Ezra 4:3

4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right ¹  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 8:17-18

8:17 I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them ²  what to say to Iddo and his relatives, ³  who were the temple servants in ⁴  Casiphia, so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God.

8:18 Due to the fact that the good hand of our God was on us, they brought us a skilled man, from the descendants of Mahli the son of Levi son of Israel. This man was Sherebiah, ⁵  who was accompanied by his sons and brothers, ⁶  18 men,

Ezra 8:22

8:22 I was embarrassed to request soldiers and horsemen from the king to protect us from the enemy ⁷  along the way, because we had said to the king, “The good hand of our God is on everyone who is seeking him, but his great anger ⁸  is against everyone who forsakes him.”

Ezra 8:33

8:33 On the fourth day we weighed out the silver, the gold, and the vessels in the house of our God into the care ⁹  of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest, and Eleazar son of Phinehas, who were accompanied by Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui, who were Levites.

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¹ tn Heb “not to you and to us.”

² tn Heb “I placed in their mouth words.”

³ tc The translation reads with the LXX and Vulgate וְאֶחָיו (vÿ’ekhayv, “and his brethren” = “relatives”; so NCV, NLT) rather than the reading אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”) of the MT.

⁴ tn Heb “in the place called.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Heb “and Sherebiah.” The words “this man was” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Or “relatives” (so CEV; NRSV “kin”); also in v. 19.

⁷ tn A number of modern translations regard this as a collective singular and translate “from enemies” (also in v. 31).

⁸ tn Heb “his strength and his anger.” The expression is a hendiadys (one concept expressed through two terms).

⁹ tn Heb “upon the hand of.”