Nehemiah 2:1-6

2 ¹ In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, the king was about to be served wine. I took the wine and gave it to the king. Since I had never seemed sad in his presence, ² the king asked me, “Why do you seem sad? Since you aren’t sick, you must have a broken heart!”

I was very afraid ³ and replied, “May the king live forever! Why shouldn’t I seem sad when the city, the place of my family’s graves, is in ruins and its gates destroyed by fire?”

⁴ The king asked, “What is it that you need?”

I prayed to the God of heaven ⁵ and replied, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, please send me to Judah, to the city of my family’s graves so that I may rebuild it.”

⁶ With the queen sitting beside him, the king asked me, “How long will you be away and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I told him how long I would be gone.