Nehemiah 1:1-3

The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: N ow it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year [of the Persian king], as I was in the capitol of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the surviving Jews who had escaped and survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its [fortified] gates have been burned (destroyed) by fire.”