11 So Lord, please listen to my prayer. I am your servant. And please listen to the prayers of your servants that want to show respect for your name. Lord, you know I am the king’s wine servant. {\cf2\super [3]} So please help me today. Help me as I ask the king for help. Give me success and help me to be pleasing to the king.
11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.
11 O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere and fear Your name (Your nature and attributes); and prosper, I pray You, Your servant this day and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was cupbearer to the king.
11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name; and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I was cupbearer to the king.
11 “LORD, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in honoring your name. Please give success to your servant today and grant him favor in the presence of this man!”
11 I beg you, O Lord, may your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who are willing to fear your name. And so, guide your servant today, and grant to him mercy before this man." For I was the cupbearer of the king.
Please open your eyes and ears and listen to the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night. I am praying for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we people of Israel have done against you. I am confessing that I have sinned against you and that the other people in my father’s family have sinned against you.
I also need lumber for the heavy wooden beams for the gates, the walls, the walls around the temple, {\cf2\super [7]} and my house. So I need a letter from you to Asaph. Asaph is in charge of your forests.”
In the month of Nisan in the 20th year {\cf2\super [4]} \{of King Artaxerxes\}, some wine was brought to the king. I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad when I was with the king, but now I was sad.
\{Farmers dig small ditches to water their fields. They change where the water goes by closing different ditches.\} The Lord controls a king’s mind just like that. The Lord can lead the king wherever he wants him to go.
Ezra came to Jerusalem from Babylon. Ezra was a teacher. {\cf2\super [45]} He knew the Law of Moses very well. The Law of Moses was given by the Lord, the God of Israel. King Artaxerxes gave Ezra everything he asked for because the Lord was with Ezra.
During the first year {\cf2\super [1]} that Cyrus was king of Persia, the Lord encouraged Cyrus to make an announcement. Cyrus put that announcement in writing and had it read every place in his kingdom. This happened so that the Lord’s message that was spoken through Jeremiah {\cf2\super [2]} would truly happen. This is the announcement:
I ask you to please save me from my brother. Save me from Esau. I am afraid of him. I am afraid that he will come and kill all of us, even the mothers with the children.
I pray that God All-Powerful will help you when you stand before the governor. I pray that he will let Benjamin, and also Simeon, come back safely. If not, I will again be sad from losing my son.”
Then the man said, “Your name will not be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel. [191] I give you this name because you have fought with God and with men, and you have not been defeated.”
God’s followers spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to them. There is a book in front of him. In that book are the names of God’s followers. Those are the people that honor the Lord’s name.