Nehemiah 2:2-4

The Voice

Artaxerxes (to Nehemiah): ²You look disturbed. I know you are not ill. The sadness I see in you is the sadness of the heart. What is wrong?

As I stood there before the king I was very afraid.

Nehemiah: ³May your life and reign extend forever, King!

Why should my face look anything but sad? My homeland is destroyed; my city is a heap of rubble; its once-mighty gates are nothing more than charred tinder. This is the place where my ancestors are supposed to be at rest, but the very ground where they lie is ruined!

Artaxerxes: ⁴What is it you want?

All at once, I prayed to the God of heaven

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