The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.
It happened in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, that I myself was in the citadel in Susa, and one of my brothers, Hanani, came with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped the captivity and about Jerusalem. They replied to me, “The survivors in the province who have survived the captivity are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned in the fire.”
When I heard these words, I sat and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.
