Ezra 3:2

3:2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak ¹  and his priestly colleagues ²  and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues ³  started to build ⁴  the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by ⁵  the law of Moses the man of God.

Ezra 4:3

4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right ⁶  to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”

Ezra 6:5

6:5 Furthermore let the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar brought from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, be returned and brought to their proper place in the temple in Jerusalem. Let them be deposited in the temple of God.’

Ezra 6:12

6:12 May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation ⁷  who reaches out ⁸  to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders. Let them be carried out with precision!”

Ezra 6:22

6:22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion ⁹  of the king of Assyria ¹⁰  toward them, so that he assisted ¹¹  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra 7:6

7:6 This Ezra is the one who came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king supplied him with everything he requested, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

Ezra 7:25

7:25 “Now you, Ezra, in keeping with the wisdom of your God which you possess, ¹²  appoint judges ¹³  and court officials who can arbitrate cases on behalf of all the people who are in Trans-Euphrates who know the laws of your God. Those who do not know this law should be taught.

Ezra 9:8-9

9:8 “But now briefly ¹⁴  we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position ¹⁵  in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes ¹⁶  and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude. 9:9 Although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude. He has extended kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, in that he has revived us ¹⁷  to restore the temple of our God and to raise ¹⁸  up its ruins and to give us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ 

Ezra 10:3

10:3 Therefore let us enact ²⁰  a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, ²¹  and that of those who respect ²²  the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

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¹ sn Jozadak (also in 3:8) is a variant spelling of Jehozadak.

² tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”

³ tn Heb “his brothers.”

⁴ tn Heb “arose and built.”

⁵ tn Heb “written in.” Cf. v. 4.

⁶ tn Heb “not to you and to us.”

⁷ tn Aram “people.”

⁸ tn Aram “who sends forth his hand.”

⁹ tn Heb “heart.”

¹⁰ sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.

¹¹ tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”

¹² tn Aram “in your hand.”

¹³ tc For the MT reading שָׁפְטִין (shoftim, “judges”) the LXX uses the noun γραμματεῖς (grammatei", “scribes”).

¹⁴ tn Heb “according to a little moment.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “a peg” or “tent peg.” The imagery behind this word is drawn from the experience of nomads who put down pegs as they pitched their tents and made camp after times of travel.

¹⁶ tn Heb “to cause our eyes to shine.” The expression is a figure of speech for “to revive.” See DCH 1:160 s.v. אור Hi.7.

¹⁷ tn Heb “has granted us reviving.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “to cause to stand.”

¹⁹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²⁰ tn Heb “cut.”

²¹ tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.

²² tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”