KJV King James Version
And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
VERSE STUDY • KJV
Nehemiah 2:3
And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
Read it in 5 translations
BSB Berean Standard Bible
and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
WEB World English Bible
I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?”
ASV American Standard Version
And I said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
YLT Young’s Literal Translation
and say to the king, ‘Let the king to the age live! wherefore should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of the graves of my fathers, is a waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?’
Surrounding context — Nehemiah 2
1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that] wine [was] before him: and I took up the wine, and gave [it] unto the king. Now I had not been [beforetime] sad in his presence.
2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why [is] thy countenance sad, seeing thou [art] not sick? this [is] nothing [else] but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.
6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
Topics connected to this verse
Original-language word links
These Hebrew/Greek tokens are linked by Strong's number. Click one for its lexicon definition and other occurrences.
וָאֹמַ֣רH559 · a.marto sayלַמֶּ֔לֶךְH4428 · me.lekhkingהַמֶּ֖לֶךְH4428 · me.lekhkingלְעוֹלָ֣םH5769 · o.lamforever: enduringיִחְיֶ֑הH2421 · cha.yahto liveמַדּ֜וּעַH4069 · mad.du.awhy?לֹא־H3808 · lonotיֵרְע֣וּH7489 · ra.abe evilפָנַ֗יH6440 · pa.nehface: beforeאֲשֶׁ֨רH834 · a.sherwhichהָעִ֜ירH5892 · irexcitementבֵּית־H1004 · betplaceקִבְר֤וֹתH6913 · qe.vergraveאֲבֹתַי֙H1 · avfatherחֲרֵבָ֔הH2720 · cha.revdryוּשְׁעָרֶ֖יהָH8179 · sha.argateאֻכְּל֥וּH398 · a.khalto eatבָאֵֽשׁ׃ סH784 · eshfire
Cross-references
Nehemiah 1:3And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province [are] in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also [is] broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.1 Kings 1:31Then Bathsheba bowed with [her] face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.Psalm 137:6If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.Daniel 2:4Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.Daniel 5:10[Now] the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: [and] the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:Daniel 6:6Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.2 Chronicles 28:27And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, [even] in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.Daniel 6:21Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.Lamentations 2:9Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes [are] among the Gentiles: the law [is] no [more]; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.2 Chronicles 21:20Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.2 Chronicles 32:33And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.Daniel 3:9They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.Psalm 102:14For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
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