⁵ and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah and to the city where my ancestors are buried,^[a](A) so that I may rebuild it.”^(B)

⁷ I also said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let me have letters written to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates River,^(A) so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah.^{(B) 8} And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple’s fortress,^(C) the city wall, and the home where I will live.”^[a](D) The king granted my requests, for the gracious hand of my God was on me.^(E)