He had left Babylon on the first day of the first month, and on the first day of the fifth month, he arrived in Jerusalem, since his God was good to him.
He made the king, his advisers, and all the king’s powerful officials treat me kindly. I was encouraged because the Lord my God was guiding me. So I gathered leaders in Israel to go with me.
As a scribe, Ezra was an expert in Moses’ Teachings, which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king gave Ezra everything he requested because the Lord his God was guiding him.
God was guiding us, so Iddo and his relatives brought us someone competent, Sherebiah, who was a descendant of Mahli, Levi, and Israel. They brought us 18 of Sherebiah’s sons and relatives.
I was ashamed to ask the king for an armed escort with cavalry to help us against an enemy attack on the way. We had already told the king, “Our God works things out for the good of everyone who dedicates his life to serving him, but his power and his anger oppose everyone who abandons him.”
Then we left the Ahava River on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. God was guiding us, and he rescued us from our enemies and from ambushes along the way.
Then I told them that my God had been guiding me and what the king had told me. They replied, “Let’s begin to rebuild.” So they encouraged one another to begin this God-pleasing work.
Also, let me have a letter addressed to Asaph, the supervisor of Your Majesty’s forest. In the letter order him to give me wood for the gates of the fortress near the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I’ll move into.” (The king let me have the letters, because God was guiding me.)
When you see it, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like new grass. The power of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but he will condemn his enemies.