⁶ —came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses,^(A) which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he requested^(B) because the hand of the Lord his God was on him.^(C)

⁹ He began the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month^(A) and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month^(B) since the gracious hand of his God was on him.^(C)

²⁸ and who has shown favor to me before the king,^(A) his counselors, and all his powerful officers. So I took courage because I was strengthened by the hand of the Lord my God,^[a](B) and I gathered Israelite leaders to return with me.^(C)

¹⁸ Since the gracious hand of our God was on us,^(A) they brought us Sherebiah^(B)—a man of insight from the descendants of Mahli, a descendant of Levi son of Israel—along with his sons and brothers, 18 men,

²² I did this because I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and cavalry to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek him, but his fierce anger is against all who abandon him.”^(A)

Arrival in Jerusalem

³¹ We set out from the Ahava River on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. We were strengthened by our God,^[a](A) and he kept us from the grasp of the enemy and from ambush along the way.^(B)