Then you will call out to me. You will come and pray to me. And I will listen to you.

你们要呼求我，祷告我，我就应允你们。

你们呼求我，向我祷告，我就应允你们。

你们呼求我，向我祷告，我就应允你们。

那时，你们必呼求我，向我祷告，我也必垂听。

‘你们要呼求我，要来向我祷告，我就必应允你们。

你們要呼求我，禱告我，我就應允你們。

你們呼求我，向我禱告，我就應允你們。

你們呼求我，向我禱告，我就應允你們。

那時，你們必呼求我，向我禱告，我也必垂聽。

‘你們要呼求我，要來向我禱告，我就必應允你們。

你們要呼求我，要來禱告我，我就聽你們。

爾必籲我、往而禱我、我必垂聽、

爾禱告予、當祈求不輟、我必俯聞、

爾呼籲我、往祈禱我、我必俯聞、

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

In those days when you pray, I will listen.

You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

And ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers.

You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

“ Ask, and it will be given to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find. The door will be opened to the one who knocks.

Call out to me. I will answer you. I will tell you great things you do not know. And unless I do, you wouldn’t be able to find out about them.”

Call out to me when trouble comes. I will save you. And you will honor me.”

Lord, you hear the desires of those who are hurting. You cheer them up and give them hope. You listen to their cries.

He satisfies the needs of those who have respect for him. He hears their cry and saves them.

Even before they call out to me, I will answer them. While they are still speaking, I will hear them.

I will put this third in the fire. I will make them as pure as silver. I will test them like gold. They will call out to me. And I will answer them. I will say,‘ They are my people.’ And they will say,‘ The Lord is our God.’ ”

Their eyes will be filled with tears as they come. They will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water. I will lead them on a level path where they will not trip or fall. I am Israel’s father. And Ephraim is my oldest son.

People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you won’t weep anymore. When you cry out to the Lord for help, he will have mercy on you. As soon as he hears you, he’ll answer you.

The Lord will build Zion again. He will appear in his glory.He will answer the prayer of those who don’t have anything. He won’t say no to their cry for help.

The Lord and King says,“ Once again I will answer Israel’s prayer. Here is what I will do for them. I will multiply them as if they were sheep.

So I prayed to the Lord God. I begged him. I made many appeals to him. I didn’t eat anything. I put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. And I sat down in ashes.I prayed to the Lord my God. I admitted that we had sinned. I said,“ Lord, you are a great and wonderful God. You keep the covenant you made with all those who love you and obey your commandments. You show them your love.We have sinned and done what is wrong. We have been evil. We have refused to obey you. We have turned away from your commands and laws.We haven’t listened to your servants the prophets. They spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our people of long ago. They also brought your message to all our people in the land.“ Lord, you always do what is right. But we are covered with shame today. We are the people of Judah and Jerusalem. All of us are Israelites, no matter where we live. We are now living in many countries. You scattered us among the nations because we weren’t faithful to you.Lord, we are covered with shame. So are our kings and princes, and our people of long ago. We have sinned against you.You are the Lord our God. You show us your tender love. You forgive us. But we have turned against you.You are the Lord our God. But we haven’t obeyed you. We haven’t kept the laws you gave us through your servants the prophets.All the people of Israel have broken your law and turned away from it. They have refused to obey you.“ Curses and warnings are written down in the Law of Moses. He was your servant. Those curses have been poured out on us. That’s because we have sinned against you.The warnings you gave us and our rulers have come true. You have brought great trouble on us. Nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever happened anywhere else on earth.The curses that are written in the Law of Moses have fallen on us. We have received nothing but trouble. You are the Lord our God. But we haven’t asked for your favor. We haven’t turned away from our sins. We’ve refused to pay attention to the laws you gave us.Lord, you didn’t hold back from bringing this trouble on us. You always do what is right. But we haven’t obeyed you.“ Lord our God, you used your mighty hand to bring your people out of Egypt. You made a name for yourself. It is still great to this day. But we have sinned. We’ve done what is wrong.Lord, you saved your people before. So turn your great anger away from Jerusalem again. After all, it is your city. It’s your holy mountain. You have made those who live around us think little of Jerusalem and your people. That’s because we have sinned. Our people before us did evil things too.“ Our God, hear my prayers. Pay attention to the appeals I make to you. Lord, have mercy on your temple that has been destroyed. Do it for your own honor.Our God, please listen to us. The city that belongs to you has been destroyed. Open your eyes and see it. We aren’t asking you to answer our prayers because we are godly. Instead, we’re asking you to do it because you love us so much.Lord, please listen! Lord, please forgive us! Lord, hear our prayers! Take action for your own honor. Our God, please don’t wait. Your city and your people belong to you.”

The king said to me,“ What do you want?” I prayed to the God of heaven.Then I answered the king,“ Are you pleased with me, King Artaxerxes? If it pleases you, send me to Judah. Let me go to the city of Jerusalem. That’s where my people are buried. I want to rebuild it.”The queen was sitting beside the king. He turned and asked me,“ How long will your journey take? When will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me. So I chose a certain time.I also said to him,“ If it pleases you, may I take some letters with me? I want to give them to the governors of the land west of the Euphrates River. Then they’ll help me travel safely through their territory until I arrive in Judah.May I also have a letter to Asaph? He takes care of the royal park. I want him to give me some logs so I can make beams out of them. I want to use them for the gates of the fort that is by the temple. Some of the logs will also be used in the city wall. And I’ll need some for the house I’m going to live in.” God was kind to me and helped me. So the king gave me what I asked for.Then I went to the governors of the land west of the Euphrates River. I gave them the king’s letters. He had also sent army officers and horsemen along with me.Sanballat and Tobiah heard about what was happening. Sanballat was a Horonite. Tobiah was an official from Ammon. They were very upset that someone had come to help the Israelites.I went to Jerusalem and stayed there for three days.Then at night I took a few other people with me to check out the walls. I hadn’t told anyone what my God wanted me to do for Jerusalem. There weren’t any donkeys with me except the one I was riding on.That night I went out through the Valley Gate. I went toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate. I checked out the walls of Jerusalem. They had been broken down. I also checked the city gates. Fire had burned them up.I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool. But there wasn’t enough room for my donkey to get through.It was still night. I went up the Kidron Valley. I kept checking the wall. Finally, I turned back. I went back in through the Valley Gate.The officials didn’t know where I had gone or what I had done. That’s because I hadn’t said anything to anyone yet. I hadn’t told the priests or nobles or officials. And I hadn’t spoken to any other Jews who would be rebuilding the wall.I said to them,“ You can see the trouble we’re in. Jerusalem has been destroyed. Fire has burned up its gates. Come on. Let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Then people won’t be ashamed anymore.”I also told them how my gracious God was helping me. And I told them what the king had said to me. They replied,“ Let’s start rebuilding.” So they began that good work.But Sanballat, the Horonite, heard about it. So did Tobiah, the official from Ammon. Geshem, the Arab, heard about it too. All of them laughed at us. They made fun of us.“ What do you think you are doing?” they asked.“ Are you turning against the king?”I answered,“ The God of heaven will give us success. We serve him. So we’ll start rebuilding the walls. But you don’t have any share in Jerusalem. You don’t have any claim to it. You don’t have any right to worship here.”