This cannot be anything else but troubles of the heart.”

Then I was filled with fear. I replied to the king, “May the king live forever. Why shouldn’t I be troubled, since the city where my ancestral sepulchers are located lies waste, with its gates burned by fire?”

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 2:1 Lit. I took up the wine and gave it to the king