Nehemiah 2:3-5

New American Standard Bible 1995

³ I said to the king, “^(A)Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad ^(B)when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” ⁴ Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” ^(C)So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”