Nehemiah 1:4

This news made Nehemiah very sad. He was sad for many days and he did not eat.

Sometimes people do not eat for a short time if they are very sad. They may do this so that they have more time to pray to God.

Nehemiah prayed every night and every day. He prayed for 4 months. From the month called Kislev (Nehemiah 1:1) to the month called Nisan (Nehemiah 2:1) was 4 months.

v5 I said, ‘You are *Jehovah, God of heaven. You are great. Everyone should be afraid of you. You always do what you promise. You have made an agreement with those people who love you. Such people obey your commands. v6 I am your servant. Please take notice of me and listen to my prayer. I am praying to you day and night for the people of *Israel. They are your servants. I confess the *sins that the people of *Israel have done against you. My family and I also have done wrong things. v7 We have done very wicked things against you. You gave commands, orders and judgements to Moses your servant. But we have not obeyed them.

v8 You gave instructions to your servant Moses. You said, “If you are not loyal to me (God), I will make you scatter among the nations. v9 But if you turn back to me, I will bring you back. Obey my commands! Do what I say! Then even if I forced you to live in the most distant places, I will bring you back from there. I will bring you back to the country where I have chosen to live.”

v10 These people are your servants. They are your people. You are strong and powerful and you rescued them. v11 This is my request. I am your servant. Please hear my prayer and the prayer of all your servants. We love to respect your name. I am your servant. Please give me success today. And please cause the king to be favourable.’

I was the man who served wine to the king.