Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed (A)to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it.” And the king said to me ((B)the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me (C)when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me (D)to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of (E)the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, (F)for the good hand of my God was upon me.

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The king answered, “What do you want?”

So I prayed to the God of heaven and I replied to the king, “If it seems good to you, and if your servant has found favor with you, would you send me to Judah, to the city where my ancestral sepulchers are located, so I can rebuild it?”

With his queen seated beside him, the king asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” The king thought it was a good idea[a] to send me, so I presented him with a prepared plan.[b]

I also asked the king, “If it seems good to you, order that letters of authorization be given me for the Trans-Euphrates[c] governors, so they will allow me to pass through to Judah, along with a letter to Asaph, the royal Commissioner of Forests, so that he will supply me with timber to craft beams for the gatehouses of the Temple, for the city walls, and for the house in which I will be living.”

The king granted this for me, according to the good hand of my God.

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 2:6 Lit. It was good to the king
  2. Nehemiah 2:6 Lit. a season
  3. Nehemiah 2:7 Lit. Beyond the River