⁹ For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, ^(A)for the good hand of his God was on him.

⁶ this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe ^(A)skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, ^(B)for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

⁸ and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of ^(A)the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, ^(B)for the good hand of my God was upon me.

¹⁸ And I told them ^(A)of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” ^(B)So they strengthened their hands for the good work.