Neh 2:3-5, Est 7:3-4, 8:6, Pro 21:1 | ESV | STEP | I said to the king , Let the king live forever ! Why should not my face be sad , when the city , the place of my fathers ’ graves , lies in ruins , and its gates have been destroyed by fire ?

Nehemiah 2:3-5

3 I said to the king, ^a“Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, ^bwhen the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed ^cto the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”

Esther 7:3-4

3 Then Queen Esther answered, ^d“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 ^eFor we have been sold, I and my people, ^fto be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.”

Esther 8:6

6 For how can I bear ^gto see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”

Proverbs 21:1

1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he ^hturns it wherever he will.