Read the Bible
KING JAMES BIBLE · PCE

Nehemiah 2:3

TEXT EDITION
Pure Cambridge Edition selected
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?
Share
Email linkOpen a new message in your email app
Read chapter
More
Report an issueTell us about a text or study problem

PASSAGE SELECTION

Build from either side

1 selected · 9 available

Choose up to 10 verses in this chapter. The study tools update with the selected passage.

SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE

Cross References

5 Essential passages are open for comparison.

Reference depth

From verse 3

  1. Nehemiah 1:3Rank 1 from verse 3
    Open

    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.

  2. 1 Kings 1:31Rank 2 from verse 3
    Open

    31Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.

  3. Daniel 2:4Rank 3 from verse 3
    Open

    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.

  4. Daniel 5:10Rank 4 from verse 3
    Open

    10Now 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:

  5. Psalms 137:6Rank 5 from verse 3
    Open

    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.

WORDS IN THIS PASSAGE

Definitions

Open a word for its full definition and concordance.

DEFINED WORDS

Nehemiah 2:3

COMBINED MEANING

king

↗

A sovereign ruler; one exercising royal authority over a kingdom.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

let

↗

Sense 1: To allow or permit; in older KJV use, also to hinder or restrain. Sense 2: To lower or send down.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

live

↗

Sense 1: As a verb, to have or continue in life; to remain alive, be restored to life, or not die. Sense 2: To dwell, abide, or continue in a place, state, relation, or manner of life. Sense 3: To subsist or be sustained by or upon what is named. Sense 4: As an adjective, alive rather than dead; or containing fire and not extinguished.

Meaning drawn from: Direct Scripture definition · KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

for

↗

1. In behalf of or in the place of. 2. With respect to, concerning, or toward. 3. Because of or on account of. 4. During or throughout. 5. In order to obtain or reach. 6. As a conjunction, because or seeing that.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

for ever

↗

1. Without end; for all time. 2. Continually or permanently throughout the duration in view.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

ever

↗

At any time; always or continually; throughout all time or for ever.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

should

↗

A verb expressing duty, propriety, expectation, intention, purpose, condition, appointed outcome, or a future event viewed from another time or statement.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

countenance

↗

1. The face, or its appearance or expression. 2. Favour, regard, or presence expressed toward someone. 3. To favour or support.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

sad

↗

Sorrowful; affected with grief; cast down with affliction. Downcast; gloomy; having the external appearance of sorrow.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

place

↗

Sense 1: A physical location or room. Sense 2: A position or office. Sense 3: An occasion, circumstance, or passage. Sense 4: To set, fix, locate, or establish.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

waste

↗

Sense 1: Desolate, ruined, devastated, or uncultivated. Sense 2: Ruin, desolation, or needless loss. Sense 3: To consume, devour, destroy, ravage, or desolate.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

gates

↗

Movable barriers and the entrances they close in walls, cities, courts, houses, or enclosed places; by extension, the city, jurisdiction, public place, or access represented by those entrances.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

consumed

↗

Past-tense, participial, or adjectival form of consume. Sense 1: To destroy, use up, or bring to an end. Sense 2: To waste away or be exhausted.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

fire

↗

Burning flame and heat that gives light, consumes, purifies, or destroys.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

READ THE PASSAGE

View in context

Suggested context · Nehemiah 2:1–8

The selected passage is highlighted. Context is a study aid.

2:1AND 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.

2:2Wherefore 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,

2:3And 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?

Selected passage

2:4Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

2:5And 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.

2:6And 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.

2:7Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;

2:8And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

LOCAL PASTOR DIRECTORY

Find a Pastor Near You

Enter a U.S. ZIP code to find nearby pastors committed to holding fast the faithful word.

Your ZIP is processed in this browser from local data. It is not sent to a ZIP lookup service or to a church. ZIP coordinates from GeoNames, licensed under CC BY 4.0.