²⁷ Praise be to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s heart^(A) to bring honor^(B) to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in this way

² so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”

I was very much afraid,

¹² I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

⁵ So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families. I found the genealogical record of those who had been the first to return. This is what I found written there:

⁵ When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified.^(A) Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering^(B) for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned^(C) and cursed God^(D) in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.