Nehemiah 1:1-3

Expanded Bible

Nehemiah’s Prayer

1 These are the ·words [memoirs] of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.

In the month of Kislev [^Clate autumn] in the twentieth year [^Cof the reign of King Artaxerxes I; 445 bc], I, Nehemiah, was in the ·capital city [or fortress; ^Cthe winter residence of Persian kings, separate from the city] of Susa. ² One of my ·brothers [relatives] named Hanani came with some other men from Judah. I asked them about Jerusalem and the Jewish people who ·lived through [had escaped and survived] the ·captivity [exile].

³ They answered me, “·Those who are left [The survivors/remnant there in the province; ^Cof Judah] from the ·captivity [exile] are in much ·trouble [distress; misery] and ·are full of shame [disgrace; humiliation]. The wall around Jerusalem is ·broken down [ruined; breached], and its gates have been burned [^Ceither at the time of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (2 Kin. 25:10) or later].”