Nehemiah 2:4-6

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁴ Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors’ graves, so that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ The king said to me (the queen also was sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a date.