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)

¹⁸ I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me,^(A) and what the king had said to me.

They said, “Let’s start rebuilding,” and their hands were strengthened^[a] to do this good work.