Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the King Artaxerxes of Persia. Hearing of the ruined condition of Jerusalem, he prayed and then asked Artaxerxes to send him to Jerusalem as the governor. His request was granted. He organized the Jews, rebuilt the city walls, and reinstated religious observances of the Jewish law. The story of Nehemiah is related in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra.