Then the kingsaidto me, the queensittingbesidehim, "Howlongwill your journeybe, and whenwill you return?"So it pleasedthe kingto sendme, and I gavehim a definitetime.
"OLord,I beseechYou, may Your earbe attentiveto the prayerof Your servantand the prayerof Your servantswho delightto revereYour name,and makeYour servantsuccessfultodayand granthim compassionbeforethisman."Now I was the cupbearerto the king.
But during allthis[time] I was not in Jerusalem,for in the thirty-secondyearof Artaxerxeskingof BabylonI had goneto the king.Aftersome time,however, I askedleave from the king,
Then the kingsaidto me, "Whatwould you request?"So I prayedto the Godof heaven.
I saidto the king,"Ifit pleasethe king,and ifyour servanthas foundfavorbeforeyou, sendme to Judah,to the cityof my fathers'tombs,that I may rebuildit."
Moreover,from the daythat I was appointedto be their governorin the landof Judah,from the twentiethyearto the thirty-secondyearof KingArtaxerxes,[for] twelveyears,neitherI normy kinsmenhave eatenthe governor'sfood[allowance].
"Those from among you will rebuildthe ancientruins;You will raiseup the age-oldfoundations;And you will be calledthe repairerof the breach,The restorerof the streetsin which to dwell.
Then they will rebuildthe ancientruins,They will raiseup the formerdevastations;And they will repairthe ruinedcities,The desolationsof manygenerations.
"It will also cometo passthat beforethey call,I will answer;and while they are stillspeaking,I will hear.
"So you are to knowand discern[that] from the issuingof a decreeto restoreand rebuildJerusalemuntilMessiahthe Prince[there will be] sevenweeksand sixty-twoweeks;it will be builtagain,with plazaand moat,even in timesof distress.
