CHAPTER 1
1The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. And it happened in the month of Kislev in the twentieth year [of Artaxerxes] when I was in Shushan the capital, 2that Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and men, from Judah, and I asked them about the Jews, the surviving group that remained from the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3And they said to me, “Those who remain from the captivity there in the province are in great trouble and in disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem has been breached and its gates ravaged by fire.” 4And it happened when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of the heavens. 5And I said, “Please, LORD, God of the heavens, great and fearsome God, keeping the covenant and the trust for those who love Him and keep His commands. 6Let Your ear, pray, be attuned, and Your eyes be open, to listen to Your servant’s prayer that I pray before You today, day and night, for the Israelites Your servants, and I confess the offenses that the Israelites have committed against You—I, and my father’s house, have offended. 7We have surely injured You and not kept the commands and the statutes and the laws with which You charged Moses Your servant. 8Recall, pray, the word with which You charged Moses Your servant, saying, ‘Should you betray, I on My part will scatter you among the peoples. 9And if you turn back to Me and keep My commands and do them, though your scattered ones be at the end of the heavens, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I chose to make My name dwell there.’ 10And they are Your servants and Your people that You redeemed with Your great power and with Your strong hand. 11Please, O Master, let Your ears, pray, be attuned to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name, and make Your servant, pray, prosper today, and let him find mercy before this man.” And I was cupbearer to the king.