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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
Expanded Bible

4 Then the king said to me, “What do you ·want [seek; request]?”

·First [Then; So] I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 Then I answered the king, “If ·you are willing [it pleases/is good to you] and if I have ·pleased you [found favor in your sight], send me to Judah, to the city ·where my ancestors are buried [of my fathers’ tombs; C Jerusalem] so I can rebuild it.”

6 The queen was sitting next to the king. He asked me, “How long will your ·trip [journey] take, and when will you get back?” It ·pleased [L was good to] the king to send me, so I set a time.

7 I also said to him, “If ·you are willing [it pleases/is good to you], give me letters for the governors of ·Trans-Euphrates [C provinces west of the Euphrates River]. Tell them to let me pass safely through their lands ·on my way to [until I reach] Judah. 8 And may I have a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, telling him to give me timber? I will need it to make ·boards [beams] for the gates of the ·palace [or fortress], which is by the ·Temple [L house], and for the city wall, and for the house in which I will live.” So the king ·gave [granted] me the letters, because ·God was showing kindness to me [L the gracious/good hand of God was on me].

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Nehemiah 1
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