Nehemiah 2:4

THE MESSAGE

The king then asked me, "So what do you want?" Praying under my breath to the God-of-Heaven, I said, "If it please the king, and if the king thinks well of me, send me to Judah, to the city where my family is buried, so that I can rebuild it."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then the king asked me, “What is your request?”

Hebrew Names Version
Then the king said to me, For what do you make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

King James Version
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

English Standard Version
Then the king said to me, "What are you requesting?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

New Century Version
Then the king said to me, "What do you want?" First I prayed to the God of heaven.

New English Translation
The king responded, "What is it you are seeking?" Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven

Amplified Bible
The king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

New American Standard Bible
Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

World English Bible
Then the king said to me, For what do you make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the King said vnto me, For what thing doest thou require? Then I prayed to the God of heauen,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Berean Standard Bible
"What is your request?" replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven

Contemporary English Version
The king asked, "What do you want me to do?" I prayed to the God who rules from heaven.

Complete Jewish Bible
The king asked me, "What is it that you want?" I prayed to the God of heaven,

Darby Translation
And the king said to me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of the heavens.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then the king said to me, "What do you want me to do?" Before I answered, I prayed to the God of heaven.

George Lamsa Translation
Then the king said to me, For what did you make supplications and pray before the God of heaven?

Good News Translation
The emperor asked, "What is it that you want?" I prayed to the God of Heaven,

Lexham English Bible
Then the king said to me, "What is your request?" So I prayed to the God of the heavens.

Literal Translation
Then the king said to me, For what do you ask? So I prayed to the God of Heaven,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde the kynge vnto me: What is the thy request? Then made I my prayer to the God of heaue,

American Standard Version
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Bible in Basic English
Then the king said to me, What is your desire? So I made prayer to the God of heaven.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the king sayde vnto me: What is then thy request? I made my prayer also to the God of heauen,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then the king said unto me: 'For what dost thou make request?' So I prayed to the God of heaven.

King James Version (1611)
Then the king said vnto me, For what doest thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heauen.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the king said to me, For what dost thou ask thus? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

English Revised Version
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the kyng seide to me, For what thing axist thou? And Y preiede God of heuene,

Update Bible Version
Then the king said to me, For what do you make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then the king said to me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

New King James Version
Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

New Living Translation
The king asked, "Well, how can I help you?" With a prayer to the God of heaven,

New Life Bible
Then the king said to me, "What are you asking for?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

New Revised Standard
Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then the king said to me, Concerning what, is it, thou, wouldst make request? So I prayed unto the God of the heavens,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Then the king said to me: For what dost thou make request? And I prayed to the God of heaven,

Revised Standard Version
Then the king said to me, "For what do you make request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Young's Literal Translation
And the king saith to me, `For what art thou seeking?' and I pray unto the God of the heavens,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Contextual Overview

¹It was the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king. At the hour for serving wine I brought it in and gave it to the king. I had never been hangdog in his presence before, so he asked me, "Why the long face? You're not sick are you? Or are you depressed?" That made me all the more agitated. I said, "Long live the king! And why shouldn't I be depressed when the city, the city where all my family is buried, is in ruins and the city gates have been reduced to cinders?" The king then asked me, "So what do you want?" Praying under my breath to the God-of-Heaven, I said, "If it please the king, and if the king thinks well of me, send me to Judah, to the city where my family is buried, so that I can rebuild it." The king, with the queen sitting alongside him, said, "How long will your work take and when would you expect to return?" I gave him a time, and the king gave his approval to send me. Then I said, "If it please the king, provide me with letters to the governors across the Euphrates that authorize my travel through to Judah; and also an order to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, to supply me with timber for the beams of The Temple fortress, the wall of the city, and the house where I'll be living." The generous hand of my God was with me in this and the king gave them to me. When I met the governors across The River (the Euphrates) I showed them the king's letters. The king even sent along a cavalry escort. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very upset, angry that anyone would come to look after the interests of the People of Israel. And so I arrived in Jerusalem. After I had been there three days, I got up in the middle of the night, I and a few men who were with me. I hadn't told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal with us was the one I was riding. Under cover of night I went past the Valley Gate toward the Dragon's Fountain to the Dung Gate looking over the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken through and whose gates had been burned up. I then crossed to the Fountain Gate and headed for the King's Pool but there wasn't enough room for the donkey I was riding to get through. So I went up the valley in the dark continuing my inspection of the wall. I came back in through the Valley Gate. The local officials had no idea where I'd gone or what I was doing—I hadn't breathed a word to the Jews, priests, nobles, local officials, or anyone else who would be working on the job. Then I gave them my report: "Face it: we're in a bad way here. Jerusalem is a wreck; its gates are burned up. Come—let's build the wall of Jerusalem and not live with this disgrace any longer." I told them how God was supporting me and how the king was backing me up. They said, "We're with you. Let's get started." They rolled up their sleeves, ready for the good work. When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they laughed at us, mocking, "Ha! What do you think you're doing? Do you think you can cross the king?" I shot back, "The God-of-Heaven will make sure we succeed. We're his servants and we're going to work, rebuilding. You can keep your nose out of it. You get no say in this—Jerusalem's none of your business!" ³ It was the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king. At the hour for serving wine I brought it in and gave it to the king. I had never been hangdog in his presence before, so he asked me, "Why the long face? You're not sick are you? Or are you depressed?" That made me all the more agitated. I said, "Long live the king! And why shouldn't I be depressed when the city, the city where all my family is buried, is in ruins and the city gates have been reduced to cinders?" ⁴The king then asked me, "So what do you want?" Praying under my breath to the God-of-Heaven, I said, "If it please the king, and if the king thinks well of me, send me to Judah, to the city where my family is buried, so that I can rebuild it." ⁶ The king, with the queen sitting alongside him, said, "How long will your work take and when would you expect to return?" I gave him a time, and the king gave his approval to send me. ⁷Then I said, "If it please the king, provide me with letters to the governors across the Euphrates that authorize my travel through to Judah; and also an order to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, to supply me with timber for the beams of The Temple fortress, the wall of the city, and the house where I'll be living." The generous hand of my God was with me in this and the king gave them to me. When I met the governors across The River (the Euphrates) I showed them the king's letters. The king even sent along a cavalry escort. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very upset, angry that anyone would come to look after the interests of the People of Israel. And so I arrived in Jerusalem. After I had been there three days, I got up in the middle of the night, I and a few men who were with me. I hadn't told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal with us was the one I was riding. Under cover of night I went past the Valley Gate toward the Dragon's Fountain to the Dung Gate looking over the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken through and whose gates had been burned up. I then crossed to the Fountain Gate and headed for the King's Pool but there wasn't enough room for the donkey I was riding to get through. So I went up the valley in the dark continuing my inspection of the wall. I came back in through the Valley Gate. The local officials had no idea where I'd gone or what I was doing—I hadn't breathed a word to the Jews, priests, nobles, local officials, or anyone else who would be working on the job. Then I gave them my report: "Face it: we're in a bad way here. Jerusalem is a wreck; its gates are burned up. Come—let's build the wall of Jerusalem and not live with this disgrace any longer." I told them how God was supporting me and how the king was backing me up. They said, "We're with you. Let's get started." They rolled up their sleeves, ready for the good work. When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they laughed at us, mocking, "Ha! What do you think you're doing? Do you think you can cross the king?" I shot back, "The God-of-Heaven will make sure we succeed. We're his servants and we're going to work, rebuilding. You can keep your nose out of it. You get no say in this—Jerusalem's none of your business!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

For what: 1 Kings 3:5, Esther 5:3, Esther 5:6, Esther 7:2, Mark 10:51

So I prayed: Nehemiah 1:4, Nehemiah 1:11, 2 Samuel 15:31, Proverbs 3:6, Philippians 4:6

Reciprocal: Genesis 24:12 - I pray Genesis 24:45 - speaking Genesis 39:4 - Joseph 1 Samuel 1:13 - spake 1 Kings 8:50 - and give them Nehemiah 2:6 - So it pleased Nehemiah 2:20 - The God Proverbs 21:1 - The king's Proverbs 22:11 - the king Isaiah 49:17 - children Jeremiah 29:12 - General Jeremiah 40:5 - or go Daniel 1:9 - General Jonah 1:9 - the God Acts 23:19 - What Philippians 2:13 - to will Revelation 16:11 - the God

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

Genesis 1:31
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.

Genesis 2:1
Heaven and Earth were finished, down to the last detail.

Genesis 2:2
By the seventh day God had finished his work. On the seventh day he rested from all his work. God blessed the seventh day. He made it a Holy Day Because on that day he rested from his work, all the creating God had done. This is the story of how it all started, of Heaven and Earth when they were created.

Genesis 5:1
This is the family tree of the human race: When God created the human race, he made it godlike, with a nature akin to God. He created both male and female and blessed them, the whole human race.

Genesis 10:1
This is the family tree of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. After the flood, they themselves had sons.

Genesis 11:10
This is the story of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he had Arphaxad. It was two years after the flood. After he had Arphaxad, he lived 500 more years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 25:12
This is the family tree of Ishmael son of Abraham, the son that Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham.

Genesis 25:19
This is the family tree of Isaac son of Abraham: Abraham had Isaac. Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan Aram. She was the sister of Laban the Aramean.

Genesis 36:1
This is the family tree of Esau, who is also called Edom.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then the king said unto me, for what dost thou make request?.... The king supposed that there was a meaning in those looks and words of his, that he had a favour to ask of him, and therefore encourages him to it; or the king of himself moved this, as being desirous of doing anything for him he would propose, to make him easy:

so I prayed to the God of heaven; secretly, in an ejaculatory way, giving him thanks for thus disposing the king's heart towards him, and entreating he might be directed what to ask, and in a proper manner, and that he might succeed.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I prayed to the God of heaven - Mentally and momentarily, before answering the king.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Nehemiah 2:4. So I prayed to the God of heaven. — Before he dared to prefer his request to the king, he made his prayer to God, that his suit might be acceptable: and this he does by mental prayer. To the spirit of prayer every place is a praying place.