I got up during the night and left my house. I took some men with me, without telling anyone what I thought God wanted me to do for the city. The only animal I took was the donkey I rode on.
Because King Artaxerxes was so kind, Ezra said: Praise the LORD God of our ancestors! He made sure that the king honored the LORD's temple in Jerusalem.
I went through Valley Gate on the west, then south past Dragon Spring, before coming to Garbage Gate. As I rode along, I took a good look at the crumbled walls of the city and the gates that had been torn down and burned.
Here is the new agreement that I, the LORD, will make with the people of Israel: "I will write my laws on their hearts and minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
God is the one who made these kings all think alike and decide to give their power to the beast. And they will do this until what God has said comes true.
Gideon chose ten of his servants to help him, and they did everything God had said. But since Gideon was afraid of his family and the other people in town, he did it all at night.