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.
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.
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.
I had this group gather by the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I noticed laypeople and priests there, but I didn’t find any Levites.
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.
“God has been helping me to this day so that I can stand and testify to important and unimportant people. I tell them only what the prophets and Moses said would happen.