¹² “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven: Peace.^[a] And now^(A)

³ Send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to King Zedekiah of Judah.^{(A) 4} Give them this charge for their masters: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: ⁵ It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the people and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever I please.^{(B) 6} Now I have given all these lands into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him even the wild animals of the field to serve him.^(C)

²⁴ They shall come against you from the north^[a] with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples; they shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet, and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their ordinances.^(A)

³⁷ You, O king, the king of kings—to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory,^(A)