Nehemiah 2

Months later, as Nehemiah serves wine, the king notices his sadness and asks its cause; Nehemiah, praying to the God of heaven even as he answers, requests to be sent to rebuild Jerusalem. Artaxerxes grants him letters of safe passage and timber, “for the good hand of my God was upon me.” Arriving in Jerusalem, Nehemiah surveys the ruined walls secretly by night, then calls the leaders to rise and build, and they set their hands to the good work.