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Nehemiah 2:4-8
New English Translation

4 The king responded,[a] “What is it you are seeking?” Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven 5 and said to the king, “If the king is so inclined[b] and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.” 6 Then the king, with his consort[c] sitting beside him, replied, “How long would your trip take, and when would you return?” Since the king was pleased to send me,[d] I gave him a time. 7 I said to the king, “If the king is so inclined, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates[e] that will enable me to travel safely until I reach Judah, 8 and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s nature preserve,[f] so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall[g] and for the house to which I go.” So the king granted me these requests,[h] for the good hand of my God was on me.

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 2:4 tn Heb “said to me.”
  2. Nehemiah 2:5 tn Heb “If upon the king it is good.” So also in v. 7.
  3. Nehemiah 2:6 tn Or “queen,” so most English versions (cf. HALOT 1415 s.v. שֵׁגַל); TEV “empress.”
  4. Nehemiah 2:6 tn Heb “It was good before the king and he sent me.”
  5. Nehemiah 2:7 tn Heb “beyond the river,” here and often elsewhere in the Book of Nehemiah.
  6. Nehemiah 2:8 tn Or “forest.” So HALOT 963 s.v. פַּרְדֵּס 2.
  7. Nehemiah 2:8 tc One medieval Hebrew ms, the Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate, and the Arabic read here the plural וּלְחוֹמוֹת (ulekhomot, “walls”) against the singular וּלְחוֹמַת (ulekhomat) in the MT. The plural holem vav (וֹ) might have dropped out due to dittography or the plural form might have been written defectively.
  8. Nehemiah 2:8 tn The Hebrew text does not include the expression “these requests,” but it is implied.
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Nehemiah 2:4-8
Christian Standard Bible

4 Then the king asked me, “What is your request?”

So I prayed to the God of the heavens(A) 5 and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah and to the city where my ancestors are buried,[a](B) so that I may rebuild it.”(C)

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,(D) 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,(E) so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah.(F) 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,(G) the city wall, and the home where I will live.”[b](H) The king granted my requests, for the gracious hand of my God was on me.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:5 Lit city, the house of the graves of my fathers,
  2. 2:8 Lit enter
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Nehemiah 1
Nehemiah 3
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