⁶ This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ^(A)scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all ^[a]he requested ^(B)because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.

¹⁸ I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” ^(A)So they put their hands to the good work.