1 Esdras 1:46-48

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁴⁶ Although King Nebuchadnezzar had made him swear by the name of the Lord, he broke his oath and rebelled; he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart and transgressed the laws of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁴⁷ Even the leaders of the people and of the priests committed many acts of sacrilege and lawlessness beyond all the unclean deeds of all the nations and polluted the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem—the temple that God had made holy. ⁴⁸ The God of their ancestors sent his messenger to call them back, because he would have spared them and his dwelling place.