¹⁸ Then, by the good hand of our God upon us, they ^(A)brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and brothers, eighteen men;

¹⁵ And I will give you ^(A)shepherds according to My heart, who will ^(B)feed you with knowledge and understanding.

⁸ and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the ^[a]citadel which pertains ^(A)to the ^[b]temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me ^(B)according to the good hand of my God upon me.

²⁸ and ^(A)has extended mercy to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes.

So I was encouraged, as ^(B)the hand of the Lord my God was upon me; and I gathered leading men of Israel to go up with me.

^20 (A)And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.

²² For ^(A)I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, ^(B)“The hand of our God is upon all those for ^(C)good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are ^(D)against all those who ^(E)forsake Him.”

⁶ this Ezra came up from Babylon; and he was ^(A)a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, ^(B)according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him.

¹⁹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. Now these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers:

Tongues a Sign to Unbelievers

²⁰ Brethren, ^(A)do not be children in understanding; however, in malice ^(B)be babes, but in understanding be mature.