Nehemiah 2:1-3

International Standard Version

Nehemiah’s Conversation with the King

2 It came about in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, during the month of Nissan, the king was about to drink some wine that I was preparing for him.^[a] Now I had never looked troubled in his presence.

² The king asked me, “Why do you look so troubled, since you’re not ill? This cannot be anything else but troubles of the heart.”

Then I was filled with fear. ³ I replied to the king, “May the king live forever. Why shouldn’t I be troubled, since the city where my ancestral sepulchers are located lies waste, with its gates burned by fire?”